Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Easter in the English Countryside....

I was invited by my lovely friend Lauren to come spend Easter with her and her boyfriend Toby at her moms house in her hometown of Devon.  Of course I accepted this gracious invitation and set off for my first "Holiday" since arriving.  I hopped on a train at Richmond station and settled in for the ride.  The scenery during the ride was so green and alive.  Many of the fields were filled with spring time baby animals.  They were so precious (sorry no photos of the babies).  It was about 2 hours to my train transfer in Reading (pronounced Redding like my hometown).

Out the train window
I found out that trains are not as easy to figure out as the tube.  This is due to the fact that they don't tell you all the stops along the way just the end.  This means if you aren't the end of the line you better know what the end of the line is for your train that has your stop otherwise you end up staring blankly at a bunch of stops and times that mean nothing to you.  That would be what I did for a bit till I realized this wasn't really getting me anywhere and I might miss a train I needed to be on....moment of panic since I couldn't find my stop...Luckily there was a very nice man...ok that's a lie...he was totally grumpy and clearly thought I was an idiot but he did finally help me by telling me the train I needed.  Although due to the nature of our conversation I had my doubts that he sent me in the proper direction.  Despite his grumpiness I did end up on the correct train and arrived safely at my destination.  Upon arrival I was taken straight to a local pub by Amy (Lauren's Mum), Lauren and Toby that Lauren worked at when she was younger.  Everyone knew everyone in this place and it was exactly what you would picture as a true English Pub.  There was even a pub dog named Tiny who had been there as long as anyone could remember.  After we finished our pint of ale we headed out to the countryside for a walk.  As we drove the small windy roads I felt like I was in true England.  It was so green and many of the houses had thatched (moss style) roofs.
View from Stone Bridge
 The walk through the green was lovely.  I really don't even know how to describe the peaceful beauty I was surrounded by.  There was so much grass and trees.  More then I am used to being in the middle of.  The grander of this open space made me realize for a moment how small I really am in the grand scheme of life.  We just took our time and strolled.   We crossed an old stone bridge.  On the banks of the pond the bridge was over were fishermen with tents and everything set up.  We also stumbled upon a beautiful old boat house that was from the early 1800's and still had great structure.  It just needed a bit of love.  It was a wonderful Easter Sunday stroll.

                                            
                                                         Boat House
 
We then headed back to Lauren's Mums house for dinner.  It is and adorable place with a a great back yard.  I would live on the little blue deck chair...Well maybe only partially live there since it rains the majority of the time there.  Let's just say any bit of sunshine and I would be out there in my bikini book in hand.
Little Blue Deck Chair
Amy cooked a glorious Easter dinner...seriously this woman can cook!  The rest of the night was bottles of wine and games.  I learned a great new card game (I will teach you all when I return) and we played a bunch of board games.  Just a bit of warning for any of you who come over here and play a game you are good at in the states.....you won't be here since the questions are are changed to be very British.  Be warned you will loose unless you brush up on your British film stars, T.V. shows, and footballers (British football not American).
Easter Monday was a pretty dreary day so we just relaxed around the house which was great.  Played some more games (I got bit better at them) ate more, Lauren is just as good a cook as her mum.  Good thing I have my yoga class otherwise I might have become the size of a house after all this amazing food.  I am stopping the rumor that english food is bad right here...everyone just doesn't have the right people cooking for them.

This was one of the most lovely Easters I have had in years.  Great food, lovely company,and the feeling of being a part of a family so far away from mine.  I hope all of you had as blessed and wonderful Easter as I did.
Easter in Devon..Lauern, Toby and Amy.
 

1 comment: