Bank Holiday Weekend: Moretonhampstead, Buckfastleigh and Exeter

In the US we have Labor Day (or Labour Day ;) and in the UK we have the late summer bank holiday, which is the last Monday in August. While the initial reason for these holidays differs, the sentiment is the same - a last 3 day weekend before school starts. And even though we don't have kids, we're never ones to pass up a 3 day weekend.

We decided to head south-ish - not sure why, but that's what we did and ended up in Moretonhampstead, Buckfastleigh and Exeter (say that 5 times fast!).

Saturday: Moretonhampstead
Not quite 3 hours took us to the little village of Moretonhampstead and the White Hart Hotel. A very cute and quaint hotel with a resident cat! Our room was pretty spacious for this part of the world and had a funky bathroom stair you'll see in the photos. We checked in, had a nice dinner and a short walk around town (not cuz we were tired, but because it was only a short walk to go all the way around town!)

The drive was lovely except for a few dicey moments where the road didn't look wide enough for one car, let alone two! I was really glad Brian was driving.

Here are the funky stairs to the bathroom.

Walk around town. Many of the inns, pubs and houses have gorgeous flowers out front. One of the benefits of all that rain is great flowers.

This is a public mailbox - or I suppose I should say post box. I mean seriously - how cute is that?

Old church on the hill

Sunday: Buckfastleigh
After breakfast, we decided to check out the rails and ales festival which was going on in nearby Buckfastleigh. They have steam trains you can ride and at the mid-point of the route they were having a beer festival. Sign us up!

All the conductors looked like retired railway guys and were having a ball.

Scenic view from the train

I caught this one coming into the station

A good shot of the interior. Even though the one way trip was only 30 minutes, there was a cafe car selling drinks and snacks. Looked like they also run a dining car on occasion.

Here's another one coming past us while we were enjoying some ale.

The Rails n' Ales festival. Lots to choose from.

And Otters & Butterflies
Just next to the train station is a butterfly house and otter sanctuary. I know, what? We were there for the 4pm feeding and got a good look at all the otters currently at the sanctuary and heard their sad histories and saw their antics. They are all rescue animals - either from flooding or road accidents and the guy who runs it rehabilitates them, but they rarely go back into the wild. A fun little stop.

These were the smallest Asian otters. So cute. They also had some North American and European otters, which were bigger.

This woman's boyfriend bought her the opportunity to feed them! It actually looked pretty gross - they eat raw fish, hamburger and baby chicks. Ewww. And they bite if you're not quick enough with the food!

Butterflies are really hard to photograph!

Also saw some emerging from their cocoons.

Monday: Exeter
Monday was a gorgeous day - perfect temps, sun and occasional shade - absolute perfect weather to try out the Granite trail bike path near Exeter. We were able to rent a tandem and got back on the bike. We estimate it's been about 6 years and believe us, it felt like longer. But we did all right and had a great 10 mile or so ride and some beautiful scenery.

I mean come on! Does it get any more gorgeous than this?

It looks like we're smiling, but we're really just gritting our teeth against the aches and pains.

A really nice trail - it was once a railway line so fairly flat. Thank God!

We don't do uphill tunnels on a tandem.

Those are sheep and cows in the background.

And it wouldn't be English countryside without a random church.

A Walk through the Nature Reserve

We have a wonderful nature reserve literally just behind our house with some great walking and biking trails. This is just a quick taste - they'll be more once we get the tandem fired up (hopefully this weekend). Enjoy.

yep - ducks! and 4 swans as well that I saw on a later trip

even some off-road trails - there are paved trails, gravel and then this

and a heron or two

pretty little stream runs through the whole reserve

absolutely beautiful and so green

Sunday Road Trip: Chepstow, Gloucester & Roast

Our goal is to do as much exploring as possible while the weather is nice so last Sunday off we went to explore a bit of Wales, which is literally right down the road from us. We started in Chepstow. Why? Cuz it looked like a good place to venture to and had a castle. The fun of this part of the world is you can just start driving and are bound to run into a castle, cathedral or other historic something in just about any direction!

First Stop: Chepstow

First, we had to cross the suspension bridge into Wales. Toll for the bridge was 6 GBP! But you only pay coming from England to Wales. The other direction is free. Apparently, the bridge was built by Wales.

Here's the cute little town of Chepstow. This bunting you see is very common in the little towns and villages. I'm curious to see if it's just a summer thing or if they change them with the seasons - maybe lights for Christmas?

And here's the castle. We only walked around the outside. Spent all our money crossing the bridge and it didn't seem like there was much to see inside.

Yep, we're in Wales alright - that's welsh language on the sign.

Second Stop: Gloucester
The plan was to follow the Wales coast and then around back into England to stop in Gloucester, but our Sat Nav didn't know the plan and took us back over the suspension bridge the way we came. So, we saw a bit less of Wales then planned, but still a very pretty drive.

The highlight of Gloucester is the cathedral. Well, that and the largest most convoluted roundabout we've seen to date! The cathedral is huge, beautiful and they charge to take photos! So, you'll get a view of the exterior. (Okay, we're not really that cheap, but I really get irritated when churches charge a tourist fee so out of principle I rarely pay it. We usually make a donation to light a candle for loved ones instead.)

An overcast day but I actually think it adds some drama to the photos. (Yeah, those are the kinds of excuses I will now start making regularly to cope with the UK weather! :)

We did have to sneak one inside photo as apparently part of one of the Harry Potter movies was filmed in this corridor!

