England is more than just London

The first leg of my amazing month-long trip across Europe was to catch up with friends in England. I was in England for two weeks and had an amazing time touring about.

I spent the first week in Lincolnshire, a farming county a few hours North of London. Whilst there, I visited Belton House, a National Trust property, twice. The first visit was more to see the house - the paintings, the blue bedroom that was Darcy's bedroom in the infamous Colin Firth BBC Pride and Prejudice, and I even took the downstairs tour (where they sadly did not allow photographs) of the maid's quarters, kitchens, china rooms, wine cellar, etc. There were signs up for a food fayre the following weekend, so my friend and I decided to return and check it out.

a gloomy day at Belton House

The food fayre fell on a particularly gorgeous day - all sunshine and cool breezes. On display was not only excellent food (my first Bap - roasted pork, heavy on the cracklin', served on a bun with stuffing and apple chutney), but a good dose of British humor as well.

Belvoir, pronounced "Beaver" is a local village near to Belton;
the meat pies mentioned here are presumably from Belvoir,
not made of actual beaver.

Also, no actual penguins were harmed in making the Penguin Pie.
The deer pies, however, were deer and they were DELICIOUS.

Because it was such a gorgeous day, we were able to take a walk around the lake on the property (a woody mile with ducks and geese and rabbity-babbities) and take some great photographs of the property - particularly the Orangery (which I didn't know, is a fancy greenhouse).

The newly restored boat house

"Hello, I'm Lady Belton, and this is my Orangery."

From Lincolnshire, there was also a day trip to the English seaside at Skegness (Skeggy/Skeg-Vegas) on a day that was not so sunshiny and bright. There were donkeys on the beach (I really wanted to ride a donkey on the beach, but it was 'children only') and the fish and chips really did taste better there at the seaside - accompanied by the best mushy peas I've ever eaten!

On the way back from Skeggy, we called at Tattershall Castle - the only brick castle in England which actually, in a round-about way, has ties to Baltimore. Sadly, the castle was closed to visitors so I could only admire its splendor from afar.

After an overnight in Birmingham to visit one of my favorite teacher friends and have a curry, it was time to head off to London for a very cultural adventure. In London I:

visited the Victoria & Albert Museum

drank a cocktail that was served with a six-shooter cap gun at the V.O.C.

visited the Natural History Museum

sat next to Fergus Henderson at St. John's Restaurant (I was too nervous to say hello)

saw Macbeth at the Globe with my favorite lady on the planet (and fellow English teacher) T!

 

saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the West End a week after its premiere

got to look at St. Pancras Station every day

walked across the Millennium Bridge

visited the Tate Modern

sang "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" outside St. Paul's Cathedral (quietishly, to myself)

had a fabulous time!

After a few days kicking around London, I boarded the Eurostar for Paris where, if nothing else, it was warmer.

Stinky Cheese = Good, Stinky Streets = Bad

The thing about Paris is that, in the summer time, it reeks of urine. Not everywhere mind you, not where all the tour busses drop off, but where we stayed, near the Gare du Nord (all my friend and I could afford) it smelled like an open-air sewer. The smell was not the 'Welcome to Paris' I was looking for.

Generally, the Paris leg of my trip was irksome. In three days in Paris I was: accosted by several schemers trying to 'give' me a 'free' bracelet - schemers who were traveling in packs of about 10 people so when you made it past one, another tried to stop you; told by a train conductor, and a passenger, that I was not only on the wrong train to get to Chantilly, but that I was going the wrong way and needed to go back to Paris (I was on the right train and made it to Chantilly exactly when I was supposed to); laughed at by a man working in a box-office when I tried to buy tickets for a show the day-of (which I had done a day earlier on the West End with no problem); cut-off by several Parisians who did not wish to wait in line behind the tourists for their metro tickets; overcharged for most of my meals.

At least three lovely things happened: I had a gorgeous lunch  - all snails and stinky cheeses - at an outdoor cafe away from the crowds in Montmartre that was affordable and delicious; I had a gorgeous dinner that same night when the restaurant my friend and I had planned to eat at was closed and we stumbled upon an amazing alternative; and I went to a castle, in Chantilly, where there are beautiful walking paths, fresh air, horses, and it was about 10 degrees cooler than in Paris. We had planned to go to Versailles, but it's closed on Mondays, so we ended up in Chantilly - which was nearly empty and beautiful; a happy ending to the trip thanks to a last-minute decision!

The food in Paris was not unilaterally amazing, but there were: 2 poached pears (1 hot, 1 cold), crispy duck, foie gras, stinky cheeses, beef tartars, and escargot that were memorable - most of which were eaten on the same day at just two restaurants.

Thing is though, I've done the tourist stuff and even had some amazing Paris moments on this trip and on my first trip 9 years ago (which was in November and much cooler and less crowded) . . . and now I feel like I don't need to spend money and go back to Paris ever again. It's a shame, I know many of my friends love Paris (and I love cities in general) but I feel like I love the picture/film ideal of Paris (which I can't afford) rather than the Paris I have visited on a budget twice.

Photo wise, here are the highlights:

the Sacre Cour

The cemetery at Montmatre

from inside the D'Orsay

the Chateau in Chantilly

from the entry gate over the moat at the Chateau

Forever Home

If home is where the heart is, home is Italy. I've not lived there yet, but with six visits under my belt, I think it's safe to conjecture that someday it's going to be my forever-home. I can't say what it is about Italy that makes it right, except that it makes me happy. It's in the colors, the food, the people, the landscape, the wine, the cones of fried sea critters - whatever it is, it puts my soul to flight every time.

My exploration of Italy (and Croatia) so-far.

I have a lot to reflect on in the next few posts. I spent a full month traveling across England, France, Italy, and Croatia. I have lived out of a single suitcase for the last thirty days, taken a nine-hour train journey; traveled by plane, train, ferry, bus, water bus (vaporetta), taxi, bike, and foot - all to explore Europe, rediscover some old favorite places and enjoy some new ones.

One Month, Overland, Explore of England, France, Italy, and Croatia.

However, in all the traveling, in all the wandering and discovering, the most important realization was that it is time to start saving my pennies so Italy can, someday, be home.

Burano, Italy

It may take me a few weeks to post about all of it, as in two days I start moving in to my new house in Mexico, but it all warrants mentioning...especially the food.