Back to Waddesdon

I'm back having missed all the wonderful posts of my blogging buddies. I will be catching up with yours very soon. For the moment I am taking you back to visit Waddesdon Manor. The striking thing with these photos is the difference in different seasons. My previous visit had been mid-Summer and this last one early May on a cloudy day. The floral displays were in such different colours and I imagine that a week or so ago they were very vivid because if you look carefully, you will see that all the tulips heads have gone, leaving only the stems. Apparently they were scarlet red which would have contrasted well with all the yellow. However the yellow tulips along with the blue of the Forget-me-nots were still in flower.
I gave a very brief comment on the history of the Rothschilds home in my previous post, also mentioning that they have many homes like this around the world. They have 42 to be precise and mostly in Europe. I do not mean one single family unit but the whole of the Rosthchild dynasty.
The oldest vintage wine in the cellars here at Waddesdon is dated 1870. All of the wines in their extensive cellars are sourced from their own vinyards. Apparently a good vintage can be kept for 100 years before drinking. Just imagine producing something that you knew you would be leaving for your heirs in 100 years time.

I do wish I could show you some pictures from inside the house, but as with all country houses photography is not allowed inside.

The front of the house. So much better than the Summer view where even the front drives were used for parking cars.

Winter Pansies.

Tulip heads all gone

The back of the house

The Aviary waterfall

Part of the Avairy - again no Tulip heads

I had another day out visiting Woburn Abbey, the home of the Dukes of Bedford. I will save that for another post. The planned third day out did not materialise as I developed a severe migraine which was a surprise as I have not had a headache like this for years. Instead we had a complete rest day.