Chatsworth House - as seen in Pride and Prejudice (2005)

This weekend I went to visit Scott. For my visit, he planned a trip to the English countryside to see Chatsworth House. You've probably seen Chatsworth House before. It was Mr. Darcy's Pemberley in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice and it was also in the Duchess.

We toured the house and the gardens, both were stunning. This was the first room we saw, the dining room.

The house had quite an art collection - paintings, statues, modern, traditional...you name it, they had it. This was one of my favourites. The statue is white marble, even the veil.

A view of the grounds from the window. We were lucky and just missed the rain.

I took this picture because it reminded me of Harry Potter. I should note that most things in Britain remind me of Harry Potter.

A gorgeous library! Both mine and Scott's favourite room of the house.

After the interior, we went to see the gardens which had some modern art features.

Scott and I never go anywhere without a food plan. Today it was crackers and cheese and chocolate champagne truffles picked up from the gift shop. *heaven*

After snacks, we tried our luck in the maze, but failed. We're convinced there wasn't an attainable centre. This disappointment was lessened by the lovely water features.

The next day we went on the Sheffield-eye. According to Scott, it's less of an engineering feat than the London-eye not only because of its size, but because in London, the pods are on the outside of the frame.

On our way up! And the end of our lovely weekend!



Exploring Newcastle

I've been in Newcastle now for about two weeks (time flies!). I haven't done much studying yet, but I have done a lot of exploring and organizing. The University has put on lots of events to welcome students, both local and international. I went to a particularly fancy one, the Vice-Chancellor's reception, at the city hall. The mayor welcomed us, and of course the Vice-Chancellor was there (what's a Vice-Chancellor?). There were about 500 students and they fed all of us, which was great!

For the past two weekends I've made a day trip out to the sea side - once with friends and once with Scott. When you think of England, you don't normally think of sandy beaches, but voila! Tyneside is a popular surfing destination...wet suits required.

Here we are munching on fish and chips. Micheal (left) is originally from Sweden but has lived in Newcastle for the past five years. He was our tour guide. :)

We're cold, but happy it isn't raining. Santiago (left) is my flatmate, then there's me, Katharina and Beatta (right) are from Germany and share a flat.

When I visited Tyneside with Scott we browsed the weekend market. It's a great mixture of antiques, collectables, artisan foods and sweets. Needless to say, I was in my element.

I bought this fantastic little teapot for £10. It was made in the USSR which dissipated in 1991 so it's at least 20 years old. I just love it! It is the perfect size to make 2 cups of tea - bliss.

 Scott and I split a pizza for lunch. The fish and chips are just a little too greasy for my liking.

For the remainder of the weekend we explored Newcastle and bought rain gear. Here I am on my uni's campus before I bought my rubber boots and umbrella - no more wet feet for me!



Scott and I went down to the quay. I admired the view; he admired the structural engineering. xo

Here we are on the Millenium Bridge. In the background to the left is the Sage art centre and behind us in the background is the Tyne bridge. And yes, that's the Tyne river.

I went exploring with Kadda and B earlier. Here they are on the quay with the Millenium bridge in the background.

I'm very much enjoying my new city. Some of the locals have really thick 'geordie' accents and can be difficult to understand, but for the most part it isn't an issue. Everyone is really friendly and I'm starting to get used to saying to-mah-toe.