点评:As Downton Abbey fans, it was exciting to finally see the castle and rooms in real life. Our tour was Real Lives & Film Sets which costed £290 for two adults. The guide was knowledgeable but a little tiring after a while from incessant talking and also rather bossy, moving us on quickly from room to room. I think it would be better if the guides were dressed in Downton attire, either upstairs or downstairs, so it’s more fitting for the tour. Even in character as though they work for Lord and Lady Grantham. I’m sure Winchester/Reading uni drama students would love the work experience during or after studying.
The most disappointing part was the lunch, served in the Coach House. The finger sandwiches and cakes were dry, the soup was too thick and the tea was in a builder’s mug, not even a teapot! Scones or rather stones, were only fit for the rockery. On the tables were pots of plastic (yes, plastic) flowers. All in all, this was certainly not up to Mrs Patmore and Carson’s standards!
Finally, we picked up our signed books not by the cast of Downton sadly, but by Lady Carnarvon herself. It was given to us in a Viking Cruises tote along with a marketing newspaper about how to book a cruise. Another money making collab on the back of Downton!
We enjoyed wandering the beautiful grounds and admiring the house, but felt that our overall experience lacked the style and elegance of Downton. “If you’re tired of style, you are tired of life”.
In the words of Old Lady Grantham: “At my age, one must ration one’s excitement”. I couldn’t have put it better myself!
翻译:作为《唐顿庄园》的粉丝,能亲眼见到城堡及各个房间真是令人兴奋不已。我们参加的是“真实生活与电影场景”导览团,两位成人所需费用为290英镑。导游知识渊博,但由于不停地讲话,没多久就让人觉得有些疲惫;此外他行事较为专断,总是催促我们迅速从一个房间赶到另一个房间。我觉得如果导游能穿上《唐顿庄园》里的服装——无论是楼上仆从还是楼下的管家装束——这样会更符合这次导览的主题。他们甚至表现得就像是为格兰瑟姆夫妇工作一样。我敢肯定,温彻斯特大学或雷丁大学的戏剧专业学生一定会喜欢在学习期间或毕业后获得这样的实习机会。
最令人失望的就是在马车房里供应的午餐了。手指三明治和蛋糕都干巴巴的,汤则太浓稠,茶则是装在建筑工人用的大杯子里,甚至都没有茶壶!那些司康饼简直硬得可以当石头用,只适合放在假山旁作为装饰。餐桌上还摆放着塑料制成的花束(没错,就是塑料的)。总的来说……这显然达不到帕特莫尔太太和卡森所设定的标准!
最后,我们领到了签名书——遗憾的是,并不是由《唐顿庄园》的演员们亲笔签名,而是卡纳冯夫人本人所签。书籍被装在维京游轮的购物袋里交给我们,袋子里还有一份宣传册,介绍如何预订游轮之旅。这又是一次借《唐顿庄园》之名来赚钱的合作项目啊!
我们很高兴能在那美丽的庄园里漫步、欣赏那座豪宅,不过感觉整体体验还是缺少了《唐顿庄园》所具有的格调与优雅。“如果你厌倦了时髦,那就是厌倦了生活。”
用格兰瑟姆老夫人的话来说:“到了我这个年纪,就得控制自己的兴奋程度了。”我实在说不出比这更好的话了!