Down the rabbit hole

I was quite happy to leave Brighton behind and at last head into some nature. It was a pretty boring drive and apart from a few stops here and there nothing major happened.

And then there was Arundel. No words can explain this magic place, see for yourself. Not only was the town a complete fairytale, but Arundel castle left me breathless.

Lyndhurst itself is beautifully located west of Southampton in New Forest. Now, when you say New Forest, you expect some newly planted woods with modern housing, right? But once you enter New Forest, you can feel that it is ancient. With the drizzle that came down it really looked spooky. Massive overhanging trees, miles and miles of mete high rhododendron hedges along the on way road and the occasional sheep crossing the road all lend to the areas charm.

The small town of Lyndhurst itself offers some exciting sight. Unavoidably the massive church towers over everything, but the real jewels are along high street.

Small shops all

themed after Alice in Wonderland, make you slip down the rabbit hole pretty fast. Even the pubs an restaurants where showing Wonderland creatures in a myriad of shapes. The question now was: should I take the red pill or the blue pill? ??

The last thing I expected to find in such a small town was a Maseratti an Ferrari dealership. I hate Ferrari's, but I really couldn't avoid looking and some beautiful cars, now could I?

After the leisurely stroll along High Street, we checked in to The Crown Manor Hotel. As the name suggests, it's a typically English hotel, with library and gardens and ancient paintings and statues. The building was a coach house in the 15th century and it has really kept its charm until today.