Hot cars, books and Tesco

Dear all,

Another day has gone by on my trip to England. Today was shopping day! We decided last night we wanted to visit Cambridge. Again. Yes, I have been there before and yes I loved it. Cambridge was the first real university city I went to in England (apart from London). I decided back then, I want to study in England! Now I still want to, but I can't afford it so I will start in Holland and maybe try to do a master in an Englishspeaking country. Yes people, I would love to leave the Netherlands and live in a different country!

Back to Cambridge! We did not go to the colleges, as we've done that two years ago. So we went shopping! And yes, of course, I bought another book... So now I have bought 4 books in the three full days we've been here. This is really bad. If I'd buy a book every day of this holiday... Well, let's not go there, I wouldn't have enough space in my bag(s). Although.. There is the option of sending the books home in a big box, the only question is, how much money would that cost me? Never mind.

Back to Cambridge, again! So we went shopping, which is always fun in England. First of all, you have all those charityshops where they sell secondhand books, YAY! I love those shops, and I am helping people all around the world. I wonder how that works, I sometimes buy a book there for like, 0,50p, maybe one pound? It's nothing! How to they make money from that? Oh, just realised, they might give the complete amount or at least a percentage to the charity.

So, Cambridge by car is not a lot of fun, parking and fees and stuff. So we took a park and ride bus. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's just a parking place where you can park your car for free. You buy a ticket to get on the bus and there you go! The bus ride never takes long and a lot of big Citys have this. It saves you money and time! Brilliant! Besides, the car was so hot(it was almost 30 degrees here), it wasn't to much fun to be in it. Except with the windows down, looking out the window, seeing the gorgeous landscape, that was good!

I wanted to try and find a dress. Not sure writing about this is a good idea because my friends and family read this... And if you know me, you know I NEVER wear dresses. And skirts only if I really have to. I have worn a dress and skirt during a project I did. We'd "play" the european Parliament. But that's a different story.
So my sister and I went looking for a dress. I find it funny how different English fasion is to what Dutch people wear. I do like English fasion though, it's fun. So looking for the dress, I tried a couple on. My sister is like my hero when we go shopping. She knows what I want and where to find it. But today we had no luck... :(

I bought tea though! I adore tea, the soft teas like peppermint and Green tea, stuff like that. So I went into Whittard, and bought two boxes of tea. You should check it out if you are in England, or their website, the link can be found by clicking on Whittard.

After the shopping we went to Tesco, a big supermarket. I like to go there, mainly because they sell books.... And some other cool stuff. Like food. ;-) I don't know what the supermarkets in your countries are like, but ours have only food. No clothes or something. The french supermarkets and also the English do have all of that. I wonder why the way we shop is so different... I do think English and French supermarkets are more fun for me because I am not used to them. That might explain it...

Tomorrow we won't be going out I think, so tomorrows post will be slighlty different. Maybe something which has something to do with camping.. I am not sure yet, you'll see!

Love,

Simone

Wigly wonkey pigs

Dear all,

This morning I woke up at, like, 8.15? Not sure, my Ipod and phone both were empty. It was cloudy and a little cold. I couldn't sleep so I decided to read. I am reading this book (Beware, it's Dutch) called "Godenslaap" by Erwin Mortier. It is amazing, the way it's written, it just gets you. Well, it gets me. It describes everything in a way so bizarre. Mortier actually used like one page to tell us there were stables. I found it brilliant. Anyway somewhere at 3/4 of the book, I read this sentence which really hit me. I have had it before in this book with a piece describing life. This sentence I was talking about, it was about wars. The book is about life around the first and second world war. It is told by an old lady, who lived through both of the wars. So back to the sentence, sorry I am so chaotic... The sentence is: (forgive me if I translate it in a bad way) Every peace is an interbellum. That really hit me. And I think it's true, sadly. So yeah, that was my lovely morning!

Last night we decided we'd go to wimpole hole estate. It is a house owned by the national trust. I don't know if you have heard of it, but it is really nice. They buy old houses with a history, and they keep them open for public. The mill I went to saturday was also owned by the national trust. If you go to England, you should check it out! I'll post the link to their website at the end of this blog.

We'd actually been at wimpole two years ago, but the wether that day was horrible. So we only saw the house and the tearoom, shops and second-hand bookshop. So today we did a walk around the gardens, they are massive and gorgeous. I am not a garden person but even I thought is was nice. Nothing like the gardens of Vilandry in France, but still nice. We also went to the home farm. That was soo nice! I really enjoyed walking there with all the animals. There were horses and donkeys, pigs, cows, sheep and so on! It was nice. Today's pictures are from the farm. So check them out! I'll try to figure out how to put up a video of the piglets drinking. That was soo cute! The way pigs walk, it is so funny. Like wigly wonkey! I found it lovely to see! Pigs are cute, at least, that's what I find... They do always look lazy, laying down, being fat... You know what I mean?

The thing about national trust is, they always have a tearoom or restaurant. And also a shop. And quite often a bookshop. The tearooms always serve massive pieces of pie or scones. It is always a pleasure to go in there and have a bite. They never let you down. So today, we went for a piece of pie! I had a piece of chocolate and walnutcake! It was delicious.

Last but not least, a very happy 14th of july to all the French people out there! I hope you have had or are having a good day! I always loved the parties the french would have. I have spent many summers in France and I can tell you, they know how to make a day great! I always found the french kind people but they can be, as the English, quite reserved. But on the 14th of july, you would just be a part of the big group. It was amazing!!

Something else, this morning I was checking my twitterpage and I saw people reacting to the news. Little did I know, Cory Monteith had past away. I read the news on the internet and I was so shocked. I used to watch glee, so I "knew" him. I have, obviously, never met him, but he seemed like a nice guy. I feel so sad for Lea Michele, she loved him. I was seriously shocked and sad, and i am only a little girl who doesn't even know the guy! So I can't imagine how Lea Michele and all his friends and family must feel.

This news brings me to ask, how is it possible that all those stars just die? At such a young age? It is just upsetting! It makes me wonder wether the industry is too tough... I wonder what you guys think? Would there be any kind of solution to fix this massive problem? I mean, this is not just a tiny inconvenience, this is peoples real lives we are talking about! Feel free to leave a comment.

Love,

Simone

The National Trust website: click here