7.31.09 London

Today was the last day of early train rides to far off regions and big houses! We were thrilled. So, this mornings train took us to Haddon Hall, a mideval residence thats been kept and restored in its original glory.


Haddon has been used in films such as The Princess Bride and Pride and Prejudice. But honestly, what house have we seen so far that wasnt used in that movie. None is the answer. It was great to see because its so different then everything we have been seeing.


The grounds were amazing and had gorgeous terraced gardens with green hills as far as the eye could see. After wandering the gardens we went to the little restaurant adjacent to the house for our English treat, clotted creme and scones.

And yes, you can feel it slowly clotting your arteries as your eating it.
Its a bizarre sensation, but one that is worth it.

From Haddon he hopped back on our tour bus and took a short drive into the country side and descended upon the wonder of Chatsworth.

There she be.

Chatsworth is kinda considered the "gem" of these historical estates here in the UK. It not only is famous in its own right, but has reveived further acclaim from its use in Wolfman, Pride and Prejudice and The Dutchess. It was used as Mr. Darcy's home in P&P and as the Duke of Devinshires house in The Dutchess; which is actually historically correct.


The palace was built as the residence for the Duke of Devinshire, who recieved his fame greatly due to his marriage to Gorgianna (Kiera Knightly) who became his Dutchess. Just some background. The first thing we did was head out into the gardens...uh hem, all 105 acres of them. There were gravity fed fountains, ponds, canals, waterfalls, mazes, rock gardens statues and hedges for miles and miles. We snagged some hot cocoa and began exploring the rock garden; a little kids paradise! This place was unreal. We slowly became scaling the rocks, wandering on paths and crossing over casms until we found a nice spot to sit and eat our lunches.

Ali was a feared to jump to gap.
And I quote... Kaitlyn: "Hold my hand pretty princess."
Just the words to instill courage to Ali's soul

This is what happens when I want to eat an orange- exile.
Ali cant stand them (as in she dry heaves and gags upon catching a whiff of citrus)
therefore I become banished from their presence. My Vit. C is worth it.

5 weeks with all girls and this is what happens. Not gray hair, oh no.
White. Snowy, glistening white. Not a good sign at 21.

This was too tender not to capture.

We finished our lunches and scaled back down the rocks to go explore the maze and all the other wonders to behold. After about 10 minutes of wandering around the muddy maze we gave up on that and headed back towards the house passing all sorts of cool stuff.

Serpent hedges...

Statues of dogs...and one doing his business.

The inside of the house was just as cool as the outside. It also was very different then what we have seen due to all the wood and carpet that was used. Even though it was still huge it felt very homey.

A couch suitable for the Fab 5.

After exploring all the inside of the house and learning about making of the films there, we hopped back on our bus, followed by the train, then the tube, then the walk then home. But, on the way home we had a steezy car run in!

Although it doesnt look extra flashy, this more of a classic Ferrari.
New or old, its a Ferrari and should be looked upon with reverance and respect.

Cheers!