Today was a maze(ing): Two Aussie's travel the world

in #travelfeed6 years ago

How many people do we walk past in life? How many of them do we engage with, acknowledge or even look at? Very few I would say. We seem closed to all but those people we know and yet with everyone that passes us by a story goes along with them. Maybe it's a story we could benefit from knowing...

We visited a castle and gardens today that had not formerly been on our radar of places to visit. It was a reasonably long drive from where we are staying and we didn't even know of its existence for that very reason; It was simply too far out of our way. That all changed the other day when we were in the lovely town of Bath though. Faith and I were sitting on a bench in the square between the Roman Bath's and the Abbey enjoying some shade (it's been warm) and were people watching, a pastime we enjoy, when an elderly couple, extremely well dressed, came over and asked if they could share our bench. Naturally I said yes. Being friendly I leaned over and commented politely about the weather being warm to the lady and she agreed, then commented on my Australian accent. From there the flood gates opened and we were talking for about 90 minutes with the couple about many things. One of which was the fact that they owned a castle. Legit! For real.

We had to move on after a while as we had dinner reservations and we parted company but not before the gentleman gave me his daughter's name so we could ask for her at the castle when we arrived a few days later. That day was today and we did indeed ask for their daughter on our arrival. The castle and gardens are now run as a function and event centre and is open to the public also so there were many people there enjoying the gardens and lunch in the café.

After touring the castle we had a lovely lunch in the Orangery Café before exploring the gardens. We gravitated towards the maze and headed in because I'm a big kid and wasn't leaving until we did the maze! The maze is dominated by a central tower with four doors, one on each side at ground level. Three of the doors are locked and only one leads inside. The maze will bring you to one of the doors if you get it right but of course you'll have to backtrack if that door doesn't open! It's a lot of fun and at ground level is not as easy as you would think.

The image below is from the top of the tower we were able to ascend after cracking the maze! You can see the castle itself in the background. It took us about 8 minutes (maybe 10) to get in and at the top we watched several other's working their way through. More than a few of them struggled.

At the bottom of the tower is a set of spiral stairs leading downwards below ground level. We followed them (because we didn't want to enter the maze again to find the exit) and followed a 30 metre tunnel around and down following the sound of water. We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice secluded waterfall and pond at the bottom directly below the maze itself. We followed it upstream and came out into the formal gardens. As we skirted around the outer wall of the maze we could still hear people inside trying to navigate it. There was two ladies who had absolutely no sense of direction and I think they may be stuck in the maze forever! Seriously they were going in circles.

We really enjoyed the day at the castle and are pleased we ran into the elderly couple back in Bath. They come down to that spot each day around 5pm apparently and people watch as a form of entertainment. He is still very much involved in the running of the business though which he credit's for his sharp mind at the ripe old age of 89. He was having trouble with his phone that day though and asked if I knew anything about them. I said a little and asked what was wrong. He passed it over saying he couldn't make calls and he spoke to his son about the business every day at 5:30 so needed help, "urgently". I took the phone and instantly realised he had it on flight mode, obviously by accident, and so I rectified it and he was so grateful. He trotted off to make the call.

One of the most valuable things we gain from travelling is meeting new people, not all of them own castle's but most have a story to tell and if one listen's intently enough people are happy to share it. We had no intention of going to this castle today and through a chance meeting we learned about it from none-other than the owner and got to visit. Experiences like this cannot be purchased and we are grateful for them when they come along. It makes me stop and think about all those people that pass by each other every day, oblivious to anything but themselves and their purpose or destination.

Thanks for reading and following.

Faith & Galen.

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Such a beautiful story. Thanks so much for sharing it.

It's crazy how many people we pass by in our lives. I often wonder how many of them could be really good friends.

My partner and I are currently travelling through Mexico. We met a lovely couple from South Carolina the other day, and exchanged details, all because we shared a table and got to talking. It was a lovely experience that lifted my spirit for the rest of the day. We now have friends to stay with when we're visiting SC!

Those castle gardens are stunning. Following along and looking forward to more of your adventures fellow Aussies.

Hi there @jessicaoutside and thanks for your comments on my post. Meeting new people is one of the best things about travelling for us and being Aussie’s seems to make it easy; For some reason people just want to chat with us! I guess being friendly and approachable people makes it easier for them though. Thanks for following along on our journey and safe travels to you guys also. We haven’t been to Mexico yet, so much to see in Europe, but we want to go there someday.

That's so true. Some people look at you sideways and then try to guess whether you're an Aussie or a Kiwi 😂 Great conversation starter.

Mexico has been epic so far. The food has definitely been the highlight, along with the Mayan ruins. I've visited Europe before but it was when I was 21. I loved it! But I know I would appreciate it much more now. Now that I'm wise and old haha! Hoping to get back there real soon.

Enjoy your travels guys! Look forward to hearing all about it.

100% true huh! We get the same here...Most English people are polite and don’t want to make the AU/NZ mistake but it’s the best way to get a conversation going. Once started, the flood gates open!

Happy travels.

Crazy to dwell on isn't it? If you hadn't met them you wouldn't have written this post.
Maybe it'll be seen by someone new who then elects to follow your account and you'll have an impact on them; or they'll have an impact on you.
I look at my wife, and it seems so obvious and right that we're a couple, but 13 years ago one different sentence; one glance, one phone call that happened, or one that didn't, and we wouldn't be together now.
Events are so concrete after they've happened, and so delicately ephemeral beforehand.

So true Matt, I think they call it sliding doors or something like that. Had we chosen another bench we would not have met the couple...I wonder how many times a person's path is affected by a chance meeting or event.

Wow, it seems that maze is so typical one. Yes, while travelling we meet so many new people with different culture, tradition it will be so exciting sharing thoughts.

Yes, travelling is one of the great privileges and shouldn’t be wasted by not engaging with the people met along the way. Thanks for commenting.

Hey ya mate. Love these images and the story going with it. My father had a rule that I still apply today, greet every person you walk past even if they don't reciprocate. He said that apart from it being good manners, you don't know what they may be going through and that a friendly greeting may be all they need to chance their day.

Bless you guys

you don't know what they may be going through and that a friendly greeting may be all they need to change their day.

Nicely spoken my man.

You got a 31.40% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @galenkp!

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