The England trip - Suffolk
Sep. 1st, 2005 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frualeydisSo, after having talked without stop about ancient history I'm going to relate some more recent history:
Friday: We took the train to Mark's Tey and then changed to a very small diesel train to Sudbury. The first stop was a railway museum station and when we were leaving it we met a train looking like Thomas the Tank Engine and I thought that was cool. Bess (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
myladyswardrobe)and Edmund (edmndclotworthy) met us at Sudbury and took us home to their exceptionally cute medieval house in Glemsford. There we met sarahbellem for the first time and it was really, really nice. I hope I get to see more of her in the future. Bess and Edmund's house is amazing. It's the first time I've ever been in a late medieval private house and there is so much left of the medieval and 16th century stuff! I especially like the music room which looks like it's wholly from the 16th century. I'm also envious of the fact that they have several rooms to use as guest rooms. If somebody wants to stay with us they would have to sleep on matresses in the living room or in teh children's rooms if they aren't with us that week. The guest rooms came in handy since not only Anna, Maja, Sarah and me, but also peronel were staying the night. Peronel worked late and didn't turned up until 8. Then we had the most divine pasta with ricotta and spinach, created by Edmund (BTW, I would love a "recipe" of it Edmund. I know you created it yourself). Since everybody was going to Kentwell the next morning we didn't stay up late but went to bed around 10.30. Oh, and I got to see Sarah red taffeta dress and her french hood IRL! I'm definitely going to make a new french hood like that. When I make a tudor.
Saturday: Saturday we spent at Kentwell Hall which I'm sure all of you have heard a lot about since quite a few "kentwellies" are active on LJ. Bess, Edmund and Peronel were "working", Bess and Edmund as gentry and Peronel as the farmer's wife, cooking in the cottage. It was a really nice house and I enjoyed looking at all the things people were doing. Crafts and the like I've seen before of course, since I've been active in "the medieval hobby" for 12 years, but it was nice anyway. Most of all I liked looking at the house and the gentry though, because a) I like upper class costumes and b) since upper class things are very seldom done on medieval markets and Living History events it was more "new". Most of the costumes were nice, but my (totally unbiased) opinion is that Bess' and Edmund's were the best of the gentry. We also looked at the huge church in Long Melford, were Kentwell is situated, and at the village which is a really nice village with lots of old houses. It was also very nice to spend the whole day talking with Sarah and I wish we could have had more time to do that.
After Kentwell closed we went to the local pub and ate before going home and watching Bess on video, in a TV-thing about Anne Boleyn. Edmund was tired and fell asleep with Bilbo in his lap.
Sunday: We started out rather late, which was nice. It was very pleasant just to sit in Bess' and Edmund's kitchen and talk about living history, costumes, fabric, and LJ of course. Then we all went to a place called Wyken vineyards, which Sarah declared "very Martha Stewart", for lunch and a walk in the gardens. The lunch was delicious, but as usual the timing was bad so that we should eat when it was Maja's nap time. This happened all the time this trip, so I think it was destiny. Bess and Edmund treated us to the lunch, for which I am very grateful, being a rather poor student. After seeing the gardens we went home and I and Anna went for a walk in Glemsford, which is a really nice historical village (there are several pictures of Bess' and Edmund's house, but I'm not telling which, because they may not want to). Then Edmund came up with the brilliant idea to go to Long Melford to eat indian food. Of course Maja wanted to sleep and was a little restless and cranky, but the food was wonderful and Maja ate lots of poppadums. Then we went home and got to bed.
Monday: This was the day we were going to go home so while Edmund went to Colchester to put Sarah on a train to London Anna and I packed and I also finally got the time to look at Bess' costumes and her fabric stash. Both are them are wonderful. I love Bess' costumes and I finally got handle different types of 100% silk brocade. Even if I probably can't afford it for a couple of years it's good to know how the real stuff feels when you're looking for substitutes. At 3 they drove us to Stansted airport, which was very nice of them, and arounf 5 we said goodbye and at 6 we we're on our way home.
