Good morning, my loves.
So, currently,
Claudia is asleep, and I am planning to take her away for the weekend.
'Cause the thing is, we love going on little trips together
and she loves taking me on surprises
and one of my favourite memories from when we were really early dating
is when she just drove me to a
secret location and we stayed in this hotel and it was really magical and such a surprise for me.
But I can't drive.
But then
trainline challenged me to take a journey
using the new feature on their mobile app.
Which is essentially where your phone is your ticket.
So it has a little QR code, you put that down, and boom!
That's what works.
And I thought: two birds, one stone.
Amazing! I'm gonna take Claud somewhere to surprise her.
I do actually use trainline to book every single train ticket I take,
'cause it's generally, like,
a third cheaper
and you can use your Disability Rail Card on it,
and it works wherever -
so even if you go to the middle of nowhere
as long as you've downloaded the ticket already, it's in there.
And it doesn't drain your battery life,
and...it's generally just kind of an awesome app.
Sometimes I find it really hard using the ticket booths.
If I'm standing up on my feet then I kind of have to crouch down,
which is rather painful, and if I'm in my wheelchair
I can't always get to the one that is lower down, because, you know,
British people. We love to queue.
So having my ticket on my phone means that I won't have to do any of that.
I can just breeze right through.
So, trainline. Challenge accepted.
Buy those tickets.
Activate ticket.
Aha! There we go.
I have my QR code!
Let's make her some morning tea and wake her up.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber]
J: Good morning!
J: Hello.
C: Hello.
J: I bring you tea!
C: Thanks, baby.
J: Are you ready for your surprise weekend?
C: Yeah!
[Jessica giggles]
J: No guesses?
C: Maybe, like...a cultural city.
C: Or it could be somewhere more rural, like the Cotswolds.
C: The Lake District?
C: That's a bit far. J: OK, that's a bit far.
C: That's a bit far.
J: We're only going for two nights.
C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But sometimes your ideas are quite out there.
Well, wherever it is, I'm really excited; it'll be lovely!
J: Aww.
[Strenuous sounds]
[Jessica giggles]
J: Any ideas?
C: I think we're getting a train to London.
But then that could be going to anywhere!
Could be going to Eurostar.
Or...could be going up North.
J: Ooo.
'Cause we can't really go any further South
via land, can we?
[Jessica laughs]
['Hide With Me' by Sebastian Forslund (Cospe Remix)]
J: Du-nu nu-na nu-na-na!
J: So, we're at London Victoria.
J: Any ideas?
C: ...London?
J: No, I'm sorry, we are actually going on from here.
C: Oh, OK, that's good, I don't really like London any more.
C: I was here for seven years. J: Even though you lived here for how many years?
C: Seven.
J: Seven years! C: Oh, well, that's why I don't need to come back for holidays.
J: No, you're done. You've done it. It happened.
C: Did it. J: Don't worry, we're actually gonna get the tube to somewhere else.
C: OK!
J: And then we're gonna get another train. C: Ooooo.
J: Ooo!
J: So, really...could be anywhere.
J: Because London is the centre of the country and all roads lead to London.
J: So it could be anywhere!
J: Whoa!
['Hide With Me' by Sebastian Forslund (Cospe Remix) continues]
C: Oop! I don't know if it's zoomed in.
['Hide With Me' by Sebastian Forslund (Cospe Remix) continues]
[Voice Announcement System: Train terminates here. All change.]
[Voice Announcement System: Please ensure that you take all your personal belongings with you when leaving the train.]
['Hide With Me' by Sebastian Forslund (Cospe Remix) continues]
[Music fades out]
[Both] Wheee! [Laughing]
[Jessica laughs]
[Claudia, chuckling] Whoops.
['Hide With Me' by Sebastian Forslund (Cospe Remix) continues]
J: Had a lovely little rest
on our beautiful bed
and now we're gonna go exploring!
J: Hello. C: Hiya.
[Pleasant classical music]
C: We're in Waddesdon!
J: Waddesdon is a small village dating from 1190.
For centuries, it was a poor agricultural village until *1974 [J is mistaken, should be 1874],
when Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild built a large country house in the area
and transformed it into an estate village.
