...Just give me that countryside.

Tuesday!: We have been preparing for a while for an optional 10-mile hike that was to take place this day. The importance of good shoes, lots of water, and being physically fit was made known, since we were to take the train out of the city and hike all afternoon. Welllll..... I guess some people just have different definitions of "hikes"... I mean, it WAS ten miles after all, but I recall one good hill from the whole thing. Haha, but that being said, it was a LOVELY countryside walk. We got to be by sheep, and we got to see cottages, and we saw English nature. It was refreshing to have an all day activity outside. Sheep included. (Why do I love them so much all the sudden?)

Today was Wednesday, and you should all know by now that Wednesday = daaayy trrriippp!! It was basically a Jane Austen holiday. We first went to Stourhead Garden. It is basically a teeeeenie little town where really rich people lived in the 18th century, and they built a lake, and their own copy of the Pantheon, and the Temple of Apollo. They even built little ruins with statues and running water in them that look super old, (but they're not). I guess if you have the money, why not? It was SO very picturesque. AND for those of us who love them movies, the new(er) Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightly was filmed at the temple, the scene where Darcy confesses his undying love. QUITE unfortunately it was not as romantic as all the chick-flick lovers would have hoped... under construction. Bad timing.









Next we went to Jane Austen's house. It was cute with a cute garden, just like you'd picture it. This is where she revised/wrote her most well known works. I saw her room and a quilt she made, and piano music that she copied down by hand. People in those days were so much more dedicated. I even looked into her mirror. Can you believe it, my face has been reflected off of the same mirror that her face has been reflected off of. Jealous? You know you are...

Then we went to Winchester. It has one of the biggest cathedrals in England, and the longest medieval Nave in the world. Jane was buried there, and there's a nice little memorial for her. She really lived a simple, not too extravagant life, and so her grave is perfectly fitting.

I LOVE CATHEDRALS.





I had a little extra time so I walked up to the "Great Hall" where there is a mythical round table, built around the time of the Knights of the Round Table, but painted over with the portrait and crest of (guess who...) Henry III. I'm so not surprised.