Last Stop: Tortworth Court for Sunday Roast
One of the strong UK traditions is the Sunday Roast. It's a family roast lunch that probably followed church services back in the day and now is offered at most inns, pubs and restaurants on Sunday afternoons. We visited Tortworth at our letting agent's advice. She encouraged us to have our first at a 'proper restaurant' instead of a pub. The place was amazing and the food was a grand buffet with pork, beef, turkey and all the trimmings. We were stuffed and quite happy by the time we headed home.

They also serve afternoon tea in the atrium below - might have to come back some time.

And just to make the day perfect, we drove home in a rainstorm!

A Visit to Bristol Cathedral

When we first arrived in Bristol, we stayed in the city centre on Welsh Back which provided great access to the city. And it was mid July so the weather was perfect for exploring. So, while my husband, Brian, toiled away at work, I went to see what I could see. And on this particular day, that was the Bristol Cathedral. Have a look.

The Cathedral is right in the middle of town and I just kind of stumbled across it while wandering around. It sits on a beautiful square and I think is actually on the campus of Bristol University.

To be honest, the inside isn't all that spectacular (remember I've seen a lot of churches in my time and not long ago in Rome so my standards are pretty high these days) but still impressive. The main worship area is also a lot smaller than it looks from the outside.

This is the organ and where the choir sits. I came back that evening for evensong as there was a visiting guest choir from Texas. Founded in 1150, this is a Church of England cathedral, but the mass was very similar to Roman Catholic. (at least to my heathen ears it seemed to be!)

 

The real beauty of the place, however, is the gardens. Lush, green and so dense you forget you're in the middle of the city. A gorgeous place even on the overcast drizzly day of these photos.

I still sometimes can't believe we now live here. The history and the buildings are so old. And what a contrast after the new glitz and glamour of Abu Dhabi. Lots to explore!

The Bristol Balloon Fiesta

This past weekend was the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. An annual event and the highlight of Bristol tourism. Balloonists come from all over the globe for the 4 day fiesta and there are mass ascents where all the balloons take off at once, music, food, loads of people and an event they call after glow where the balloons are tethered to the ground but 'light up' after dark to music. We even had Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) visit Bristol for the event!

The real challenge for this festival is the weather. As you probably know, balloons are fragile and can't just take off whenever or wherever. The wind conditions are critical and Thursday and Friday ascents were cancelled as well as Saturday morning's ascent due to strong winds. Finally on Saturday night, things calmed down enough for the evening mass ascent and Sunday was fine.

We were busy getting settled and a bit put off by the estimated crowds and parking horror stories so didn't make it to the grounds themselves. However, on our way back from dinner downtown on Saturday, we were treated to a good sampling of the balloons from the evening ascent.

Terrible picture, but gives you a taste of how many were in the sky. Brian counted 14 (not all pictured).

The Tale of the New (rental) House Part 3

We moved in on 1 August - a Monday with only a bed and a chair in the whole place. Well, that and 2 cats and about 10 pieces of luggage! The plan was for our US shipment of furniture to arrive the next day, which I had tried several times to confirm with my Canadian contact. Tuesday came and went and I was informed they would arrive on Friday, the 5th. So I spent the time cleaning, unpacking a few suitcases and grocery shopping for items that don't require anything . . . no seriously, not a plate, fork or pan available so it was an adventure in creativity. At least we had a fridge for the cider! :)

Furniture did not arrive on Friday and after a long and very frustrating email/phone battle, we finally got our stuff on the 11th. I can't even describe how happy I was. First to have furniture at all, and second to have all of our old favourites from home with us again. And it all fit! A little cozy in some rooms, but we got everything in and it all looks great. The UAE stuff is scheduled to arrive in the next couple of weeks and then we'll have the whole plan come together.

Let's take a tour ...

Nice little kitchen. Actually much bigger than a lot of the places we saw. That's a double-stove!

And this is the washing machine . . . in the kitchen. Very common here. And just a washing machine - no dryer. We'll probably look for a combo unit like we had in Abu Dhabi once the weather makes it harder to hang clothes outside.

Any idea what this is? It's the fridge! And there's a twin freezer on the other side of the kitchen. Strange to have to kneel down to get your food, but we'll get used to it, I'm sure. Not too many big American fridge/freezers here - no room!

Here's the living room (and Rogue for perspective). Electric heater in the fireplace area, which should come in handy in winter. TV will be coming with the UAE shipment so just the stand for now.

And on the other side of the lounge is the dining room (diner). A little cozy, but it all fits. So happy to have our dining hutch (sideboard) back with us . . . and of course all the nice wine glasses!

This room could have been a bedroom, dining room or office. We've decided to make it the office/craft room. And it's the only place the breakfast table fits so I guess it's also the breakfast room. Office desk will be arriving with the UAE shipment.

This is the guest room . . . for guests . . . like you . . who should come visit us. I promise to unpack the rest of the clothes before you arrive!

And the front door - complete with mail slot! Yes, we have mail service again! Complete with daily doses of junk mail. I really did miss getting mail, but completely forgot how annoying all the junk mail is. Thank god there's recycling here too.

And our bedroom. A little cozy with all the big furniture, but very happy to have our bed and mattress back again. Haven't slept this well in years. And what a great window. That wide ledge is perfect for kitties who want to keep an eye on the neighbourhood.

And speaking of windows, here's a shot of the one in the lounge. Notice anything? No screens! How nice that we don't have mosquitoes or other pests that require screens, but how unfortunate for us as both cats can escape if open too wide. Believe me, we know from experience!

So that's the new place. A great neighbourhood as well with friendly folks and really quiet. There's also a nature reserve less than a block away with lots of walking trails and bike paths. It's been a good decision so far.