He built new houses for employees, a school, a cricket pavilion, a village hall, and the pub we're staying in.
[Pleasant classical music]
C: Aw, look, I love these things!
C: Did you used to squeeze these when you were little? J: Oh, are those your weird squishy things again?
C: Yeah.
J: You're so into these.
J: Let me squish it. C They just feel really funny. Like foamy, aren't they?
[Pleasant classical music]
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber]
J: Good morning! So we've just had some breakfast, which was very nice, was it not?
J: We're in a place called Waddesdon, which is near to Aylesbury,
which is sort of northeast--no, northwest of London?
C: Buckinghamshire. J: In Buckinghamshire, we're just in Buckinghamshire, basically.
J: And we've come because it is an adorable scenic and very historic little town.
J: We both enjoy National Trust properties
and we're both really country girls stuck in the city
who want to move to green spaces.
And it's so nice as well to travel by train,
especially since I can't drive, so I can't really take you anywhere surprising.
Most people when you're thinking, 'Oh, we'll do a weekend break in England and we'll go for something quintessentially British!'
they tend to think of the bigger places like Oxford and Cambridge and Bath,
but I really wanted to come somewhere that we'd never been before.
But, also, it's so lovely here!
And it deserves just as much love and recognition.
And this morning we're going to go around Waddesdon Manor.
What a name, by the way. Makes me think of ducks.
C: I don't think it's got an 'l,' darling.
J: Huh? C: It's not got an 'l' in it.
J: There's no 'l'!
J: So it's "Wadds-don"?
C: Waddes... Waddes... J: Waddes... Waddesdon.
C: Wad. J: Wad.
C: Wad-wad. J: What?
J: So let's go!
[Classical music]
J: It's a bit nippy today!
J: But the sun is lovely and warm.
C: Morning haze.
J: Oh, yes. Can't really see ahead.
J: Don't know where we're going! C: You can see our breath.
[Classical music]
J: Waddesdon Manor is a stunning country house in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château,
and despite its grand size and style
was built and furnished in less than a year!
J: Even though there was no existing house, park, or gardens - just a bare hill.
J: Building began in 1889
for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild
as a weekend residence for grand parties
and as a setting for his stunning art collection.
J: The structural design of the house subtly included the most modern innovations of the late 19th century,
including a steel frame
to take the strain off walls in the upper floors and allow them to have a differing layout to the lower floors.
J: The house also has hot and cold running water,
central heating, and an electric bell system to summon servants.
J: Baron Ferdinand furnished the house with an extensive collection of antiques, antiquities, and art.
J: He especially treasured his 18th century English portraits
by artists Gainsborough and Reynolds.
Though, he did not shy away from collecting carpets, tapestries, furniture, ceramics, and books.
J: The house is now Grade I listed
and owned by the National Trust, whilst still being managed by the Rothschild Foundation.
J: It's one of the National Trust's most visited properties
and the only Rothschild residence and collection left standing in its entirety
after the rest were bombed during the Second World War.
[Other classical music]
[Birds cheeping]
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber]
[Outside sounds] ['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber plays quietly]
J: Our weekend break on the train was certainly very magical.
J: It was wonderful to take time out, just the two of us,
somewhere neither of us had ever been before.
J: I deeply appreciated the chance to spend more time reading my latest historical fiction
J: Claud less so with her book.
J: The hotel was so lovely. It really was just a chance to watch the world go by
and not worry about anything.
J: Even if it was a little chilly.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues throughout]
J: A perfect autumn calm settled over everything
until Claudia ruined it.
[Jessica laughs]
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues throughout]
J: We adore the British countryside and, yes,
we do dance around in fields regardless of who might be watching.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues throughout]
J: Thank you to trainline for the opportunity to take a break,
but we did miss the doggies.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues throughout]
J: Next time, they're definitely coming on the train with us.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues throughout]
J: Trainline also challenged some other YouTubers to take a trip using their mobile ticketing app.
Have a watch of their videos and let trainline know which video you like best on Twitter.
['You Set My World On Fire' by Loving Caliber continues and fades]