A Lady in London

A few weeks ago I vowed to take more day trips from London. Not long later I was serendipitously invited to visit Surrey, England which lies just south of the city.

Despite its close proximity, I had never been to Surrey before. I was excited to spend some time there, and even more excited that my day trip would actually be a five-day trip.

My boyfriend grew up in Surrey, and his parents still live there. They were out of town for the week, so we decided to take a long weekend in the countryside.

Our first stop was Shere, a village in Surrey that is famous for being the filming location for the Bridget Jones movies and The Holiday.

After a pub lunch at the William Bray, we walked around the picturesque streets of Shere. My boyfriend pointed out the church that was used in both of the Bridget Jones films, and took me to see the historic interior of the nearby White Horse pub.

After walking by a pretty pond full of ducks and along a street lined with beautiful old buildings that could only belong in the English countryside, we made our way to my boyfriend’s village, Peaslake. We took some time to settle into our home-away-from-home, then drove up to Guildford.

Guildford was a larger city, but still had its share of charm, including the ruins of an old castle. We stopped there for tea and then picked up some food to cook for dinner.

The next day we woke up to beautiful blue skies. It was time for a walk. Off we went through the fields, passing by yellow seas of mustard flowers and green fields dotted with puffy sheep clouds. It was so picture pretty that it almost felt like a painted backdrop.

An hour later we reached the William IV pub in Albury, or the Willy as the locals called it. The low-ceilinged historic interior was complete with a large fireplace. An extension had been built to make the small space bigger, but the day was nice enough that we sat outside at one of the picnic tables and enjoyed a pint in the sunshine.

The next few days were equally warm. We spent lazy afternoons drinking tea in the garden, having lunch at the The Hurtwood Inn in Peaslake, and enjoying an excellent BBQ at the home of my boyfriend’s godfather.

Interspersed throughout our days in Surrey were local wildlife sightings. I was glued to the windows of the house in the early evenings, when huge foxes and deer roamed the hillsides. During the daytime, I took frequent trips down the road to a pasture full of spring lambs. They were so small and adorable that I couldn’t help wanting to take one under each arm and carry them home.

Unfortunately, my travel schedule does not make me the ideal sheep owner. In fact, even my long weekend in Surrey was punctuated by a couple of side trips to Sussex (more on those later). At the end of my visit, I left for London lambless.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Having fallen for Surrey’s charm, I plan to visit again soon. And a lot more times after that.