Wahey. Today I had a day out like wot normal people do, with like walking around and stuff (which is a novelty for me). My folks came to visit me today, and being National Trust members, took the opportunity to visit Anglesey Abbey which is only ten minutes drive from where I live. After a nice picnic in the carpark, we followed the path through the gardens to the house. It was pretty cloudy and cool despite all the forecasts saying it was going to be hot and sunny, which was disappointing. Anyway, there are mature trees everywhere, lawns that stretch off as far as the eye can see, and arty statues on every corner - very atmospheric in a kind of gothic way. Anyway, the house is old, and pretty but so cosy inside. Yes it's lavish but it's more like a country house festooned with art treasures than a giant palace that you could never imagine living in. It's such a shame those cantankerous National Trust cronies don't like people taking photographs in their places (but I took a few sneaky ones just for the sake of it - heheh). There were dozens of photo opportunities everywhere you looked (of course). I started to get a bit panicky in the house, lovely though it was I wasn't feeling that strong and there's a long circuitous route around all the rooms. There are lots of armchairs but you're not allowed to sit on a single one of them which seems odd when you consider that their customers are old folks who might be a bit decrepit like me. Anyway when we got to the amazing library, I had a sneaky but much-needed sit down on the stewards little wooden chair while my mum bent his ear about chandeliers and bookbinding. Anyway, I was really captivated by the house. It gave me such a magical feeling imagining what it must have been like to live there (it was a private residence until 1960) and to stroll around the beautiful gardens every day. The weather turned hot and sunny while we were inside and when I got out I was feeling a lot better and we walked for a few more hours around endless gardens and forested bits and took in the amazing vistas. It just seems to go on forever and there are winding paths and hedges and statues everywhere you look and you're not confined to the paths. We must go back and explore some more before summer is over. I've hardly used my camera at all recently, but when you really have such a good subject, you realise that 1.3 megapixels really won't do! (early adopter you see). I notice there are loads more pics of the place on Flickr