ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!! (Part 5)

I believe this one will be the grand finale...

Once we were done on the boat ride, the rain had pretty well let up, and we stopped at the cafe and gift shop for a bit of refreshment...Poppy and I both got scones (with jam and clotted cream) and small (note that I said small) hot chocolates.





It was soooooooooooooooooo good! I think Poppy would agree with me that it was better than any birthday cake would have been! (It was her birthday!)



We didn't have a whole lot of time before we had to go back to Emma's to get our things for our trip home, so we stayed in that area and walked around a bit, enjoying the English countryside.







On our walk, Lizzie was excited to see something that she used to play with in her childhood...



It's a swing! You sit on the stick and swing! It was a lot of fun. Of course I, being the city girl that I am, had some trouble getting off without running into the huge tree the rope was tied to, and Lizzie had to save me! LOL





So we each took a turn, and then just a little further on, we found......



Willy Wonka's Chocolate Waterfall! Who knew?! So after that lovely stroll, we headed back toward Emma's home, stopping by their local marina on the way (and here's Poppy on the lock we had to walk across to get to the marina).



They had some lovely paint jobs on the boats!




(And I absolutely loved this building that was nearby...quite picturesque, don't you think?)



And because I have to put it somewhere, this is the beautiful view I had from the room I slept in, and the lovely occupant with whom I shared the room...



After that, we made sure all was packed (including our goods from the nearby shops...Wensleydale cheese, crumpets and candy!) and headed out to Nottingham. We found an old, abandoned field, got on our broomsticks and kicked off to home. It's quite a length of time to be on a broomstick, for sure, but above all the clouds, it was beautiful! I did actually get to see the coast of France, and wanted to land there so badly I nearly cried, but we had to push on to get back home and catch the Knight Bus to the Hogwarts Express and back home. I miss the moors sooooooooooooo much! Goodbye, England! I will come again, some day...

ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!! (Part 4)

I can't believe it's already been over a week since I was in England! It doesn't seem that long ago! Next time I'll just have to stay longer. ;) But I know that if I don't finish my blogging now, the England trip will go the way of the recordings of the Edinburgh trip...into obscurity...LOL

So the Sunday we were there, Poppy and I got to spend some time with Lizzie, as Emma had a graduation party for a family friend to go to. Sunday's plans were very spur-of-the-moment! LOL It had started out all rainy (I got to experience British rain! It's nothing like American rain! ;) LOL ), but I thoroughly enjoyed it, really and truly! I love rainy weather, and getting rained on there only made our experience that much more genuine. ;) Anyway, Lizzie took us over to the Standedge Tunnels. We went by the exhibit first, and learned a fair bit before getting to go on the canal boat ride!


We had to wear hard hats (for safety reasons) if we went out from under the boat's roof.


The ride took us a quarter of a mile into the tunnel (the total length of the tunnel is 3 and a quarter miles), and it was quite dark! The history behind the tunnels is truly intriguing! They even found a pick ax head when they were going about the restoration of the tunnels, and they believe it was used in the original making of the tunnels, in the 1800's! I got to hold it, even. :)


It wasn't very large, and it wasn't heavy at all, really, but I can easily see how repeatedly swinging it (especially overhead!) it would quickly become heavy. They believe that the owner of the ax head they found was illiterate, because you could see the markings he made on it to show ownership of it.


We even got to see a "drill"! It was a tool that was used as a drill long before power tools were invented...and let me tell you, I am so glad that I never had to drill a hole the way they did! I didn't get a picture of it, but it basically looks like this thin, cast iron rod with a little point on the end of it. One man would hold it up, and someone else would use a hammer to pound it against the wall of rock. The one holding the drill would rotate the drill a small degree, and it would get hit again. They repeatedly did that so they could fit some explosives into the hole, light it, run like mad, and pray they ran far enough away to not get killed by the blast. Sounds like fun, right? (Thank goodness for spells like bombarda!)

Inside the tunnel, you can see these "ridges," which are supportive arches that were added with the restoration, but there are actual gaps between these arches, and you can see how far up the tunnel ceiling used to be (though you can't really see it in the picture...you just see the arch and then pitch black. LOL).





It was a very narrow and dark tunnel (certainly not recommended for those that are clausterphobic!) where the boat barely had room to fit through. We repeatedly hit the walls. And back in the day of no engines, the poor Muggles had to use this technique called "legging," where two people would lay on their backs at the front of the boat (laying head-to-head) and sort of walk sideways down the canal to move the boat through. Evidently, it gets a bit wider further down the tunnel, and you had to be carfeul, or you may fall in! For those areas, they used another technique, called "shafting," where a person standing at the back of the boat would use a long pole to push the boat along. And there were people that did nothing but legging and shafting all day long! What a job!

