Today was such a fun day!! We started off really really early though, having to meet at the metro station at 6:45 am. Luckily we had a lovely 2 hour train ride to the Derbyshire country. The first place we stopped was the 12th century home, Haddon Hall. We got to have a private tour of the home before any other people arrived. That was really nice! Haddon Hall was the home of Lord and Lady Manners and his been in the family since 1567. It is one of the greatest houses to survive the middle ages. It was really cool inside. Everything had stone floors and oak furniture. It was all very midievil and mystical. One of the things that I thought was really cool was all of the main stairs where the people had walked a lot over the years were so worn in they were just a big hole. It was insane! My favorite part of the house was the long gallery. It was this beautiful stoned room that stretched on with a beautiful window at the end. I really liked it. Also there were many windows in the house that had original glass still in them. All of the original glass was green, while the newer glass was white. It created a very interesting pattern.
The kitchen was also a very interesting place. The tour guide told us that the servants lived in the kitchen. They just rolled out mattresses on the floor and slept there. It was quite disgusting. She also told us that in the 13th century the cooks would just leave the same pot of soup in the fire and just keep adding things to it. They never would switch the soup out. So gross!
Haddon Hall has been used as a stage for many movies over the years, including: The Princess Bride and Jane Eyre. Our tour guide showed us the chapel where Prince Humperdink and Princess Buttercup were married. It was surprisingly really small. It's so crazy to me how these film producers can make a set look so much larger than it actually is.
After we finished touring the inside of the home we headed out into the gardens. They were so beautiful. Stone statues everywhere and a different choice of flowers and landscaping then what we have seen at the other homes. The view of the countryside from the gardens was breathtaking. Everything was so green and stunning. I loved every second of it.
After Haddon Hall we climbed back onto the bus and went to Chatsworth. Chatsworth is one of England's grandest houses. It was said to be what Jane Austen viewed as Pemberley and Pride and Prejudice and is why it was used as Pemberley in the Kiera Knightely version of Pride and Prejudice. We drove up the lane and we could see the most beautiful view of Chatsworth. It is a very grand home indeed. We got dropped off at the front entrance and we were given four hours to view the gardens and the house. Julia and I started in the gardens. They were HUGE! There were too many places to go we didn't even have time to see half of it. We saw some of the prettiest waterfalls. My favorite was the Cascade Waterfall. It was really big and extended all the way down the hill. Your allowed to walk around in the waterfall and follow it all the way down to the bottom. We took our shoes off and played for a little while in the water. It was so much fun. We also hiked all the way up to this tower that was up on the hill. It had the prettiest view of the countryside and of Chatsworth itself. After the tower we went into the house.
The house was as grand as all of the others we have been too. It is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The home was built by Bess Hardwick and her husband back in the 17th century. The grounds of Chatsworth was a gift to Bess Hardwick's husand after he helped King William III take over the English throne. When building the house he created many state rooms in hope that King William would come and visit. He never did, but the state rooms are still there today and I got to see them. They were very beautiful. I do have to say though, that my favorite part of the house was the library. It extended forever and there were over 15,000 books in there. It is said to be one of the greatest libraries in the world. As Chatsworth was used as Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice there were may areas that are scenes from the movie. It's always fun to see those things.
After the house we spent some time in the gift shop and I bought a really pretty puzzle for the family. I hope they like it! Tomorrow I'm headed to Scotland. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea, but I'm really excited! We'll see how it goes. The trip is so close to being over only a few more days. I can hardly believe it. It has been the greatest experience of my life.
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