Friday on Trains; Bits & Bobs

Friday (31 July) was spent mostly on trains. My sister-in-law picked us up at the cottage at around 7:30 in the morning and took us to the train station in Harrogate, where our train to London left on time at 8:33.

We arrived in London around 11:30 and had plenty of time to cross the road from King's Cross to St. Pancras and start the process of checking in and going through border control for the Eurostar, departing at 13:31. Everything went well, but we were disappointed to find once more that our seats didn't have a window; we could only look through a narrow gap between the backs of the seats in front of us instead of enjoying the view of first the English and then the French countryside on the 3 hours or so to Paris.

There, we had another 45 minutes or so to wait at Gare de l'Est for our train to Stuttgart, which was also on time. Border control between Strasbourg and Kehl (across the Rhine) made for a delay of ten or 15 minutes, but once in Stuttgart, we had several options and simply took the first local train going to Ludwigsburg.

Already on the way to Stuttgart it had started to rain, and we made that last part of the voyage home on foot from Ludwigsburg station in the rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I shut the door to my flat from the inside at almost precisely 10:00 pm.

Phew!

It was wonderful to have that rain, but because of the thunderstorm and gusts of wind, I could not keep all windows open to let fresh air in. Still, while I was unpacking and getting ready for bed, some exchange of air was possible.

Returning from a holiday always feels a mixture of strange and familiar, I find. But I slept reasonably well back in my own bed.

- - -

Here are some bits and bobs that for one reason or other weren't included in my other posts, in no particular order:

Look at this bust of an unknown man. Doesn't he look extraordinarily lifelike and modern? This work of art was created in the 2nd century of our time. It is one among many in the Great Hall at Castle Howard.

Another one from Castle Howard: This large vase with fresh meadow flowers was...

...in the Ladies' toilets there! Attention to detail at its best, I'd say.

The view from my bedroom at Matchbox Cottage in Ripon, towards the town. That yellow expansion is actually the lawn in front of our row of cottages. I have never seen it as dry as this in all the years we've been coming here.

Looking in the other direction, behind that hedge is our private garden. We can hang our washing there and sit with friends, as we did this holiday a couple of times.

Click to enlarge and read the over-enthusiastic and emotional marketing babble on the back of the muesli box we got from Tesco's. I found it rather weird to describe a muesli in such language:

My bedroom upstairs at Matchbox Cottage, as it looks now with new curtains and fresh paint:

The front of our cottage. On this bench we had our afternoon coffee/tea almost every day. The window behind the bench is the front room, the upstairs one is my bedroom.

A view of the row of cottages; Matchbox Cottage is our end, then follows Boxtree Cottages with our landlord and -lady living in the middle part and one of the previous owners of the B&B living at the other end.

Kirkgate, Ripon, coming towards the Cathedral. Always a beautiful sight!

A sunflower my husband sent me from an evening walk around the village:

The view I had from my place at our dining table, where we had breakfast every morning and where I sat for blogging:

One last picture from Castle Howard. This bust of Dionysos is at the bottom of the staircase visitors reach first when entering the house. Look at his eyes! He must be thinking, "Not another load of tourists..." or something like that:

Monday at Castle Howard - Part II

Logically, after the house we went out into the grounds of Castle Howard. They are vast, and we knew we were not going to cover every inch and walk every path, but we had two highlights in mind: The Temple of the Four Winds and the Walled Garden.

My 2015 post about the temple is here, and the one about the Walled Garden is here. How green it all was back then, not parched as it is this year!

The temple currently holds an art installation that I had read about before coming here, and just the fact that we were now able to go inside this beautiful and very special building was one of the reasons why I so wanted to visit Castle Howard this year. You can find out more about the artist and her installation here.

After we‘d spend some time there, contemplating and listening, we strolled across the grounds to the Walled Garden and had a good look around. 

Atlas Fountain

A very cool looking Neptune

Can you see why I took this picture?

Eventually, we were ready for some sustenance and decided on Cream Tea at the Courtyard Café, which in the past was the stable yard for Castle Howard. Our fresh scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam were delicious and went perfectly with the Earl Grey tea.

A. drove us back to Ripon on a different route than in the morning, so we saw even more beautiful countryside, picturesque villages and grand houses. It was early evening by the time we were back at the cottage, and after a quick spot of shopping at our nearby Tesco we spent the rest of the evening quietly reading and watching TV.

Monday at Castle Howard - Part I

Eleven years ago, my sister-in-law took us to Castle Howard for the first time. The place made a lasting impression on us and we always talked about going back, but it never worked out - until Monday (27 July).

I had booked our tickets for the house and gardens online while still in Germany, and visiting the house required to choose a time slot to regulate the number of people roaming the place. Ours began at 11:00, and we arrived a few minutes after that time at the ticket office and proceeded straight to the house.

Inside, there are friendly and knowledgeable volunteers in most rooms as well as handheld boards so that one can wander around at will, have a close look and read the relevant information.

There is currently an exhibition to celebrate 300 years of Vanbrugh, who designed the house. We found that very interesting, and a large model of the house and grounds showed the extent of the estate and how carefully it had all been planned and carried out. Vanbrugh lead a very adventurous life and comes across as a fascinating man, loyal and generous friend, kind family man and very talented writer and designer. My sister promptly ordered a book about him, which I am certainly going to borrow from her eventually.

We remembered most of the rooms from our 2015 visit, but a few things had been restored or replaced since. Click here if you want to compare the photos from back then with the ones I took on Monday.

Sculpture of Roman goddess Minerva, made of black marble and amber-coloured onyx

The interior of the chapel is by William Morris.

We browsed the gift shop at the end of the tour and found everything in there of very good quality (priced accordingly) and presented to high standards.

Lunch at the Fitzroy Café was next, and then we proceeded to the gardens - but just as 11 years ago, that will be another post.