a castle trip.
Hello.
So. I’m in England now and here is something that I’ve learned: If you know that the sidewalk is iced over and you need to walk to the train station, Converse All-Stars are a bad choice.
We are being merry and bright around here by doing lots of fun things. The Thompson’s, the Miller’s and myself loaded up this morning to head off into the country. Two hours we traveled to get to this beautiful castle called “Bolsover”. It was a glorious drive and Allison was like a little kid at the sight of all the snow along the roads (as was I).
We arrived in this sleepy village called Edwinstowe, which is apparently the place where Robin Hood and Maid Merrian were allegedly married. There was a statue and everything, so that proves it. We slipped and slided our way down the ice to find a place eat lunch and finally settled into this inn that had a very cozy restaurant inside. After a glorious lunch and a couple of coffees, we saddled back up to go to the castle. After winding our way over some treacherously snowy terrain, we finally arrived to the place of the castle.
Which brings me to another thing that I’ve learned since arriving in England: If you are going to visit some place far off, make sure you call ahead to be sure they are open on the day in which you would like to visit. Don’t trust the website. Call ahead. Whatever you do. Call ahead.
As we made the turn by the gate we noticed there was a small sign affixed to the front. We parked and I jumped out of the car to check the status of our dear old castle. A very old couple was wandering back from the gate as I approached.
“Is the castle open?”
“Oh. I’m afraid not. We were just stopping by to have some coffee and it was closed.”
“You’re kidding. Why is it closed?”
“We have no idea. It shouldn’t be. We’re from here and go there all the time. Say, did you come far?”
I should have said, “Yes. I came from Atlanta, GA to see this. Now I’ll go home in shame and disgrace.”
Instead I just said, “Birmingham”.
“Ohhh, dear”, they called in unison. “Well you should go to Hardwick Hall anyway. Its much better than the castle. It was a residence of Elizabeth I and its all decorated for Christmas.”
They then launch into directions which I am in no way qualified to interpret or understand. Thanks, GPS.
So I get back in the car. We throw some snow balls at each other. We’re cold. We head to Hardwick Hall.
After some driving we arrive at the place. There is a massive hill to climb and at the top is the house. But we had learned our lesson. Kevin called the place to make sure it was open. The exact words were, “Some parts are open and others are not.”
Before we were going to climb this little mountain, we check with the innkeeper there at the bottom.
“Is the hall open?”
He laughs.. “Oh no.”
“Nothing is open at all?”
“No no. You can walk around the grounds if you like, but you can’t go inside. Not today.”
Good thing we called ahead.
Which brings me to the next thing that I learned while living in England: Even after you have put on shoes with traction soles and have called ahead, you still should probably just stay home. When in doubt, assume that it is closed.
To be honest, we were all in pretty good spirits about the whole thing. Sure, we felt like losers, but that is just the kind of thing that will make me laugh my head off. To make up for it, we’ve decided to have a slumber party tonight. We’re cooking dinner and watching “Christmas Vacation”. I believe the girls are going to paint their nails while Kevin, Mike, and I bedazzle some jackets.
