Isle of Wight

Two weeks ago we took a day trip to the Isle of Wight, located off the southern coast of England (fun fact: Jacob served there last summer, so that's cool).

The Isle of Wight is home to two sites we visited. First, Carisbrooke Castle! Built while the Normans inhabited England. It was mostly ruins, but what castle isn't at this point? I absolutely love walking around castles though. I get lost imagining what the rooms used to look like, who could have lived there in the hundreds of years since its construction, and how unreal it would have been to live in a time where you could call a castle home.

   

  

Courtyard life. 

      

Maybe the many stairs weren't well loved, but the view definitely was. 

    

When at a castle in England, what else would you do but dress up?

(**I promise I actually haven't gained 200 pounds here; it's just the angle and costume I swear.. hah**)

After exploring the castle we went to the Osborne House. It was Queen Victoria and Albert's summer "cottage" of sorts. I say cottage in quotations because this place was probably the same size as my high school so... there you go. I guess when you are the Queen you're entitled to have any size of cottage you please.

It's located on a piece of beachfront property; though the house is far enough away you wouldn't know a ocean was anywhere near. The home itself is gorgeous inside; full of artwork from every age and variety, gold trimmings, and exquisite painting detailing. Not necessarily the design I would want in my own home, but it is beautiful still.

The gardens were especially wonderful; being in England has made me certain I want a nice backyard garden to sit in and enjoy when I am finally grown up. There is nothing lovelier than nature.

(Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside the house..)

After touring the home we walked what I would guess to be a quarter mile or so the beach. 

Yes, I did swim in it with some other brave souls.

Yes, the most excited person was my professor.

Yes, we did have chicken fights.

Yes, he did participate.

Yes, he won.

Any more questions? No? Okay, here are some pictures to enjoy. 

walking to the beach

   

 

I can now say I swam in the ocean here TWICE. Which makes exactly two more times than I ever anticipated, but hey, no complaints here. Water is probably my favorite thing so I am incredibly happy with how it turned out.

You are probably wondering what this is a picture of.
I will tell you! This is where Queen Victoria would change into her bathing costume, as they say here. Here's how it would work: she would go into it, they would roll it down into the water so the steps were submerged, she would change inside, and then come out. All in effort to not expose her ankles because that was scandalous, especially for the queen. Talk about a lot of work just to swim at your own private beach..

Victoria and Albert are the cutest royal couple to ever exist. I encourage all to read up on them. I learned so much from their home and the plaques there. They honestly loved each other so much, and loved their nine children. They even taught them cooking and yard work at the Osborne house, which is kind of a big deal seeing as they were royal children and didn't necessarily need those skills for life. So cool. Anyways. Back to our trip.

After swimming we made a quick stop at Victoria and Albert's children's "playhouse." Again, I put playhouse in quotation marks because it was probably the size of my house. I was able to snap a photo indie this time of their play dining room!

Pretty nice playhouse, am I right?

Needless to say, it was a day well spent on the beautiful Isle of Wight. I am a definite fan. 

#cheerstoyouLondon

Love Always, Aimee

#wherehasyourbackpackbeen?

It's safe to say that my friends are cute and we take a lot of selfies. You're welcome.