点评:How lovely to visit Kingston Lacey in warm, March sunshine.
We strolled the beautiful gardens and paths through woods, pausing to take in details; shrubs coming into bud, identifying birds from their calls, spring flowers, insect log palaces, information signs and much more.
I'm hoping to bring my wheelchair-bound mother here in the summer. While her wheelchair isn't usuable on the mainly gravel paths, (some paths are tarmac though, especially giving access to the house, shops, cafe and recently-refurbished excellent disabled, and other, toilets), they can provide large-wheeled trikes, (best to book in advance), which are fine on gravel etc, so that should be a real help.
The entrance fee included a timed, visiting Rembrandt experience - 20mins, seated, looking at his self-portrait while listening to explanatory audio on headphones at your own pace. Very interesting - well done National Trust! (It's finished now though.)
The cafe is superb, but this time we brought our own flasks of coffee and picnic lunch. There's plenty of outdoor seating dotted around. And so nice to just sit a while and read a book or gaze over fields and trees into the distance.
The staff and volunteers, (THANK YOU!), were all lovely and friendly. The house is steeped in history and detail with good information signeage and guides to fascinate visitors.
The entry/welcome point has been replaced and improved recently, as have all the toilet facilities and the hard-standing car park.
And finally, if you're thinking of visiting Kingston Lacey - or similar National Trust properties, it's a good idea to check out what's on, on the website. There are often children's activities, special guided tours, etc, some of which have timed slots, with tickets available at the little entry/welcome building.
A lovely day out here, as ever.
Sincere thanks to all, especially the heroic volunteers! :)
翻译:三月温暖的阳光下,游览金斯顿莱西庄园真是太棒了!
我们漫步在美丽的林间小径和花园中,不时驻足欣赏各种细节:含苞待放的灌木、辨认鸟鸣的鸟儿、盛开的春花、昆虫的巢穴、信息牌等等。
我希望夏天能带坐轮椅的母亲来这里。虽然她的轮椅在以碎石路为主的小径上不太好用(不过有些路段是柏油路,特别是通往庄园主屋、商店、咖啡馆以及最近翻新的无障碍卫生间和其他卫生间的路段),但庄园可以提供大轮三轮车(最好提前预订),这种车在碎石路上行驶很方便,应该能帮上大忙。
门票包含一次限时的伦勃朗参观体验——20分钟,可以坐着欣赏他的自画像,同时戴上耳机聆听讲解,按照自己的节奏慢慢欣赏。非常有趣——国民信托做得真棒! (不过现在已经完工了。)
咖啡馆很棒,但这次我们自带了保温瓶装咖啡和野餐午餐。周围有很多户外座位。坐在那里读读书,或者眺望远处的田野和树木,真是太惬意了。
工作人员和志愿者(非常感谢!)都非常可爱友好。这座房子充满了历史气息,细节之处也处理得非常到位,信息指示牌和导览员也让游客们兴致盎然。
入口/接待处最近进行了翻新和改进,所有卫生间设施和硬地停车场也都进行了升级。
最后,如果您计划参观金斯顿莱西庄园——或者类似的国民信托旗下景点,最好先在网站上查看一下活动安排。通常会有儿童活动、特别导览等等,其中一些活动需要预约,门票可以在入口/接待处购买。
一如既往,在这里度过了美好的一天。
衷心感谢大家,特别是那些英勇的志愿者们!:)