Monday, November 1, 2010

Has it already been 2 months?

It seems like just last weekend Nichelle, Susanna and I were planning our trip to England, getting ready for the AGM in Portland, and, not to mention, getting ready for 2 out of 3 of our birthdays! It's amazing what can unfold over a few weeks... and it seems there are some changes afoot.

The AGM (Annual General Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of North America) was amazing! The information sessions, the dance lessons, the food - all of it was wonderful. I even attended a ball on my 28th birthday! That is pretty hard to beat. But what also occured was an evaluation of our trip that has lead to a whole new direction with England.

On the upside, Nichelle and I plan on heading to England in March. This will allow for us to hit many of the places that were closed due to being February, to be open, because it's March. It also allows for the possibility of cheaper accomodations and possibly staying with friends. There are definitely a few B&B's that we are hoping to stay at - but maybe there's an old college friend or two who wants to share some place in their flats for two Jane Austen addicts.

On the downside, we're losing Susanna to Paris. As much as she would love to do this trip, the call of Parie is much too strong. Fortunately, she has already done a self guided Austen tour within the last few years and won't be missing too much. (Though I'm not sure how we're going to do our re-enactment of The Lyme scene in Persuassion if we only have a Louisa Musgrove and Capt. Wentworth and no Anne to calm the hysterics).

And so Nichelle and I will forge ahead with our plans, refining the details, staying in Jane's country the entire time and hopefully discovering something new and exciting about her. I know Susanna will have an amazing time in Paris, revisiting her home away from home - and wish her a wonderful adventure.

Stay tuned for updates! I'll try to post our pictures from the AGM as soon as possible.

Until next time...

Yours etc.

Kendal

Friday, September 3, 2010

Boots and Umbrellas

Tomorrow, the ladies and I will be meeting at Susanna's house to discuss my findings. I'm 80% confident in my research (and still need to finish tonight!). It's going to be an interesting evening and a very long morning. Fortunately, Susanna's making breakfast and I'll be bringing the oj and cinabuns.

A preview of our itinerary? All I can say is Day 1 will be mostly outdoors. Boots and umbrella's will be a necessity on this trip!

Upon doing my research, I found an interesting article on wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jane_Austen) - regarding a timeline of Jane's life and a map of the places she may have gone to. I found it intriguing and just fueled my imagination even further for our trip:

taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jane_Austen

One of the first places I found online to visit was Stoneleigh Abbey - part of her mother's side, Jane, Cassandra and her mother visited the house in 1806 with their cousin Rev. Thomas Leigh. Storylines from Mansfield Park, as well as Persuassion would have supposedly taken shape there (if you believe there website - http://stoneleighabbey.org/jane_austen.html). In my mind this was a small estate with a modest church on the side. I stand corrected...this place is HUGE and I can not wait to visit! It has 800 years of history + and, if we're lucky, will inspire many conversations amongst ourselves and our friends.

Have a lovely weekend! I'll update soon!

Sincerely yours,

Kendal

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Sad News...

It would appear that Sudbury Hall - the place where the 1995 P+P Pemberly interior scenes were filmed - does not open until Feb. 19th, 2011. We will be in that part of the country the previous weekend - Feb 12th, 2011 - and short of trying to create a brilliant, yet ill advised scheme to let ourselves in, take some pictures, and run out, I don't think we'll be seeing Pemberly! How dreadful!

The other sad news is that because Lyme Hall is also part of the National Trust - I don't think that will be open either :-( So many things we won't be able to see! Grrrr!

On the upside, there are still many more - though chilly - outdoorsy things we can do. Like hiring a boat while at the Lake (that we'll drive ourselves, possibly!). I know Elizabeth would have if she wasn't trying to woo Darcy back her way (or vice versa) - so it makes sense. Oh England in Feb...why can't you be more touristy!

Fretfully upset,

~ Kendal

Monday, August 9, 2010

Holy Planner, batman!!!

Here she is...the original lady


This is it. This is the reason Susanna, Nichelle and I are pouring over books, internet articles and blogs trying to gain insight into a country not known for it's wonderful weather in February, but rather the best time for travel deals and cheap accomodations in the frigid home of the Queen.

To say Nichelle came to coffee without her game face on would be the understatement of the decade. Minus the fact that I walked into a cash only shop without cash, working on 4 hours of sleep and oblivious to the world around, Nichelle's research and data woke me up faster than the drip coffee Susanna had to spot me. I mean - do you see the image above??? That's only half of the paper Nichelle brought with her that Jane's pointing to. Detailed itineraries (3 copies because she's efficient like that) with possible destinations, drive times with directions from Mapquest - it was amazing. I don't think I had truly wrapped my head around the jouney we're planning to take without the hard proof The Planner has poured into this. I could actually see her heart in every detail of this meeting. I know it's going to be incredile.

I think if I had to compare Nichelle to an Austen character this moment, I'd say she is currently rocking the Elinor. And not the "hold's all her emotions in so Edward has to be an idiot", Elinor. Oh no, she is the rock, Elinor - putting the pieces together, making sure we see the prize, and keep moving forward.

So now onto the actual breakdown of what is open and how much does it cost - researched by yours truly. Already looking at Day 1, I'm a little frustrated with the amount of places closed - but I'm hoping that the Ladies will prevail in seeing many amazing sites across England.

Oh! And just in case you were wondering...
Meet Kendal (the Lydia), Nichelle (the Planner) and Susanna (the Veteran)
And the always respectable Ms. Austen


Most Affectionately Yours,
~ the Lydia

Friday, August 6, 2010

Stage One - When and Where

Our first official planning meeting took place on August 1st at Susanna's lovely house for brunch. Equipped with maps, brochures, tea, mimosas, and a lovely quiche (not to mention amazing mango!) - the table sat scattered with a hundred amazing ideas, wants, and needs for what this trip will be. It's a shame I didn't think about writing this sooner - you would be amazed at our set-up! The full scale map of England on the wall, the laptop next to the floral teapots, the china used as paperweights for all the information. Oh to have a camera! But moving on...

The first necessity was nailing down the time frame. Since Susanna had already purchased her ticket, Nichelle and I first tried to slot our schedule with hers...however, Susanna, after hearing Nichelle's plan of heading into the Lake District WITHOUT US (I know, how dare she!) prior to our flight landing, called her airlines and made the switch. So time frame is set to February 11th - 27th, 2011. Now...to tell my bosses....

Second - the journey. This is where Nichelle's 5 year planning and Susanna's previous experience comes in handy. I just sat there with my 2 - 3 points of interest and learned...a lot. Nichelle told us her 3,167 points of interest (just kidding, she cut it down to a hundred or so), as well as Susanna's points of interest and we listed it on a giant map of England. What this led to was a more realistic view of what we could and could not accomplish on this trip. At least at a more general level. I'm sure Lyme in the winter sucks anyway. Jane wouldn't have gone there in February.

So after cutting out a few of the more obvious no's and discussing a little more in depth our "can not live withouts", we have started to formulate the first draft of the daily itinerary. And let me tell you, there are A LOT of early mornings in our hypothetical scenario I am not prepared for. Nichelle has taken home all of the first and second tiered picks to plot out drive times with destinations. This Sunday, I get to take it to the next step, research date availability and entrance fees for some of the more larger touristy sites (Pemberly, here we come!) and come back in a week or so with my findings. There's so much detail to plan, but so much wiggle room needed. I can't wait to see the ladies on Sunday and discuss what they've found.

Also, look for a group photo of the Ladies and Jane next week!

Yours very affectionately,

~ the Lydia