The weather in the south of England is actually very nice for this time of year, so my parents and I took advantage of the sunshine last weekend and went on a trip to Buscot Park, a National Trust property in Oxfordshire.
The manor house itself is closed but the grounds are still open to the public from 2-6 pm every day. And there's a lot to explore within the grounds! It was quite busy because of the weather and because it was Sunday, but the area is so big that social distancing was relatively easy.
When we arrived, we passed the tearoom, which is a really nice setting with frescoes on the walls. Unfortunately, it's closed at the moment due to Covid (hence why this photo was taken through a window!), but there is a food truck selling drinks and snacks outside the main house.
The first part of the grounds we explored was the Four Seasons Walled Garden, a garden with many varieties of plants and a clock tower in the background.
Next we had a look at the Terracotta Warrior statues, which are exact replicas of some of the original statues from Xi'an, China. I actually discovered another photo of them on my phone from March 2016, so we obviously must have gone to Buscot Park during the Easter holidays in my first year at university. Weirdly, I have absolutely no memory of it!
Nearby there's a water feature, the Faux Falls. As the name suggests, it's a fake waterfall. It's not possible to look at it very closely as the area is blocked off (maybe because of social distancing measures), but it actually looks more impressive the further away you are from it.
The house itself must be a very nice place to visit when it's open, as it contains works of art by famous artists such as Rembrandt, Rossetti, Rubens and Murillo. However, seeing the house from the outside is still a great experience. It's a very impressive building, and there are several interesting statues and smaller buildings surrounding it.
My favourite part of the house was this bit where you go through a little tunnel (which is painted with frescoes) and find a beautiful swimming pool on the other side. It was tempting to dive in!
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the Peto Water Garden, one of the most famous Italian-style water gardens in Britain. It features various interesting statues and leads down towards a lake, on the other side of which you can see a bridge and a little temple. It's a very beautiful and tranquil place.
There are actually several different gardens across the park. We didn't visit them all, but one of the most unusual ones we saw was the Swinging Garden, a garden with four swing seats around the edge!
I was interested in these two Sphinx-like statues, which both have messages in Greek written on their plinths. I think Greek will definitely be one of the next languages I have a go at learning!
Overall, we had a really nice afternoon exploring Buscot Park. It's a really scenic place to walk around, and thanks to the classical architecture and the sunshine, it almost felt like being in Italy or Greece. Because the pandemic has made travelling abroad so much more complicated, I'm interested in finding places in the UK that are good alternatives to foreign destinations, and this one will definitely go on that list.
The trip was also a nice distraction, as I've been very worried about potential new coronavirus restrictions. Luckily, the new measures announced today are not as strict as I'd feared, which means my boyfriend and I will be able to visit different places next month, once we've finished our two weeks' quarantine! Any trips we do will have to be planned at the last minute due to the current situation, but that's not really a problem. The most important thing is that we'll get to spend several weeks together, after not seeing each other since March. Not long to go now, and I can't wait!