It's been a cool and dreary day. We ran into ran not far from Liverpool. We did a lot of driving today and not too much exploring. Our first stop was at a very picturesque market town called Ludlow. It's close to the England/Wales border. Even in the rain it was pretty. There was a little market going on so we toured it. We all bought some tea cakes (only 70 calories each!) and we bought some sandwiches to take on the bus from the local bakery. I even snapped a photo of their castle through the gate (not as impressive as the other castles we've seen).
We crossed in and out of Wales a few times on our trip as the border doesn't run straight and neither do the roads. Our second stop was in Wales at the ruins of Tintern Abbey. Another example of a hauntingly beautiful old church left for nature to reclaim. It looked especially dreary yet beautiful with the mist floating through in the background. There was a little gift shop so we popped in and I was able to pick up a Welsh "love spoon". Back in the day, Welsh men would carve a beautiful spoon out of wood and present it to the woman he wished to marry. If the spoon was beautiful enough, the woman would accept. Kind of like an engagement ring. Since I'm single, I bought my own damn spoon.
After departing Tintern, we crossed back into England and headed for Bristol. We ran into something pretty universal along the way: Friday afternoon long weekend traffic. Monday is a bank holiday here so everyone was heading out of town early.
Once in Bristol, we checked into the hotel and relaxed for a bit before Dad and I ventured out to explore the area around the hotel. There's an old Quaker burial ground nearby and it has a "hermit cave" in it. That was neat to see. But the St Mary Redcliffe Church was stunning. The community has worshiped on the site of the church for over 900 years. Much of the current church dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The stained glass is newer was most was destroyed during the English Civil War. The upper spire fell off in 1446 after being struck by lightening. It was rebuild in 1872. I think it looks pretty good. Unlike some of the other Cathedrals and such we've been in on this trip, we were allowed to take photos inside. It was beautiful and colourful. One of the prettiest churches I've ever been in.
Dinner tonight was our farewell dinner as we'll all be heading our separate ways tomorrow when we get to London. It was in a fancy restaurant that was used as a sugar refinery in the 18th century. Kind of cool. The food was good and some of the folks were very merry when they returned to the bus. It was a lovely end to a good day and quite a nice way to wind down the trip. I can't believe that there's only one day left on the tour I'm still in England for six more days but I'll be flying solo for most of that.
Time to wrap things up and head to bed. We have an earlier start tomorrow. We're off to Bath and Stonehenge!
Good Night!
Sarah
XOXO
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