Audley End

Our good friend, Carla, came to visit us in the wonderful month of March - her second visit across the pond to visit us! This visit, we did the whole "London" thing - Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament - for two days. We arranged it so I could ride a bus down to London, pick Carla up at the airport, then I we were to take a train to London town, traverse in the London-style (the tube) and viola! ... on Saturday, Jacob and the kiddos were to pick us up at the closest tube station to our home (Epping) ... poor family ... they were stuck in a really bad accident and were an hour and a half late in picking us up! Good thing we were an hour late in getting there! (evil laughter ... muah ha ha ha) On Sunday, March 25th, we went to Audley End (sshhh ... don't tell anyone ... the Sabbath and all), a beautiful manor home in the early 1600s. Now, we (except Jacob) have been to Audley End before, but it turns out that at certain times of the year, access to the house is by "Behind the Scenes" tours and "Guided Historical" tours only. We went throughout the house, but the furnishings and pictures were still covered in white sheets from the off-season. I must say, it was really fascinating to hear and see all the the "Behind the Scenes"! Men from WWII lived here for some time - it turns out the majority of these men ended up going behind enemy lines and died. Viewing the old rooms, vintage wall paper and various nooks and crannies (hee hee, I said crannies) was a chance everyone should take! P.S. Austin bought a sling shot ... cool. We all had to try it out. (good times)