First Impressions of Great Britain

If you catch the literary reference in the title of this post, I officially love you. Chances are, if you're reading this, you are one of my loved ones, but if you get the reference, it's official.

Reason #1 why Britain is Great: the West Dean manor, pictured below.

I freaking love this house. It's been preserved, so it has rooms that look like how they probably did during the Regency era (I'm no expert on historic decor, so this is just the amateur opinion of an Austen-fan). There's a beautiful, red-carpeted staircase that I walk up and down several times a day, while thinking of Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria. It also has a rickety-looking servant staircase, which has a lot of character. Sometimes, I wander around the house and turn up somewhere I've never been, facing stuffed, dead animals that are quite scary when you're not expecting them.

This is the Oak Hall, which I think looks a lot like the Gryffindor Common Room. I like to sit in it and pretend it's the Gryffindor Common Room.

This is the view from my window. As you can see, it's quite cheery. Actually, I love my view because I think that it's really authentic to see a little church and cemetery out the window in England.










Reason #2 why Britain is Great: the West Dean grounds.


Here are the sheep that you can see as soon as you exit the front door of the house. At some point, I want to get a picture of me right up close to a sheep, but I'm a little afraid of frightening them and causing them to stampede. Do sheep stampede?











Hagrid's Hut!!














This is the stream that runs right by my friend Sharon's cottage. It might be the same one that I pass on my way to the village post office. One frosty morning, when I was walking to the post office to mail a Valentine's Day card to my special person, it was so cold and clear that I could see mist or steam rising up from the creek. I'd never seen that happen before...it was kind of eerie, but very beautiful. Despite the cold (or perhaps because of it? not sure if air or water is colder), the ducks were still diving in. I was pretty impressed.





Anyway, I've never been one for reading long blog-posts (my attention usually goes after the third paragraph), so I'll spare you all and promise to write more on my favorite britishisms, tea breaks, and Dame Maggie Smith very soon.