Spring Sun and Stately Homes

Stourhead Gardens

Sorry for the prolonged silence ... sometimes when blogging you lose the desire to write and, for me, I have experienced that over the past month.

All that aside, I finished my ski season on the 27th April and from there, Janine, Paul and I all traveled back via countless trains and the Eurostar to Wimbledon, where I stayed overnight. I then made the journey to Reading and have since been staying with my grandparents.

I was lucky enough to visit several amazing places during my stay here in the UK, a highlight of which was The Vyne in Basingstoke; a National Trust stately home and it's stunningly green gardens. My Auntie and Uncle took me there for the day and we packed a picnic and soaked up the beautifully warm Spring sun on the lawns, before touring the house. What is special about it is that it features architectural styles from many periods, including Tudor and Adam.

Inside The Vyne

The Vyne and the lake

The Servants' Bells

On the subject of stately homes, I had a three-day visit down to Devon (to visit our family - who spoiled us rotten), Somerset and Bath. During my time with my lovely friend Claire - who did a Gap Year to Australia and lived with me at my boarding school - we went to Stourhead, another National Trust house.

Stourhead is made famous by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 movie features Stourhead's gardens, and one of the temples in the gardens, The Apollo Temple. The gardens were teeming with blooming flowers, particularly rhododendrons. Ducks floated along happily on the lake and it was one of the most picturesque scenes I think I've ever seen. Funnily, when you're in that kind of setting, you lose concept of time - it could easily have been the 19th century and I doubt things would have looked much different at all.

Claire and I enjoying our lake walk

As seen in Pride and Prejudice

Such lush greenery

It is so bizarre going from the white, snowy, alpine landscapes to such vividly coloured flowers and greenery. I've enjoyed having some time to rest, re-group and detox - I have hardly touched any alcohol (only one glass of champagne I believe) since I finished the season.

Since my Mum arrived we have been enjoying each other's company and yesterday took a huge day-trip into London, doing things like visiting the British Museum and seeing Wicked The Musical. I hope to blog about that really soon.

The big backpacking adventure starts on Monday so I have lots of packing to do between now and then, but excitement is certainly starting to build.