Surrey - The Homestay

My first weekend in England was spent out in Surrey, which is about 40 miles south of the city. I said with the Gunnings who lived in Old Woking in a 15th century English Cottage. It was right out of a storybook. It took them about 16 years to get it to the state its in now. When they bought it they said they could see the sky from the ground floor dining room if that is any indication of how far they have come. It was beautiful. They researched everything from what kind of glass would have been in the windows to the proper structure of their 15th century fireplaces. They found out that the original structure, which was just the ground floor, was a whorehouse. The second story was a "modern" addition they said and was built in the later half of the 15th century.

Clive, the husband, finished it himself. He is a handle maker and the only one in the nation who does what he does. Prince Charles is one of his clients! Here is an article from their paper about it: http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/business/s/73438_craftsmans_royal_client

Shirely is the mother and is going back to school/working from home. They have a few children who now have families themselves.

On Friday night, she made us English pie. It was basically a shepherd's pie with beef, peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes on top. It was delicious.

Saturday we ate a traditional English brunch. It was just like a Thanksgiving: roasted chicken, gravy, stuffing, grilled parsnips, roasted potatoes, yorkshire pudding and more. Everything just had a different twist or flavor, especially the stuffing. They also add red currant jelly on top of the gravy. I loved it! Then we had ice cream with maple syrup.

Sunday morning we had an English breakfast: eggs, bangers, tomatoes, toast, potatoes, beans, and bacon (which is not like our bacon at all).

The weekend was a lot of fun with the family and I drank loads of tea. Their favorite tv show to watch was North and South, the Civil War drama with Patrick Swayze.