I am not even a part of this fandom (I know--I'm sorry--I prolly will be soon though if that makes you feel any better) but when driving down (the wrong side of) the road minding your own business and suddenly there is a GIANT DALEK?! you pull over to see what the deal is. Basically the people of Snugburys Icecream create a new giant straw sculpture and place it in this field off the highway every year. This being The Year of the Doctor, it was the ideal choice.if you find yourself in the area i suggest you pop in for some darn good ice cream and a surprising sculpture. (This is a picture of my brother with the Dalek because he's a Whovian.)
Number Two: Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey
My family (my mother in particular) is huge fan of of the popular drama Downton Abbey so Highclere was a resounding "yes!" Highclere is a book-in-advance estate with the exception of a number of tickets the staff will sell to the first lucky walk-ins the day of. We got there early and enjoyed a walk through the rooms and gardens. Although there was not much information available on the castle and the actual family who owns it, in rooms that the show itself was filmed in, there would be photos and descriptions that left us and other fans happily reminiscing.
Other than the destination that shall be talking about in my next post, this was my favorite "nerdy" spot. If you haven't figured it out yet, Doune Castle is the castle at which many of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail scenes were filmed. It was so much fun wandering around the halls stepping where the Pythons had stepped and shout out to those people from New Hampshire but who were currently living in New York (I think that was what they said) who got the whole castle full of people running around on horseback and clapping like they had coconuts. To make things even better though (just in case they aren't there when you visit) you can pick up an audio tour narrated by Terry Jones himself, one of the members of the Pythons. It made the whole visit to be quite frank. It was informative and hilarious and if you opted for all the extra information, you would find yourself listening to parts of the Holy Grail standing where the specific scene was filmed. Listening to The Knights of the Round Table standing in Camelot (i.e. the great hall--it's only a model) was incredible and listening to the dialogue between the swamp king and one of the worlds worst sentries in the prince's room made me laugh out loud and left me with a wonderful feeling almost like I was visiting old friends. It was amazing. If you are fans of Monty Python it is not to be missed.
So that's it for my recommendations (except for the surprise destination in the next post). I did a ton more nerdy stuff (even show up at a castle to find that it had been turned into an amusement park and went into a small BBC's Merlin exhibit) but those were basically my top choices. If you wanted to see cosplay progress in this post, I apologize once more but in this set of posts I will be making today, there will be no cosplay progress. I've worked a lot but nothing's really ready for it's own post yet. Hopefully however I will have a progress post soon. If you would like to here more about something specific feel free to email or leave a comment with any questions. Although not cosplay, I think I may have other experiences recounted here in the future for nerdy enjoyment. I hope that you enjoyed this long and off the cosplay path post
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