Monday 27 June, 2005

What Not

Walked 3 or 4 km's from Hapatule to a Benedictine monastery. You walk through some kind of Bird Sanctuary to get to it, and lots of tea plantations. It's a very pretty walk. The house itself is bizarre. It was built by a (I think) district governor who was English, with Scottish stone. Indeed it looks grey and heavy set and Scottish - quite incongruous. It was built in 1931. The furniture is unusual and there are things with formal labels like 'What Not: based on British design, made in Sri Lanka'. The owner went back to Britain in the late fifties, when he was about 92. He died around 100. One son died in WW2, the other in 1954. His wife died on the boat back to Britain and they wrapped her in cotton and buried her at sea (all this, from the guide). Since there were lots of paintings around the room done by her, of the sea, this seemed fitting. And since there was no sea close to the house she lived in for 50 years, she must have missed it allot. There were lots of beautiful books, in glass bookshelves. All histories of England, including a couple on Mary Queen of Scots, and a few on Disraeli. The only book on Asia I could see was, 'A Birds Eye View of India'. A painting of the owner hangs over the fireplace, and the guide made me walk from one side of the room to the other so I can see that its not just his eyes that follow you, but that his body seems to turn. And actually, that did seem to be the case.

Permanent Link for this Article