jane austen day...

our day trip this week was devoted to the wonderful jane austen. i really really wish linds could have been here for this one. it would have made the whole day more enjoyable, as i could have her narrate for me. we first stopped at the stourhead landscape gardens. they were so pretty! perhaps another gerald r. ford moment for me. there was a huge lake, with a path around it that made for a nice nature walk. we saw the pantheon and the temple of apollo. if you have seen pride and prejudice, the temple of apollo is where they filmed the scene at the end of the movie with mr. darcy and elizabeth. although i have never seen the movie (don't freak out... because everyone else did when i told them that) at least i have been there... i mean, who needs to see it if they have practically been there! we weren't able to go inside it, because they are doing construction, but i saw it from a distance and that was enough. my director said this place is crawling with flowers in the spring time, so i can't even imagine how pretty it would be with flowers... all i saw were dead hydrangeas- boo! fun fact: the bathrooms at stourhead were quite a hit too! they were green and beautiful... just like the gardens!

{the pantheon}

{pretty eh?}
{jen and i- with the sun in our eyes}
{the pantheon again}
{stair photo}
mads, kalyn, macy, sarah, karalyn, anna, tori, mk, jen, liza, me, rachel, christina, jenny, audrey
{dead}
{look! its where pride and prejudice was filmed}
{self explanatory}
{aren't they cute?}

next, we went to jane austen's house. this is where she wrote most of her books. she wrote emma and northanger abbey here, and revised pride and prejudice and sense & sensibility. i never knew much about miss austen, but i was very enlightened on this trip. back in her day, it was very unusual for women to be educated, and especially for women to write. jane's family was the only ones who knew about her writing, so while writing, she always kept embroidery close by, so if she ever heard anyone coming into the house, she would put it over her pages. all her books were initially published anonymously and would say something like "Emma: a novel, by a woman". i am so grateful times have change, and am thankful that jane austen is so well recognized. she deserves it. i am inspired to read some of her books now! she sounded like quite the lady.

the last stop was winchester cathedral. this is where jane austen is buried. the cathederal was so so beatuiful inside! oh how i love my cathedrals. this one also had some really neat art inside it. to see some pictures click here.

{winchester cathedral}
{inside}

{her grave}