Day 5 - Hay-on-Wye and Shakespeare

For the first time on our journey, we had rain today. Not just a damp, misty rain, but buckets coming down. This put a damper on our visit to Hay-on-Wye which is known for its many bookstores and outdoor bookshelves. The owner of our B&B was top notch with a tasty breakfast, fantastic rooms, and great bathroom products. We also had a wonderful conversation with him ranging from US politics to rugby to Wales and how we should visit Pembrokeshire sometime. He had excellent taste in artwork and Carolyn even tried to buy something off the wall. After checking out of our B&B, we wandered a block down to the main road and went to about 5 bookshops and a map shop. I was good and kept my wallet in my pocket, especially with the maps. It was cool, I'll admit, to see first edition Ian Fleming James Bond novels. I love visiting Wales as signs are in both English and Welsh; so fun to see! Due to the rain, no shops had books outside, but this is definitely a town I'd love to revisit. Very cool vibe!

We left Hay-onWye in heavy rain and headed to Leominster (pronounced Lemster) for lunch. Google and our GPS pointed us to a great sandwich shop in the town centre. Leaving there, we headed to the county of my great-grandfather, Warwickshire. Along the way, I did introduce my traveling companions to "services" on the M (interstate/motorway). Services are really nice rest stops that include a food court, excellent bathrooms, a small grocery store, and usually a coffe shop. It was an excellent stop and always reminds me how nice the British do things.

Shortly after, we arrived at our B&B in Leamington Spa. We had originally planned to stay in Warwick, but all the B&B owners advised us to stay away as the Japanese rugby team is staying in Warwick. We unpacked and headed for our evening of Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon. We had tickets for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre and I have to say it was excellent. The actor playing Henry was amazing! Funny, touching, and gripping, it was a perfect evening...followed up by perfect dessert!

Tomorrow we should see Coventry, my family sites, and maybe more in Stratford. The weather should be better to! Until then...

 

Day 4 - Lynmouth, Dunster Castle, & Tintern Abbey

World-class hotel at Lynmouth and not nearly enough time to sightsee means I'll definitely be back here. Wow...it is so beautiful. Lynmouth sits at sea level with the Bristol Channel lapping at the beach and tall, sharp hills surround it in the other directions. It's a fabulous seaside town.

Once we headed out, we backtracked a bit, but the views from the top of Countisbury Hill were unreal and heavenly. I think Marianne might be having a moment in the one shot below.

Our first stop of the day was Dunster Castle. The site was first occupied as a Saxon hill fort 1,000 years ago. Upon entering, a 13th century gateway greets you as the oldest remaining piece on the land. In 1571, the Luttrell family bought it and started extensive renovations. This family lived here for over 600 years! A school group was visiting today and you'll see below, they decided to practice jousting on the front lawn.

 

A medieval village is a short, but steep walk down from the castle so we made the trek, grabbed some Cornish pasties (pronounced pass-tees), crisps (potato chips), and some drinks. After a picnic in the car we headed north to Wales and Tintern Abbey.

Tintern is another magical ruined abbey. It's skeleton is more intact than Glastonbury and it's settled on the banks of the Wye River. We are lucky to be here now as some of the trees are turning a beautiful yellow and red. The abbey was established in 1131 and was destroyed by Henry VIII in 1536. The towering stone framework is impressive to behold and is now also serving as a place that gulls and other birds nest and feed: always fun for someone who isn't big on birds! While near where the altar would have been, I pulled out my iPhone and did a search for Gregorian chat music. Sure enough, I had a song in my phone so I pressed play and just imagined monks in the abbey. The song lasted about 40 seconds and was unfortunately included on a Halloween sound effect CD I downloaded years ago. After the chanting stopped, the next piece automatically played. It was called Evil Demon Chat. A quick fumble for my off button did nothing to help the ruined moment!

After some tea, we jetted on to Hay-on-Wye. Our B&B tonight is fantastic! We'll explore the town and its bookshops tomorrow. Until the morrow...