Sunday, April 27, 2008

Springtime in Ipswich


While Jacob was attending a meeting in Ipswich Saturday, I bravely ventured out on my own to do a bit of exploring. We had never been to Ipswich before, and I was eager to show myself around. After a few adventures in driving and parking I ended up at the magnificent Christchurch Park, a beautiful 70-acre park in the heart of Ipswich. It was the first really nice day of weather we've had--warm sunshine all day and no wind--so the park was full of people just enjoying the weather. It was absolutely idyllic.

One fascinating feature of the park was the trees. Some of them had interesting shapes and features, and I took a few photos of individual trees because of their uniqueness.



The central feature of the park is Christchurch Mansion, a stately home built in 1548-1550. Some rooms in the mansion have been preserved as past inhabitants might have known them; other rooms have become museums and galleries with paintings, pottery and other works of art. I was particularly impressed to see many works from John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough, the famous 18th-century Naturalist landscape painters who are both from Suffolk County.



The mansion and park were gorgeous, but the best part was the beautiful springtime weather!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking about starting a petition to make you STOP blogging about your English experience...you're making the rest of us jealous!