A day of rest -- sort of

Today, our three days of train trips to London finished, we decided to have a day of rest. But while most people would take a good book and sit in the garden to rest, we decided to go visit gardens instead. Two were recommended to us and our B&B hostess, Vicky, put sticky notes on a map to show us just where to go. Ultimately, we would only have time for one, but before we headed out on our gardening quest, we went in search of a quite different form of art -- that of stained glass.

According to Vicky, quite near here was a church in the village of Tudeley which has been built on the foundations of an ancient Saxon church. And, if you know your history, goes back before the Invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D. After all, Robin Hood was a Saxon, wasn't he. I'm not just sure how long the present church has been sitting there on those Saxon foundations, but I found reference to the late medieval times. However old it is, that's not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about are the windows which were crafted by the noted artist, Marc Chagall. Chagall was commissioned to do the windows to commemorate the untimely death of the twenty-one year old daughter of a wealthy local landowner. The windows were all pretty magnificent, but photo one is my favorite. The most astounding fact is that Marc Chagall was in his late 80s when he took on the job and completed the last four windows when he was ninety!!!

From Tudeley we headed for the gardens of Sissinghurst. The grounds are referred to as Sissinghurst Castle, not because it had ever been a castle, but because at one point during the 1700s some French prisoners being kept there gave it that name. The few buildings that have survived are but a tiny remnant of what started out in the 1400s as a walled estate complete with moat. In the 1500s the then owner let the older estate fall down, and he built a completely new estate just to the north. Subsequent owners knocked down most of the buildings contained in the second estate with only about a 1/10th of the original structures surviving. By the third decade of the 20th century, a wealthy and talented couple, Nigel Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West, noted authors of over 40 books apiece, purchased the "Castle" and began to restore what was left of the structures and grounds.

We had a simply marvelous time in the Castle gardens. As most English-style gardens are typically constructed, there are loads and loads of different "rooms" within the garden. Sissinghurst has ten rooms, including an all-white garden, an herb garden, and a cottage garden. Intertwining all these rooms are these wonderful brick and stone paths. For each room you often come around a corner and there, laid out before you, is yet another room. Often your specific room has a focal point, a statue, an urn full of daises, or water feature. Consequently, you can wander and wander and wander and never get tired of the view.

One of the things that impressed me most were the fig trees. Some of you might know that I recently brought home from California a fig tree that I hope I can keep alive in the sunroom. But at Sissinghurst, where Vicky tells us it can get to 2 or 3 degrees below zero, they are not only growing figs, but the plants appear to be thriving. Now I have renewed hope of growing mine outside. They appear to be giving them an edge by growing them against a house or garden wall. If you want to visit an English garden that is easy to find, easy to afford (if you have the Brit Heritage pass), and easy to recognize that it will live long in your memory, this is the one. Bring your camera and you won't be disappointed. Just outside of the garden they have an absolutely marvelous little cafe where you will be rewarded with some truly fine food, often made with ingredients picked right on the property. Concetta and just adored the place and would definitely recommend it to lovers of gardens and lovers of history alike.

We stopped one other place on our way to Sissinghurst. Many of you know that I just love antique vehicles. So, when we passed a restoration shop on the way to Sissinghurst we, of course, pulled right over and wandered in to check it out. Thankfully, the chap with the grease rag in his pocket cheerfully welcomed us inside and gave us a rundown on each vehicle on display. The one pictured here is a Bentley and the mechanic declined my request to divulge the price. However, I suspect it's one of those cases where if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

Well, that's our day in a nutshell. If anything, I loved today better than all the others since I've been wanting to visit a garden ever since we landed on British soil. So, I finally had my wish, and all is right with world now. So, until tomorrow, I'll have to say,

Ciao, tutti.