Mecca - Theater of Dreams and Pride & Prejudice - Day 14

Ok so I am remiss about this last England post.  And seeing as my favorite soccer team didn't win the Champions League this week I really feel bad about not getting this done and back to my regular schedule of postings, which I will resume next week.

What we did on our last couple of days is a combination of two things I love best, which is too much for a girl to handle. Our day started out with drizzling rain and a commute up north where it always rains. We visited Old Trafford in Manchester, this is the stadium that is home to one of the best teams in the world, Manchester United, and happens to be my favorite team. 

 

This is the entrance to Old Trafford and a vision of the players tunnel leading to the pitch (field for us in North America). We didn't get to see a game, but you can take a most excellent tour of this stadium, which I call "Mecca."  On our tour was the press room, players lounge, locker rooms, a chance to sit in the players seats, and walk through the tunnel to the pitch.

Here is all the hardware that Man Utd has won, including this years Premier League Trophy.  And well the "35 years" was a dig at their city rivals (Manchester City) who hadn't won a trophy in 35 years, that is, until this year.  Manchester City won the FA cup, so a month later this sign was removed.

Picture of me next to my favorite players jersey.  The picture on the right is of the Munich tunnel, which commemorates a terrible time in Man Utd history, when 23 players and journalists died in Munich airplane crach on their way back from a European cup game.

Josh running thru the tunnel about to hit the pitch and make his first goal.  Me and Karl as subs on the bench waiting for our chance to prove to Sir Alex we know what we're doing.

When we got to the pitch we weren't even allowed to touch a blade of grass on the pitch which looked like a fine green plushy carpet. After shopping in the Megastore, and buying a Wayne Rooney jersey for SB we made our way to my second favorite place.

We drove to Lyme Park which is where parts of Pride and Prejudice were filmed.  This is another of the grand manor country estates and the location for Mr. Darcy's home,  Pemberly. 

As much as SB gives me grief about this story, Mr. Darcy and the 6 hour mini-series he was game to run up and down the stairs as Mr. Darcy. 

It was quite cold this day and the house wasn't open.  They only used the outside of this house for the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, so I was fine with not going inside. 

SB enjoyed this place as much as I did, he got lost in the gardens and took most of the pictures including the pond, bridge and garden shack behind the estate.

 

I love the stairway that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy walked to the fishing pond.

I would live in this garden shack, it's so enchanting and slightly bigger than my apartment/flat in L.A.

 

Can you imagine wondering thru this garden maze.

 

Garden urn from the upper lawn.

 Not Mr. Darcy's diving pond, but equally lovely.

 I just love the color and texture of this wall.

Now this is Mr. Darcy's diving pond, where every girl dreams of Colin Firth coming out of in a wet white dress shirt.  SB asked me if I wanted him to dive in the pond.  Seriously he can't fight the Mr. Darcy lure, and I pat myself on the back for subliminally indoctrinating him on this fantastic story.  Job well-done.

After our tour we took a walk pass the lake and grabbed a tea and scone in the cafe.  It was a very cold day and a long drive back to Tamworth where we partook of some great Indian food.  

Our last day in England we did a little shopping and SB and I walked up and down the lane where K&A live.  All together we spent 15 days in England and France.  This was a memorable trip, but only because of the good time we had with all our good friends.  We hope to visit again soon to this lovely country.