2018 Fashion Trip Day- 5 :Last Day In London_

Hello all, this is mackenzie santamour.  due to technical difficulties i am using the other kenzie's profile to post.

As I mentioned in my last blog, this week’s post is coming from Europe! We are currently in London and have had an amazing time so far!

Today we woke up nice and early, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the tube. we went to Victoria Station to catch a coach bus for an all day exploration of the countryside of England. We got on a Mercedes-Benz coach bus to tour three of England’s main attractions: Stonehenge, the ancient city of Bath, and Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Shakespeare’s school room and guild hall. Our tour guide was an older gentleman by the name of Magnus; he wore a bright red vest, tie and blue overcoat with a black top hat with feathers sticking out of it. He was very knowledgeable and quite humorous.

We left the station a little after 8am and our first stop was Stonehenge. We were able to get up pretty close to the monument; you could see all the cracks and weathering of the stones. The structure is 4,500 years old and it is amazing how well it has held up; although there has been some reconstruction of the stones on certain parts. It was a bonus that the sun was shining so brightly because the stones cast a great shadow on the green grass. Surrounding the structure were burial mounds and beautiful twisting roads.

Freezing in front of Stonehenge

Next, we made our way to Bath, it was about a two-hour drive from Stonehenge to the city. We were able to view from the bus a couple thatch roof cottages, and different types of farms. Bath is an ancient Roman city that had community baths, which contain three Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water in each one. The baths replenish almost everyday and contain 43 different minerals within the water.  In the prehistoric times, the people did not live in the city because they thought it to be sacred ground. There were three main men who helped make the city great, these men were: Richard Nash “Bonash”, Ralph Allen, and John Wood the elder. Nash was the assistant to ceremonies Captain Webster, who later died and Nash took his place. Allen was the postmaster of Bath, and Wood was an architect who ended up redesigning the Queen’s square, King’s circus, and assembly room (his son finished this after his death). The city buildings used a limestone that was infused with iron giving it a honey colored effect. While in Bath, we viewed two exhibits at the Fashion Museum: Royal Women and A History of Fashion in 100 objects. I always like looking at the shoes; it amazes me how slender they are! The royal dresses included Alexandra Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and various other designers like Christian Dior and Norman Hartwell.  After the museum we toured the roman baths; they were absolutely beautiful! The sun was shining down on the water, which was green/blue in color.

City of bath 

bath in bath

Fashion museum

very slender shoes

1840's silk wedding dress

  early 1950's evening dress by norman hartwell 

featuring Raschel machine lace and tulle

2011 Wedding Ensemble by Bruce Oldfiel Featuring an Ecru Silk jacket and skirt with embellished sleeves

2012 Embroidered dress by the house of Dior

2016 J W Anderson

Cream mohair tweed knitted dress

and bustier

Next, we drove through the hillside, which are called the Cotswolds where we saw beautiful greenery. The fields were divided by what was called hedgerows, which are basically just very large rows of bushes. The farming that takes place in this area is mostly wheat, barley, oats, cattle, sheep and pigs. We drove by where Jane Austin lived in the Sydney House and the town of Yate where J.K. Rowling lived. We finally made it to Stratford-Upon-Avon to where Shakespeare lived and also the schoolroom and guild hall. We saw where the children were taught their lessons, and we enjoyed a scone and champagne. We also were able to practice our calligraphy with a quail feather and ink!

Hillside of Cotswold

featuring hedgerows

Shakespeare's schoolroom 

and guild hall

Calligraphy by lori faulkner

"Kendall College of art and Design"

That was our England in one day trip and I would love to go back to Bath and spend more time viewing the Baths because that was my favorite part of the day!

That is all for now, we are leaving for Paris in the morning; check back in to hear about our train to Paris and our first day there!

Thanks for reading,

Mackenzie Santamour