点评:Just getting here was a challenge - irritating website for booking tickets, then no easily found satnav postcode on the scrambled emailed ticket or even on their website. Poorly signposted from the A43 turnoff - you have to travel miles through the local pot-holed village, wondering if you’ve missed a turnoff somewhere whilst giving way to cars coming from the opposite direction as the village road is so narrow. No phone signal on the estate either.
I paid £14 for the State rooms guided tour which covered about six rooms upstairs. I also paid £14 for a tour of the The Great Hall & Gardens - this turned out to be a “walk yourself around” tour. The house’s interior is extremely gloomy possibly due to the closed shutters protecting the tapestries but the interior was freezing cold on a spring day - I guess even the Duke is struggling with his heating bills these days. This is billed as the English Versailles but I couldn’t for the life of me see why - there is simply no comparison - much of the paintwork and other interior detailing was very shabby. Overall, I thought the house tour was too expensive for what is on view here.
Tea room is a mess, dirty tables, tiled floors amplifying the sound of over-excited, poorly supervised children here for the Easter events but that did at least drown out the loud, tinny music reverberating from the speakers. Restricted food menu - £3.50 for a latte which was simply a cup of lukewarm black coffee handed over with a jug of milk to help yourself. I came away with a headache.
A staff member explained this was the first time they’d run the Easter events and the house tours at the same time so everyone was rushed off their feet. It showed I’m afraid. Signposting around the house was poor so I did need to engage with the staff, who were pleasant enough but not very knowledgeable (and that includes the room guide people in the house itself - some could not answer historical questions about the rooms).
翻译:光是抵达这里就够折腾的了——订票网站难用得令人抓狂,而且电子票上乱码连篇,连他们的网站上都找不到导航邮编。从A43公路岔路口到庄园的路标指示也不清晰——你得穿过坑坑洼洼的村庄好几英里,一边还得小心翼翼地避让对面来车,因为村里的路实在太窄了。庄园里也没有手机信号。
我花了14英镑参加了国事厅的导览游,参观了楼上大约六个房间。我还花了14英镑参加了大厅和花园的参观——结果发现是自助游。庄园内部极其阴暗,可能是因为百叶窗紧闭保护着挂毯,但即便是在春日,里面也冷得刺骨——看来就连公爵最近也得为暖气费发愁了。这里号称是英国的凡尔赛宫,但我实在不明白为什么——两者根本无法相提并论——很多油漆和其他室内装饰都非常破旧。总的来说,我觉得参观这座宅邸的价格太贵了,与这里展示的内容不成正比。
茶室一片狼藉,桌子脏兮兮的,瓷砖地板放大了复活节活动期间孩子们兴奋过度、无人看管的喧闹声,不过至少盖过了音响里传出的刺耳刺耳的音乐。食物选择有限——一杯拿铁要3.5英镑,其实就是一杯温吞吞的黑咖啡,配上一壶牛奶自己倒。我喝完头疼。
一位工作人员解释说,这是他们第一次同时举办复活节活动和宅邸参观,所以每个人都忙得不可开交。恐怕事实也的确如此。房子周围的指示牌很差,所以我不得不与工作人员交流,他们都很和蔼,但知识却不太渊博(这其中也包括房子里的房间导游——有些人甚至无法回答有关房间的历史问题)。