Category Architecture
Winchester!
I’ve been meaning to see the heritage rose garden at Mottisfont Abbey for more than a year now. I missed the window for seeing them bloom last year, so I’ve had the excursion planned for the last weekend in June basically since then. I decided to use the ancient royal city of Winchester as my […]
I’m in Cologne!
Last year I slept in a French chateau outside of Paris. This year I’m in a German schloss outside of Cologne. It was built in the early 1700s and is now a five-star hotel with a three-star Michelin restaurant (very swank, and no, I have not been able to get a table). The view out […]
Greys Court
One last house and garden in Oxfordshire before going back to London. This time an ancient house called Greys Court. It did not have the expansive landscaping of Blenheim, or the highly manicured look of Waddesdon Manor. Instead, it had a charming, somewhat rambling series of walled gardens that I absolutely loved.
Waddesdon Manor
After visiting Stowe, with its classical splendor and Brownian landscape design, I drove to Waddesdon Manor for something altogether different. This was the Victorian lair of Baron de Rothschild, built in the grand French style, he hired a French architect to basically cobble together the greatest hits from the Loire valley chateaux . . . […]
Stowe
As impressive as the gardens and park at Blenheim were, the ones at Stowe (which Capability Brown did early in his career) blew me away. I loved the vastness of the views, which were designed to give the impression of going on forever without interruption (kind of like infinity pools today). And I loved how […]
Blenheim Palace
The morning after the Chelsea Flower Show I drove out to Oxfordshire in search of some of the masterpieces of Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the 18th Century landscape designer who perfected the English “Landscape Style” and is considered by many to be the Shakespeare of gardening, so great has been his influence through the centuries. Before […]
Sightseeing along the Cornish coast
First a drive through the narrowest hedgerows to Lizard Point, the southernmost tip of mainland Britain. Then up the coast to the charming village of Mazarion and Saint Michael’s Mount. This actually way exceeded my expectations. From a distance it looks an awful lot like the Mont-Saint-Michel. Same name, same tidal island, on opposite sides […]
Cornwall!
Last night I flew from Brussels to Cornwall because it’s a bank holiday weekend and this piece of England needs some extra time. The initial impression was a bit grim. I was on the last flight into Newquay, managed to pick up a rental car right before they closed, and checked into a rather shabby […]
Brussels!
Another quick work trip to Brussels. It’s one of my favourite trips of the year. So many fond memories from when I was a missionary here (20 years ago, egad!) Amanda asked if I ever imagined back then that I would one day be living in Europe and traveling regularly to Brussels for my profession. […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 