Kristin woke me up and I had enough time for a quick breakfast and to prepare for our day of walking with the Ramblers. The Ramblers is a group of elderly people in the area that meet every Tuesday at 10 am and go walking for the day, until about 2 in the afternoon. Kristin was invited to join the group on her off weeks and we decided to tag along today. She packed us a nice lunch and we were off to meet our fellow walkers. Everyone in the group was so welcoming and I really enjoyed the company. My two favorites were a man named Peter and his girlfriend Dorothy. They were very chatty and asked all sorts of questions about Nebraska. The large group, about 20 in total, took a bus to a nearby village. All "seniors" in this country ride the bus for free, so Kristin and I were the only two that had to buy bus tickets. Kristin bought us a roundtrip and then we realized we only needed one way tickets because we were planning to walk home. Whoops! Thanks for the bus tickets Kristin!
The group hoped off the bus and we spent the next 4 hours walking through the countryside back to the village of Bradwell. England is full of public walking paths, allowing anyone to walk on other people's property, right through their field with their sheep and cattle. It was a bit odd for me to be walking among the sheep, but it was very fun. We walked through many fields and I was able to get very muddy. Luckily Kristin let me borrow a pair of her walking shoes otherwise I would have been in trouble! The walk was tremendous, Dorothy pointed out the farm she was born on and all thing things around the area. The group told many "back when" stories, and I found them all very entertaining. It was a long walk for me, up hills, down hills, through fields, etc. I was ready to be finished when we arrived back in Bradwell, but it was an all around great experience! I really enjoyed the day and I took lots of pictures. The group is so fun! I would go weekly if I lived here.
After our walk, Kristin drove me to Chattford Manner. This is the home to the Duke of Devonshire and was used in the filming of Pride and Prejudice. It is an incredibly beautiful Manner, and extremely large. It is open for tourists even though it is still the home of the Duke and his wife. I found that very odd, but I was very impressed with it. I did recognize a few areas from the movie. After that we drove around to different shops in the area to look around. The shops are very cute and I really enjoyed that, however all I bought was a postcard. :( I can't carry much home in my back pack! Once home I showered to warm up a bit and stood in front of the fireplace for a long time. Kristin and Ian prepared another WONDERFUL dinner. They served pasta with spicy meatballs. It was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten and I almost finished my oversized bowl full! Delicious! We also enjoyed some Honey Cider we had purchased earlier in the day, it was very good cider. We ended the night curled up on the couch by the fire.
Ah, the life. :)
Anna
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