We wake up at 7 in the morning to meet outside my dorm at 7.45 to start our journey. We were planning on taking the 8.40 national express bus, but missed it by six minutes. So we hung out in Birmingham until the next bus at 11. I was actually awake for the whole ride, which is strange because I usually sleep on bus rides. So I got to see a lot of the country side. Chesterfield is in the National Peak District so there is a lot of good sights of the country.
We arrive in Chesterfield around 12.50 and ask for help to try and get to Chatsworth House. Lucky for us, a bus was about to pull up in 5 minutes. However, we had to wait in the cold! It was soooo cold outside, and I only had my little cardigan because Wolverhampton was so beautiful. You would think I would learn about the weather changing every 5 minutes here. Anyway, it was about a 30 minute bus ride to where we needed to be dropped off. As soon as we left the bus, you could smell horse/cow manure. The smell doesn't bother me... in fact, when I pictured England, I thought it would smell like this. We start our walk into the gardens. It was so beautiful. Hills of rolling green grass, even a little stream that followed us all the way to the house. Even though it was overcast, it was amazing. There was just so much nature and trees that had leaves on them!! About 10 minutes into our walk, we start to see Chatsworth House. From a distance (and even up close for that matter) it looks like it was burned, but it is just the weathering on it. We get closer and closer, and I get more and more excited. Perhaps I am a dork because I was so excited, but this was just the highlight of my month!!
The house itself is huge. I could not get a whole shot of it in my camera! This is just the side of the house, so you can't see the water that is in the front of the house as shown in the movie. But we walk into a little courtyard and open one of the doors to get in, pay 8 pound 50 and go in. As soon as I walked in, my breath was taken away. There is so much detail in every single room... it took so long for this to get done. And the fact that all of it is pretty much the same way is amazing. When we first enter, we are in the painted room. If you've seen the movie, it is the one room that Lizzy and her family walk into at first and Lizzy is looking at the ceiling. The room with the black and white tiled flooring. Every wall/ceiling was painted. And as we walked through the rest of the house, it was obvious that almost every single room had a painted ceiling!!
Then at the very end of the little tour, we go into the sculpture room... once again, if you've seen the movie, it is the one that holds all the sculptures (obviously...) and the one of Mr. Darcy that Lizzy looks at. It was there! I guess they left it there because what else are they going to do with it?! It was so cool looking at it and just being there. I have such a huge imagination and reading Austen's novel and watching the movie just boosted my imagination. I am so glad that it wasn't entirely made up (the movie) that they actually used scenes and stuff from the house. It made it more real to me.
After the house, we go into the gardens, which is about 300+ acres. We walk to the front of the house and take some pictures. It was just like the movie, once again. It was so pretty just looking at it. It would be amazing to live in a house like this, but also kind of weird. It had so much stuff, and we probably only saw 1/4 of the house. The other parts were all blocked off and it took us an hour. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we were on a tight schedule so we didn't miss our bus back into Birmingham.This was the highlight of my month. Very worth the 40 pounds ($80.00)!!! Just to say I was there and got to look at the things. It made Pride and Prejudice more real for me. Sure, it isn't a different country or something everyone knows about, but to me it was incredible. Perhaps I am a dork because I was so excited, but these are the things that make me happy. While small and not so known, I know it and that is all that matters.
Go look at me 106 pictures I took!! http://community.webshots.com/user/Kyrielynn6 granted some of them look the same, but that is how I do it... I like taking some of the same pictures incase one turns out and one doesn't. I hope you enjoy them!!
We got back into Wolverhampton around 8.45. We were all beat and exhausted so we went and ate some food and then I came back home, checked e-mail and stuff and went to bed. It feels like it should be Sunday, but it is only Saturday!!
Tonight I think we are doing a Harry Potter night before Mike leaves. We have to wake up at like 4 in the morning to take him to the airport, and then Heather and I are going to the Library all day tomorrow because I have a paper due on Monday that I have not really started. WOOHOO!!
And, in two weeks... I will be in ITALY! Holy smokes... this is amazing. Also, next Saturday is our school trip to York, so that should be fun.
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