The last two days have been simply marvelous. Forgive me, but I feel I must share them before they are lost to my memories alone. Nothing particularly spectacular happened but I had some very good experiences that reminded me of past days and new memories. Before I get ahead of myself, I've added a link to this blog so you can go check out some of my photos on Flickr from the last few weeks.
Yesterday I finally organized myself, a bit. I'm still a long ways from being totally settled, it seems every time I need a leaflet or timetable it goes missing under an accumulation of papers, and I haven't tackled my budget yet. That should be fun. The highlight of the day was that I attended two choir rehearsals, for two different choirs. The first is Vanbrugh Voices, a very informal choir that is currently working on Christmas Carols so we can go caroling in the city in December. The second is Revelation Rock Gospel Choir. Also very informal and loads of fun. It's held at Heslington Church, right next door to Alcuin College and basically it's just a big, fun group of people who love to sing. I haven't been in a formal choir for over two years and I can't tell you how amazing it felt to be singing again. Not to mention Choir people are always of the best sorts so hopefully i'll be making some good friends there.
Stories to bring home are what you seek when living abroad and I had a wonderful one today. As morning descended, the bright blue sky and great white clouds moving rapidly through the heavens eluded to the day. I joined up with Hannah and her friend from Leeds on a venture to Castle Howard, the filming location for Brideshead Revisited, and great house located just 15 miles from York. We arrived at Malton station and had 45 minutes before our bus to the house so seeing the grocery store next door we thought it would be a great idea to get some wine. Now don't go thinking I've taking up British drinking habits, this is all very innocent and in good humour. In the film Brideshead, there is a great deal of wine drinking at the temple on the castle grounds. It's only natural to want to emulate such a desireable past time.
Arriving at the house was breathtaking. We had lunch at the Castle Restaurant; the vegetable soup was divine, as was the coffee cake ;) Exploring the house became an adventure of the imagination as I listened to the Brideshead soundtrack on my ipod and strolled through the house and gardens. A couple of times I was forced to throw down my backpack and run through the hedge lined paths and fountain. I couldn't resist the feeling of freedom in such a beautiful surrounding. It's as if there is nothing else on Earth but the running water, gliding clouds, and yourself. There is an exhibition on the filming at the property and you can see the rooms that they used in the film as well. After exploring the grounds we came upon the temple of the four seasons, a very memorable location from Brideshead where Charles and Sebastian sample dozens of wines. Of course, we are much more modest. After taking countless photos we settled ont he wall overlooking the pasture of cows, the temple steeped in afternoon light, and the never ending countryside. There we opened our Lambrini (for those of you who are very particular, no this isn't actually wine, it's cheap sparkling perry that costs 3 quid, we're students remember?) It was absolutely idyllic. I cannot put into words the utter joy that I felt, sitting there with my cheap wine immitation, watching the light play on a 300 year old temple in the North of England. Sometimes you forget where you are, the setting and the moment brought me utterly to the present and I knew, without a doubt, that I was in England.
So thus ends the wonderful day...oh wait, maybe not! We spent so much time drinking by the temple that we missed the last bus (to be fair we were exploring the grounds, not just drinking) Another group of five people also were as lucky as us and we had to find another mode of transport. One of the older British men that had also missed the bus went to the kitchens where there were still staff working and managed to arrange lifts for all of us. A nice woman who worked at the Castle Howard restaurants obligingly drove us back to Malton where we rewarded ourselves with a hearty supper and caught the train home. And that officially ends the day and the story.
If you've read this far, you are very very dedicated and I thank you for listening to my rambing story. Please check out my pictures, if you are so inclined, I love sharing my good times with you all. Good Night!
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