We woke up in Arundel to another English Breakfast.
English people take their breakfast seriously.
It's HUGE. And they spend a good hour or two eating it each morning.
Beans, Mushrooms, Bacon or Sausage, Black pudding, Toast, Eggs, Hash browns and coffee or tea.
Julie and I just wanted a Diet Coke and to be on our way.... We are so American!
Saturdays in Arundel they have a Farmers Market down by the river and throughout the town.
It was lovely to walk around in the sunshine and see all this delicious food and handmade goods.
Such a great way to start our day!
After wandering we made our way to the castle and were excited to see the Tulips in bloom in the gardens.
We wandered through the grounds to the incredibly old, and incredibly creepy church first.
This church was probably my favorite we saw the entire time.
It was full of tombs, incredibly old ones and just had the strangest feel to it.
We stayed in there for a while before we decided to go check out the gardens.
It was a night and day difference!
These gardens were the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen.
I have no words to describe how amazing they were.
Hidden benches and alcoves and vines growing every where.
And while it had some very English characteristics, it also felt like an island at times,
even with a few palm trees. It was unexpected, but just breathtaking!
(Another church towers behind the gardens below).
And to be there during the tulip festival was pretty lovely also.
They were stunning!
After the gardens we wandered through the rest of the garden for the tour of the castle.
Keep in mind, people STILL live in every single one of these castles...
we couldn't wrap our minds around that as we walked into this one.
Arundel Castle is intimidating in size and the turrets are exactly what you dream of a castle to look like.
I think we both really enjoyed the smaller castles because the people who work their know the owners, and kinda like to gossip! We learned a few funny things about the Duke of Norfolk and his family....
and they couldn't wait to tell us that last year Prince Charles just landed his helicopter there to have tea with the Duke.
Who are these people? How is this normal, everyday life??
HOW?
After the lovely Arundel we headed to Salisbury to see the Cathedral there.
This lovely cottage above sits on the grounds and I just loved it.
I feel like I need to duplicate it and have this exact same home here in Utah.
Stunning!
The Cathedral was beautiful, and when we got there they were having a service, so we snuck in to the end of the service and it was pretty neat to see. Afterwards, the congregation filed out and they
began their choir practice. It was absolutely beautiful! We sat in the corner and listen to them sing for a good little while. An experience I wont soon forget.
In the next building over, the gorgeous rooms houses the Magna Carta.
We wandered over and sat around the stained glass room getting a little history lesson.
It was a pretty neat experience.
We weren't sure what we'd have time for next,
so we plugged in Stonehenge into our GPS wondering if we'd have time to go,
and found we were 11 miles away...
so DUH. No brainer there.
Off to Stonehenge we went.
When we got to the parking lot there was a man standing in the field,
singing with his arms up as if he was worshiping the sun.
We knew it was gonna be interesting then!
I didn't know what to expect when we got there...
I mean, I've seen the pics and assumed that was enough,
but Stonehenge was fascinating!
I had NO idea how many people it took to lay these stones,
that so many people were buried there,
that some of the stones were thought to have been there since 3000 BC,
and older posts below that date back long before that!
I had no idea that back then people traveled thousands of miles to go there...
it was just so unreal.
I had no idea that the stones were brought from miles and miles away.
We kept wondering WHY? Why has so much happened in this particular spot.
You couldn't help but wonder what made is so special.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning all about it.
It was amazing!
(My topknot...I feel like I need to make a disclaimer that we had no flat iron and some days no blow dryer...so the hair was either up or in a hat for a week. Don't judge me!)
We didn't have a hotel room set up for that night,
so we headed to the town of Bradford on Avon to look for a room.
As we drove into the town we literally "oohed and awed" over how stunning it is.
I wish these pictures did it justice!
Whitewashed old buildings climb up the hillside with steeples and pubs and shops dotting the roadside.
It's beautiful!
We stopped at a lovely cemetery before finally finding our way to a hotel to stay in
and then headed out for a late dinner on the water. It was a lovely, fabulous day!
{Things for me to remember: Dick and Janes, Julie's room in the tip top of the Inn, Ann Bolyn's neckalce, the lovely library in the castle, eating or pizza lunch in Arundel)
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