Chatsworth and Yorkshire

Hi happy people!

Another week went over and my weekend was filled with nice activities. I am really happy that I have every Friday off. That gives me and the other assistants the opportunity to plan nice day trips. Our last day trip is just over and we went to Chatsworth!

Marie, the French assistant has fairly the same interests as I have. This term we both wanted to visit Chatsworth in Derbyshire . She has already been to Chatsworth but I always wanted to go.
When I stayed with J she always said she does not bother to go there again because she takes all her guests to Chatsworth and she was kind of fed up with paying the expensive entrance fee to get inside the house. But I know Chatsworth from various movies and it is the stately house where Pride and Prejudice or some scenes of "The Dutchess" were shot so it is really famous here in England.
Every year they have a special Christmas decoration and this year the theme was Charles Dickens. He himself has been to Chatsworth and he is famous for stories like "A Christmas Carol", "Oliver Twist", "Great Expectations" and "A Tale of Two Cities" just to name a few novels.
So different rooms within the house were decorated according to these novels. Moreover, well-known artists from Derbyshire contributed to this exhibition and they produced art pieces influenced by the novels to promote this christmas exhibition.

Room "Great Expectations"

It was really Christmassy and now I am really in a Christmas mood.

Moreover, by paying the entrance fee we had the chance to explore the gardens of Chatsworth. Additionally to this there was a very nice Chritmas market just outside the house with arts, crafts, drinks, food and many more. So it was really worth going to visit Chatsworth on the weekend!
When you pay the entrance fee you get a time slot in which you are allowed to visit the house. This helps that it does not get too crowded inside. When we arrived it was really busy so we had to one hour which gave us enough time to wander around the christmas market. We decided to enjoy lunch in a nice restaurant inside the house because I have heard that they serve really nice food. So we did that first and afterwards it was time to explore the house.
It was breathtaking inside the house! The paintings on the ceiling were stunning and really elaborate. It took us round about two hours to visit the house and here are some pictures from inside:

Afterwards we wandered around the gardens. Outside there were sculptures, mazes, vegetable gardens, flower gardens and so much ground to explore! You really felt as if you would live in a different time period. It was great!
After wandering around the outdoor area we strolled again over the Christmas market and we bought roasted chestnuts and gingerbread cookied and waited for the bus back to Sheffield. From Sheffield we took a train back to Gainsborough and we were all really happy and tired after this busy and exciting day!

The next day started with a nice breakfast at home and after this we went off to Yorkshire. Andy's mother lives in Knaresborough and we said he wanted to visit her and to show me where he grew up so we went as a family together to visit his mother!
It took us one and a half hour to get there but when we arrived we were welcomed with a hot pumpkin soup and after eating we went oustide to explore the town. Knaresborough is located at the river Nidd and therefore it is a spa town. Sights within Knaresborough include the Castle, the Courthouse Museum and the railway viaduct over the river Nidd which you can see in the following picture:

Here you can see the Castle

After a stroll through the town we went to visit Andy's brother who lives not far away from his mothers. They had one grown up Jack Russel and one small puppy. They were really nice and we talked a lot. After this visit we went back to Andy's mother and enjoyed a Sunday Roast on a Saturday evening at hers. It was really tasty and a funny evening with lots of fun and laugther.
After eating so much nice food we were all really tired so we watched "Jingle All the Way" with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was really funny. Although the movie is quite old (from 1996) I have never watched it before:D It was funny and afterwards we drove home and went to bed.
Today (Sunday) we just had a lazy evening but once in a while I really enjoy doing NOTHING!:)
That was my weekend with some impressions.

Next weeekend I am off to London again because I ordered tickets for the Kooks! I will visit two friends of mine from Germany in London and we will stay for the whole weekend from Friday to Sunday in the capital!
I am really looking forward to that and of course I will keep you updated.

Lots of Love, xx A.