Today a friend and I headed out into the country in need of some fresh air...the parks in London are lovely, but there is nothing quite like the English countryside. We hopped on a train at Kings Cross in the morning and headed north...stopping first at Ely, home to Ely Cathedral.
This cathedral has been a place of worship since 673. No, I did not forget a digit there...600s. The central tower was built in 1322 and it has been added on to and kept up since then.
We walked around to the front and were surprised to see a wedding party arriving! So happy and wonderful.
We only spent an hour or so here before moving on. Goodbye lovely Ely!
Moving on - we got back on the train and went a few stops north to King's Lynn. A 20-minute cab ride later and we found ourselves at our ultimate destination, Houghton Hall.
The reason we came was actually to see paintings...in 1779, a group of paintings belonging to Sir Robert Walpole were sold to Catherine the Great of Russia. The loss of the paintings was considered a great loss for the British state. They have been at home in the Hermitage since the 18th century, but now, 234 years later, the paintings have been returned to their original spots in the house for an exhibition called "Houghton Revisited."
No pictures allowed of the interiors, but such a cool opportunity to see some Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Poussin, Velazquez, and others that I would never have seen before (goodness knows when I'll get to Russia for a visit...)
Afterwards, Liz and I took a tour around the grounds. We hopped a "ha ha" (look up this amazing word here - best word ever) to see some sheep and then walked through the gardens (where visitors are actually allowed) admiring both the landscaping and the modern art scattered throughout
Here are the walled gardens
an inner courtyard
and the grounds behind the house
Here is one of the modern pieces...this seems to be a new trend among country houses - commissioning artists to do modern art sculptures for their gardens
this disk of slate is another.
Around the front of the house we found the village cross and village church
and here we are!!
We got a picnic of snacks and wine for the train ride home. Lovely, wonderful Saturday.
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