One Month in the British Isles

Dear Family and Friends,

We are back home in Cuenca, safe and sound.  We arrived home last Saturday evening. It has taken us a few days to get back in our groove.  We both were at the tail end of a head cold as we came home.  Then we had the altitude and time difference to adjust to. Last, but probably the most important, is the news we woke up to on Monday morning about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. All the above, totaled together, had me in an emotional downward spiral that prevented me from going into my creative self to work with the pictures I had taken and to be able to talk about them in a post.

Last night, Chuck and I went to the old cathedral, here in Cuenca, to hear Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  The music was beautiful and during the fourth and final movement, I had a since of wholeness.  It came to me that I am existing here on this beautiful planet and that it is a gift to have this human experience. My heart and soul became filled with gratitude and love. My depression and sadness was eased and now here I am filled with gratitude and eager to share our recent trip and the beauty we experienced.

Here goes:

We flew from Cuenca to Quito on Monday, September 4th.  We overnighted in Quito. On Tuesday at 4 pm we flew from Quito to Amsterdam on KLM, and then on to London. The purpose of this trip was to spend one month touring the British Isles.  We arrived in London's Heathrow airport at 3 pm on Wednesday. Since we were traveling light (only carry on luggage), we easily went to the bus terminal at the airport and boarded a bus to Bath, England.  We were in Bath, at our hotel, by 7 pm.  We slept very good Wednesday night.

Thursday, we toured the city of Bath.

This is the view from our hotel window.  This bridge, named the Pulteney Bridge (1785), is one of only four bridges in the world that have shops across it's full span on both sides. 

Looking directly out from our hotel window, we could see the beautiful rolling hills and lovely lime stone homes that make Bath unique.

On Thursday, we toured the Roman baths dating back to 200 a.d.  This bath is how the city of Bath got it's name

As part of the exhibit, the baths had people in period costumes. They stayed in character and really made the tour special.

This lady told me she was there to help the priest out by doing his laundry.

Here is a picture of the priest.  He told me to go in peace and have a wonderful day.

Here is a picture of the Bath Abbey, built between 1500-1600. 

Another view of the Abbey from the side.

Along the side of the Abbey is this statue of biblical Rebecca at the well.

This is a photo taken inside the Abbey. It is difficult to see without expanding the photo, but one of the things that make this Abbey unique is the fan vaulting in the ceiling of the naive. 

Here is Chuck standing outside the oldest house in Bath (1482).  It was the home of Sally Lunn in 1680.  It has been a restaurant that serves her still famous bread to this day.  Of course, we had to have a meal with her bread.  Chuck said he could remember his mother had a recipe for Sally Lunn bread in a old cookbook.

We did the Hop On, Hop Off tour bus to see the city. 

That evening we had dinner in our hotel.  Chuck had a nice glass of wine with his dinner and I had a glass of Bath water.

On Friday, we took a tour into the beautiful Cotswolds.  I will share about that in the next post.

Until then, I wish you to be in the light of love, not in the hole of darkness and fear.

Love,
Nancy