Day of Travel

Everyone arrived safe and sound in England. We did have an interesting drive from Gunnison to DIA to catch our flights. The weather on Sat. May 9th was clear in Gunnison but snowing on Monarch and Kenosha Pass. This made the normal 4 hour trip take a little longer. The three ladies were traveling together and saw a semi that has recently crashed on Trout Creek Pass. I passed the same semi crash just finishing clean up 3 hours later. Luckily everyone arrived at DIA safely. Unfortunately, Josh missed his flight but was able to be re-booked through NY and arrived in London only an hour later than expected (still a couple of hours before the designated meeting time to catch the coach to Harlaxton). The ladies were on the same flight as one of the other professors. Their  flight was also delayed slightly out of Atlanta but they all met at the meeting site in Terminal 3 of Heathrow and caught the coach.

No one had any problems with crossing the UK Border. I took the picture and just moments later, a security guard yelled at someone near me that no cameras were allowed.
I ended up flying Icelandair and didn't arrive into Heathrow until after the coach had left. I traveled by tube to Kings Cross station, then by train up to Grantham and finally by taxi to Harlaxton. I arrived at 4pm. The slowest part of the entire journey was waiting at reception to be admitted with keys to my room.
While I was traveling to Harlaxton, the students were led on a walk through the woods to see the blooming bluebells.

We all ate dinner at the Refactory (aka Cafeteria) and then went on a guided tour of the Manor. Here is a very brief history of Harlaxton Manor.  Built by Gregory Gregory from 1837 to 1845. The two primary architects that worked on the project were Anthony Salvin and William Burn. After Gregory's death, the manor passed to subsequent heirs (none were direct descendents) and eventually was abandoned in 1935. Violet Van der Elst purchased Harlaxton in 1937 and started restoring the manor. During World War II, it was requisitioned by the Royal Air Force. In 1948, Harlaxton was purchased by Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who used it as a novice center. The manor was purchased by Stanford University (in California) in 1965. The University of Evansville began using the property in 1971 and eventually purchased it in 1986.

The following are a few of the pictures of the amazing rooms in the Manor. We were all very tired and didn't ask any questions of the tour guide.

              This is the Great Hall. The room was used during the Jesuit time period as a chapel. The chandelier is massive. This picture does not do justice to the size of this room                                                                          

 This picture is from the Gold room which is very ornate. The above picture is of the ceiling. The bottom picture is of the carved door features.

 This is the conservatory. Everyone agreed that they would love to study in this room. Interestingly, it was a late addition to the manor because at the time when the manor was originally built there was a high tax on windows. Once the tax was repealed, Gregory quickly commissioned that this be added to the Manor.

 Here is another example of how ornate the Manor is. The rooms leading off this hallway have a few of the suites that some faculty use while teaching at Harlaxton.

The following is the commemorative sign honoring the Royal Air Force for their service in WWII. When we meet up with the mini-coach to go anywhere off property, we always meet in the Pegasus courtyard.

 The tour ended after 8pm and everyone was exhausted and headed to shower and bed.