One of my friends from Romania recently moved to this new city named Guilford, that is pretty close to London and also easy for the lazy me to reach it. To be honest I had no idea what to expect, but as I know her I imagined a bigger village outside of M25 - the ring that borders London.
She was late to pick me up at the station, or I was early really excited to explore a new place 😋 Either way I had few minutes to grab a croissant and count the platform lines. I was impressed for what I used to still call it in my mind a little village.
First step was the coffee as she promised me my shaped heart cappuccino to attract me over there. The coffee was great as I like it but the place was amazing. They had something that the French say "je ne sais quoi", meaning an atmosphere like from inside a fairytale.
A camera, a world globe, a light pole among the weird items on the shelves. The woo woo from last night was still some how following me 🤩
Guilford is a city sorrounded by hills and areas of outstanding beauty, some of them I have seen them last week on my 35 km hike. This time was a slow pace enjoy the rainy day hanging around mood. Even though in the end I have done almost 15 km today of sightseeing. This is the main street that is close for the traffic and is the place of usual Saturday promenade for the locals
Same street downward version with my hills at the horizon. I advise my friend about the best place to go cycling and is only one hour and a half from the center, so maybe I could join her :)
Surprise, surprise the city has an old castle and a tower left from the 11th century. I love 🏰 with all my heart and maybe in my last life I was a princess, one light and easy and that didn't care about fining a prince 😂
These walls are was left of the original castle. What I like about this country is how they take care of the history and preserve every little piece of history with care and pride.
The garden inside is one of the art stories about the English gardens. This people really know how to trim the plants and to make everything a green living poetry.
This is one of the openings inside where I imagined people laughing and giggling laying down when is dry. Not many chances as we are in the wet season and was pouring almost the entire day.
Another angle for the pasture artist vision
Me and the tree. I am like an old witch, I take a lot of the energy from the nature and trees are among my favourite friends, they even speak to me (if you haven't run yet from my blog you are a woo woo too 😂😂)
Few more flowers to heal the pain that was maybe here on the old times. Now looks pretty and peaceful but you still can feel the pain and wars that were held here in the old times.
The gate of the tower was closed and I can guess is mainly open starting with spring. The secret behind is there, well kept under the town key.
The view from the top of the stairs was amazing. I must come back one day when the tower is open and see it from above. Still, the quiet beauty, the peace, a moment to hold your breath.
The last photo of the princess under the arch. I enjoyed so much my day and it was the complete opposite of my expectations. I found enchantment instead of boredom so I am glad that most of times I just dismiss my mind and follow my heart. It was a journey of peace and magic today, so thanks my dear universe for the present.
We moved towards a cafe and a restaurants and this time I already knew that will be awesome. Even the rain decided that is not worth to mess with me and my friend.
Bicycles attract my eyes as a magnet. They seem to look cute in combination with churches 😂
Last and the least is the reflection on the water. To be honest I only saw this at home when I did start to look at the pictures. I was actually fascinated about the 1882 bridge and how the girls fit the place, so another present.
She is my reason for giving it a try to Guilford and having the opportunity of so many great moments. So thanks my friend for the magic of today.
It was one of those days when time had dilated. I had a full day and still I have plenty of time to do the chores and read a book this evening, even some posts. I booked my next trip to snowboarding in Andorra for mid February so I even had time to buy a new orange sky jacket. What a day :)
Thanks all of you that are reading my post and I do invite you to travel more, to discover the hidden gems in your areas.
Hugs,
Teodora