I was able to enjoy a leisurely morning, sipping tea and reading while I awaited the return of the kids from their sleepover at the Childs' home from the night before. Once they arrived, we decided we would take a trip to some caverns and then tour the famous Chatsworth House (all you Pride & Prejudice fans know the estate of which I speak - Mr. Darcy's!). This was another of those days when a little pre-planning and forethought would have been helpful but alas, I did neither, and we ended up having a bit more of a stressful day than we should have. To the caverns first, planning on touring Speedwell Cavern, which was done via a boat ride. I thought a tour utilizing something other than our own two feet was going to be easier with three small kids so off we went. Now, just last summer, the entire family was able to go to Glenwood Caverns in Glenwood Springs and it was truly impressive. With that being our only cavern experience, I anticipated something similar. How wrong I was! So, we pay for our tickets, wait in line (or "queue" as they call it here), and then descend a set of 106 stairs underneath the ground. We climb into the boat, sit in the very back, and proceed to float along the water along a very, very dark and narrow pathway (ever had an MRI? Imagine that kind of enclosure) while our guide, Joe, is narrating the story of the caves. Keep in mind, we are in the back with 20 adults in front of us, Joe isn't using anything to amplify his voice, and he is speaking in a rapid British accent. We heard absolutely nothing! We are basically in the dark floating on a boat underground for a good 10 minutes or so. Finally we come to the location where we disembark the boat and I think, "Good. Now we'll get to see some stuff." Well, all there was to see was one lousy room that had been carved out of the mountain - large enough for about 20-25 adults to stand, look around, take a few crummy pictures, hear a 5 minute spiel from our guide, and then climb back onto a boat that was to take us back out the way we had just arrived. We were literally in the cave for 12 minutes before we had to go back. It was the biggest rip-off ever! On the way back, we did get to sit in the front of the boat, which helped us understand what Joe was saying a little better, but he wasn't providing us with any interesting information about the cavern on the return journey so what was the point? I probably could have salvaged the entire trip simply by purchasing a ridiculous trinket from the gift shop but I was so frustrated at having already spent $30 on the lousy tour, I wasn't about to give them any more of our money.
Next we headed to Chatsworth House to see the opulent estate and gardens that are the current residence of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. It also had a farmyard and play area that I was certain would score points with the kids, which I needed to do quickly after our cavern debacle. We go to get our tickets and are informed there isn't enought time left in the day (it was 3pm) for us to do everything; we would have to choose between the house & gardens or the farmyard/play area. Now I'm in a pickle - regardless of which I choose, one or more of the kids is going to be disappointed. I finally decided on the house & gardens because I knew Emily would love seeing all the fancy furnishings and art work throughout the home. Important piece of information to note at this point: there are no public toilets in the house. You are required to go before you enter on the tour. And you guessed it, in my haste to make it through as quickly as we could, I forgot to have evereyone take care of business before we started the tour. Not 10 minutes after we had entered the home did Maddie say, "Mom, I have to go potty." Now, I'm caught in the middle of an enormous house, completely unsure how much further it is until the end, so we are racing our way through each room without a modicum of realization of what we are seeing. Thankfully we made it without an accident but now have almost 2 hours to kill in the gardens before our driver comes to pick us up. By now, the kids are simply exhausted, bored by the tour, hungry for food, and just all-around cranky. We survive the gardens (and they were amazing) and each was rewarded with a giant gingerbread cookie shaped like a farm animal: a pig (Emily), a cow (Caleb), and a sheep (Maddie).
From there we went to the Childs' house for a traditional Sunday dinner on Wednesday; roast meat and potatoes, veggies, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. None of us (except Tim) had ever had Yorkshire pudding before and was pleasantly surprised to find they are little savory turnovers that are quite tasty. Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to the Childs family at this point, which was sad for all of us. We are already looking forward to when we can come back to visit them again!
The kids at Chatsworth House
The fountains at Chatsworth House
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