TIMEWARP by Nicole

Today may have been the most picturesque, magical day of my life. Well, it actually did not start off that grand. We are all kind of spazzes. Actually, we are all big time spazzes. Yep. "Let your freak flag fly" has definitely been the motto of the trip. Well, that along with: "who knows,"  "I guess we'll find out," and "c'est la vie." We've taken "go with the flow" to a new level. We woke up this morning, tidied up Uncle Max's apartment, packed little bags for our getaway to Sussex, got a good breakfast at The Kitchen, and then walked over to the Above Ground station...where we almost got on the wrong train. When we realized we needed to be on the other side of the tracks, we started sprinting past everybody frantically, panting and causing a HUGE scene-Avery was in the back of the group, dying of laughter at how ridiculous we looked-only to miss the train. After waiting patiently for the right train to take us to the next stop, we realized we had no idea where to buy the fast train tickets, no idea what time the trains departed, no idea what the name of the stop we're supposed to get off of is, and no working phone. YIKES may have been our initial thought, but Riley reminded us, in a creepy voice, to remain cool, calm, and collected at ALL times. Naturally, her being the eldest and all, we did a pretty good job at obeying. But along the way, we almost got on the wrong train AGAIN, missed the one we were supposed to get on, watched Kendall try and give a lady a pin she made that says "just be brave" on it, in exchange for a phone call on her cell phone, sat in front of the broken ticket machine for decades while a worker struggled to retrieve Kendall's eaten money from its depths, and had all of the staff for the train station think we were complete morons as we tried to ask for a train to Sussex (we didn't realize that it was an entire region, not just a city).

But, as frantic as that all was, we convinced ourselves that it was all the best time and had multiple laughing fits during the chaos. Then, when we finally figured it all out and got on the train, it became magical. The view out the window from the train was absolutely breathtaking. It looked straight out of a Jane Austen story, and I honestly thought I would see Mr. Darcy emerging through the fog, over the green hills any second. Which actually would have been hilarious if I did see that from the train.

Then we waited at the wrong spot of the train station for one of Uncle Max's staff to pick us up, so we froze there for 40 minutes before some local kids told us we were in the wrong spot. Whoops. On our way over to the "Tanyard Manor" as they call it, Frith (Max's assistant) explained to us how beautiful it is there and told us that it is a timewarp. It is a magical escape. I imagined what this place must look like. Then we pulled up. No exaggeration, this is what Heaven must look like. His house is a cottage (only much bigger than your typical cottage), covered in vines. It is surrounded by fields and fields of the greenest grass and the most beautiful trees. To paint a picture, let's just say that there is no doubt in my mind that Elizabeth Bennett has been on walks with Snow White and the fairy godmother, on these very paths. He showed us his garden where they grow asparagus, strawberries, blackberries, and anything else delicious you could imagine. We took his dogs with us and they just ran through the fields and played fetch and treked through the woods with us. After the most perfect walk, we came back inside to find Kate (his cook, of course), pulling her homemade Quiche (made with all vegetables from the garden) out of the oven. BEST QUICHE in the world.

We then cuddled up and watched the Notebook (well, turned on the Notebook to take a nap to) before dinner. Later, Max took us, and the dogs, to a cute pub called The Gardener's Arms. It's been there for ages and even though it is very nice, people just bring their dogs in and they eat with us. It was awesome. We stuffed our faces, heard all about Max's travels to Iceland, his encounterings with David Beckham, and how he may have helped a man in Thailand start his famous shark fin restaurant. Max prefers to start every meal with dessert because "life is too unpredictable." We are learning a lot of really important  life lessons-but I've found that is probably the wisest piece of advice. Dinner was lovely, the people here are lovely, Sussex is lovely. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Sorry for the novel, just trying to keep the parents updated. We're having the time of our lives and it's only day four. We'll post pictures tomorrow!

p.s. I don't think I can ever leave this place.