I had a really good time, but now I think my desire to travel is put to rest for quite a long while. It's good to be home.
Friday: We took the train to Mark's Tey and then changed to a very small diesel train to Sudbury. The first stop was a railway museum station and when we were leaving it we met a train looking like Thomas the Tank Engine and I thought that was cool. Bess (
myladyswardrobe)and Edmund (edmndclotworthy) met us at Sudbury and took us home to their exceptionally cute medieval house in Glemsford. There we met sarahbellem for the first time and it was really, really nice. I hope I get to see more of her in the future. Bess and Edmund's house is amazing. It's the first time I've ever been in a late medieval private house and there is so much left of the medieval and 16th century stuff! I especially like the music room which looks like it's wholly from the 16th century. I'm also envious of the fact that they have several rooms to use as guest rooms. If somebody wants to stay with us they would have to sleep on matresses in the living room or in teh children's rooms if they aren't with us that week. The guest rooms came in handy since not only Anna, Maja, Sarah and me, but also peronel were staying the night. Peronel worked late and didn't turned up until 8. Then we had the most divine pasta with ricotta and spinach, created by Edmund (BTW, I would love a "recipe" of it Edmund. I know you created it yourself). Since everybody was going to Kentwell the next morning we didn't stay up late but went to bed around 10.30. Oh, and I got to see Sarah red taffeta dress and her french hood IRL! I'm definitely going to make a new french hood like that. When I make a tudor.Saturday: Saturday we spent at Kentwell Hall which I'm sure all of you have heard a lot about since quite a few "kentwellies" are active on LJ. Bess, Edmund and Peronel were "working", Bess and Edmund as gentry and Peronel as the farmer's wife, cooking in the cottage. It was a really nice house and I enjoyed looking at all the things people were doing. Crafts and the like I've seen before of course, since I've been active in "the medieval hobby" for 12 years, but it was nice anyway. Most of all I liked looking at the house and the gentry though, because a) I like upper class costumes and b) since upper class things are very seldom done on medieval markets and Living History events it was more "new". Most of the costumes were nice, but my (totally unbiased) opinion is that Bess' and Edmund's were the best of the gentry. We also looked at the huge church in Long Melford, were Kentwell is situated, and at the village which is a really nice village with lots of old houses. It was also very nice to spend the whole day talking with Sarah and I wish we could have had more time to do that.
After Kentwell closed we went to the local pub and ate before going home and watching Bess on video, in a TV-thing about Anne Boleyn. Edmund was tired and fell asleep with Bilbo in his lap.
Sunday: We started out rather late, which was nice. It was very pleasant just to sit in Bess' and Edmund's kitchen and talk about living history, costumes, fabric, and LJ of course. Then we all went to a place called Wyken vineyards, which Sarah declared "very Martha Stewart", for lunch and a walk in the gardens. The lunch was delicious, but as usual the timing was bad so that we should eat when it was Maja's nap time. This happened all the time this trip, so I think it was destiny. Bess and Edmund treated us to the lunch, for which I am very grateful, being a rather poor student. After seeing the gardens we went home and I and Anna went for a walk in Glemsford, which is a really nice historical village (there are several pictures of Bess' and Edmund's house, but I'm not telling which, because they may not want to). Then Edmund came up with the brilliant idea to go to Long Melford to eat indian food. Of course Maja wanted to sleep and was a little restless and cranky, but the food was wonderful and Maja ate lots of poppadums. Then we went home and got to bed.
Monday: This was the day we were going to go home so while Edmund went to Colchester to put Sarah on a train to London Anna and I packed and I also finally got the time to look at Bess' costumes and her fabric stash. Both are them are wonderful. I love Bess' costumes and I finally got handle different types of 100% silk brocade. Even if I probably can't afford it for a couple of years it's good to know how the real stuff feels when you're looking for substitutes. At 3 they drove us to Stansted airport, which was very nice of them, and arounf 5 we said goodbye and at 6 we we're on our way home.
I had a really good time, but now I think my desire to travel is put to rest for quite a long while. It's good to be home.
