England - Sunday at Nether Burrows Farm

Why, thank you, Mr. Yeoman Warder!

So here we are!  England!  Place of my birth and a dream come true!  Steve's daughter Dana had given us very detailed instructions on how to get from Heathrow to Derby where we'd be staying for the week.  The instructions were daunting to say the least and made me feel as if I'd signed up to be a contestant on The Amazing Race.  I was very happy to have Steve's seasoned traveler son Mike with us to guide us through the intricacies of the itinerary.  

Since Mell had sat alone on the plane, she didn't complete a "landing card" given to us by the flight attendants.  This card is handed in to Customs and tells them how long you expect to stay in the U.K. and where you are staying.  When we landed, I stopped one of the airline personnel to ask where I might find an extra card.

"You'll have to pop back up and have a chat with one of the crew members."

Yep.  We're in England.  I couldn't help but giggle at his heavy accent.

One of the first stops was through  the aforementioned Customs.  We had a rather friendly agent ask us a few questions.  Among them were, "why Derby?".  Derby is beautiful to us but it may seem a bit dull to a Brit.  It would probably be the equivalent to me asking someone from the U.K. "why Whitney Point?" 

After Customs, we headed for the train station. A couple of trains later, we found ourselves in St. Pancras Station which was unbelievable! Shops, restaurants, statues and the architecture!  This is where you pick up the Eurostar to Paris.  Back when it was built in 1868 it was known as the world's largest enclosed space.  It was recently renovated and it manages to combine the modern with its rich history. We had a delicious lunch at one of the cafes before heading on to catch our train to Derby.

Steve and the girls at St. Pancras Station

The beautiful St. Pancras

John Betjeman statue

Victorian architecture!

Mind the time!  Don't miss your train!

Mind your luggage wheels is more like it!

I truly learned what Mind The Gap means.  The "gap" is the space between the platform and the train which could be disastrous if not minded.  Luggage wheels could easily get stuck in that tricky bit of space.

We reached the final leg of our journey and boarded the train to Derby.  During the entire two hour ride, I was mesmerized by the sights.  I noticed how many TV antenna were on the homes.  I was later corrected and told they're called "aerials" and how uncommon it is to have cable as we know it in America. I marveled at the chimneys on all the houses and later at the countryside with sheep everywhere. As tired as I was, I wasn't going to sleep and miss my first look at England.

We finally arrived at the Derby station where Dana and her friend Roger were waiting for us.  Because there were so many in our traveling party, Roger took the guys in his car while Mell, Syd, Dana and I took a taxi.  The girls had never met Dana before so we took advantage of the ride to start getting acquainted.  The girls loved the "jump seats" in the back of the cab.

Taxis are way cool in England!

We arrived at Nether Burrows Farm around sunset.  it was a little dark but we could still see how beautiful our home for the week was.  We had originally planned to stay in the Farmhouse but the fireplace wasn't working and Dana had us moved to Sunshine Cottage which was the original barn for the farm and had been renovated in 2008.  

All the modern amenities awaited us.  A beautifully appointed kitchen ready for entertaining was stocked by the ever thoughtful Dana.  Dana had also strung Christmas lights up our banister and on the windowsills of the bedrooms.  We even had a welcome bag waiting with a cozy pair of slippers for each of us!

Loved this kitchen!

The girls' room quickly had that "lived in" look.

The dining room table where we enjoyed
 all of Dana's phenomenal meals.

The window in our room.

We planned on doing the majority of the cooking for the week and Dana had a fantastic meal plan ready to go.  Knowing her dad and I are vegan, she planned the meal around our dietary needs.  Dana is also very health conscious so she knew exactly what to buy to keep us all eating well for the week.

The veg delivery waiting to be made into something tasty.

For dinner this night, Dana made an amazing Fennel Soup.  She made the chorizo on the side for the omnivores and used vegetable stock to keep it vegan.  This was so delicious and I immediately decided I would be making it often when we got back to the States.  A lovely salad with green beans and chicory added was served on the side along with sourdough bread.  Dana is a fantastic cook and I knew we were in for lots more great food during the week.

Fennel soup!  Hold the chorizo for the vegans!

The crew.

The wine flowed easily and we enjoyed a nice evening together. Since we weren't planning on driving anywhere during our stay, Dana and Roger had researched the public footpaths for hiking and getting to and from the pubs.  Dana checked out the footwear situation and determined the boots Syd and Mell had brought with them would never do in the heavy mud on the footpaths.  She decided both the girls needed Wellington boots or "Wellies" as they're called in England.  A couple of clicks of the mouse and the Wellies were on their way.

The girls' Wellies that would take them through
the English countryside all week.

We were exhausted so after a soak in the tub, we turned in early looking forward to a fun week ahead.

The bathroom in our room on the top floor.