The tunnel also runs parallel to the train lines, and we could hear them rumble past a few times. In fact, there was also a side tunnel (that was long since caved in, and didn't allow boat access) that connected to the train line.



Anyway, lots of history and fun little facts, but enough of the lecture. :) It is summer, after all, and I know not everyone is as into learning as the Ravenclaw lot. :) But the Standedge Tunnels was really a lot of fun to go see!



And I think I'll leave the rest of the day's adventures to yet another blog!

ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!! (Part 3)

So after the moors and the pottery shop, we headed back to Emma's house to meet up with Lizzie (who, sadly, was unable to spend the better part of the day with us, as she had a wedding to attend) and prepare for seeing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the IMAX theater!

I, naturally, went representing Ravenclaw (seen here sporting the Harry jacket, Hermione Hat, Radish earrings, butterbeer cork necklace, Ravenclaw hip scarf and book in hand):



Lizzie, of course, sported Gryffindor colors (seen here wearing her hat made by Kaae, Gryff hip scarf worn as a tie, radish earrings, butterbeer cork necklace, and Gryff bag made by Queen Frysia):



Emma portrayed Tonks as a Hufflepuff (who I did not get a separate photo of, but is wearing pink tonks hair with her witchy hat, Hufflepuff Pride socks, Hufflepuff wristies, radish earrings, and butterbeer cork necklace):



So Poppy went dressed in Slytherin colors to "complete the set," as she said :) (complete with green top, snake necklace, butterbeer cork necklace, and radish earrings):



And here we are at the theater:


I was surprised when they handed us 3-D glasses! I hadn't known it was going to be 3-D! I was also shocked by how long the 3-D bit was...until I realized that there wasn't going to be anymore for the rest of the whole movie. (All other movies I've seen in IMAX 3-D have had tidbits spread throughout the movie of the special effect...) As to the movie itself...well, I've always nitpicked movies based on books to itty-bitty bits and pieces before appreciating what was actually there, but, as my elder brother stated, "there is so little left from the book in the movie that there is no need to pick out little things that were different or just plain wrong. Instead, get a backhoe and start digging for the remains of the book." I have to agree, he's quite right. I'm sure I'll end up liking it (as I did Order of the Phoenix), but for now, I'm largely unsatisfied with it as a whole. (The storyline, that is...the effects were amazing!) I won't go into detail over that because a) it would take far too long, and b) I know there are still quite a few people out there that haven't seen it, and I don't want to spoil it for them!

ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!! (Part 2)

As I was reading over yesterday's anecdote, I realized that I had forgotten to put a bit in there...before we went to the train station, we had popped by the nearby wool shop (which is what they call...or at least used to call...an LYS), and it turned out to be a good thing we did! I was able to get some lovely gray yarn (acrylic/nylon/wool blend, looks to be about DK weight) that I have plans to make into another Hermione Hat. I can't believe I didn't think to take a photo of the wool shop! But back to where I left off yesterday...

We had quite the experience, visiting the MoM, and even got to meet the Minister of Magic himself, albeit briefly. (He is a very busy man, after all!) Following that, we quickly stopped by the local apothecary (I browsed for potions supplies...) before starting back toward the train station.




On our way back, Emma pointed out to us the weaver's cottages (noticeable by their very high windows, for weavers to have good light on their work), and made something of a game of spotting them. (Notice the white picket fence...LOVE IT!)




We strolled back down Butt Lane (I'm not joking! We walked up and down Butt Lane!) to the station and waited for the Hogwarts Express to tote us back to Hogsmeade.


Once back, the sweet Mr. Wigworthy drove us the scenic route (and I do mean scenic!) to the famed Attica wool shop. The moors in England are truly amazing! I could not get enough of them, and now that I've left England,I miss them dreadfully.

After seeing all that beauty, the settings of every book I've ever read that speak of the moors has suddenly changed for me. While we were waiting for the train, I bought myself a book (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte), and reading it now, after seeing what Anne pictured in her mind is truly amazing! Now I have to go re-read all those books over again to grasp the fullness of the novels!

There were livestock all over the hills, and I particularly noticed the knitter's friend: the sheep. As I got a closer look, I noticed that the farmers out here must be truly intelligent...they're making pre-dyed wool!

Ok, so it's really just the markings they put on the sheep to tell the herds apart, but I thought my little joke was funny...LOL

Once we got to our desitnation, it turned out that Attica closed mere minutes before we arrived. It was a bit disappointing to be able to peer into the windows and see the yarny goodness that I couldn't touch, but I must be honest; I wouldn't trade one minute of the beautiful moors for it! I can buy yarn other places (and I did! Another reason I wasn't overly distraught), but you can not find a substitute for the moors! Instead, we poked around in the pottery shop next door (in which Emma found a treasure for Lizzie, which would not have happened, were Attica open for business) until our time to leave for the movie....