Adventuring Abroad: Burghley Hall & Gardens

On the last day of my parents' first stint in England (of their three-part trip), we drove up to Burghley House near Stamford. It's about a 50 minute drive north of our house, and was recommended to me by our friend Erin.

The house itself is set on a huge estate, with its own resident herds of deer (we saw them from a distance only). It was built starting in the 16th century and has been used for filming of several movies due to it's well-preserved facade, etc. [Wikipedia says The Da Vinci Code, Pride and Prejudice, and The Dark Knight Rises... I can neither confirm nor deny.] We went through the house at varying speeds -- Paul and I sped through with Charlotte after she started having an epic meltdown about sitting in her stroller, but refusing to listen/hold our hand when we let her out of the stroller. Not good for an antique-filled manor home. My parents took a slightly more leisurely pace and enjoyed the amazing painted ceilings throughout several of the rooms. Charlotte, Paul, and I headed outside to allow her to run wild in the fields surrounding the house. It was a breezy day with some passing dark clouds, but we lucked out and didn't get rained on.

Exterior of the house! Impressive.

Aforementioned dark clouds over the stables

Mom, Charlotte, and me in the courtyard before entering the house

In the kitchen; Charlotte was excited to meet "Bullwinkle's brother" on the wall

You could really imagine the servants bustling around the kitchen, preparing oddities like "turtle soup"

The bell system reminded me of the intro to "Downton Abbey"

Striking architecture in the stairwells

Looking toward another courtyard from the rear windows of the upstairs chapel

After finishing touring the house, we headed to the wonderful "Garden of Surprises" and sculpture garden located behind the house. This was the main event of the day, as the Garden has several "splash park" features. I planned ahead and brought dry clothes/shoes and a towel for Charlotte so she could get as wet as she wanted. She wanted!! After a brief warming up period, she absolutely adored running through the water, smacking the tops of the water jets and squealing in delight. She let the jets run on her belly, backside, hands, feet, hair, and face by the end of it. She was the only child there for most of the half hour we let her play there, but other older adults stopped by a few times to enjoy watching her play. Too cute.

Hmm... still taking a wide berth around these fountains...

I don't know if I really want to get wet!

Oh, yes... I do!

After getting a dry set of clothes on and taking a quick break for some ice cream, we ventured into the sculpture park. It was nicely set up with a lot of sculpture integrated into the grounds. There was a general flow for where to walk, but it wasn't forced and you could take various side paths as you wanted. It was a very nice day out; I'd definitely consider taking Charlotte back to splash again :)