Saturday 2 June 2012

Believe it or not: That's It!

Yes, that's it, the last post about our week in Yorkshire.
Of course, there would be plenty more to tell (there always is - usually, my blog posts only skim the surface of all the things I want to tell you about and show you), but I've been writing a lot more already than what you'll ever want to know, and so I shall leave it at this.

Returning from Thirsk mid-afternoon, we retreated to our room at the B&B for a while to warm up with steaming mugs of tea. Not very long until I grew restless and wanted to be out again, and so I went for a walk, exploring a part of Ripon I had not seen before but only read about in one of the leaflets at the B&B.

This is the leper chapel, or, to be more precise, St. Mary Magdalen, built in the year 1115 and still looking pretty much as it was back then (no additions or alterations).
You can find out about its history and look at more pictures on their website.
When I was there, the chapel was locked, and I didn't know of the possibility to ask for the key at one of the nearby houses; anyway, I enjoyed the walk there and the peace and quiet surrounding the chapel before I headed back into town.

The Saturday was spent with the family - a big gathering of around 25 people, some of which I met for the first time. We had a meal at Pastures Lodge, and we all greatly enjoyed it - this time, not for a funeral, as had been the case too many times in the past two years, but simply to be together.

Sunday morning at breakfast - it was to be our last Full English for the time being! - we chatted to the two couples who were at the table with us. It turned out they were in Ripon for the classic cars show, and were going to exhibit their cars as well. One of the proud owners kindly went out with us to the car park and showed us their beauties:
Don't ask me about models and year of build and all that - Graham knows!
The red car, the owner told us, is sometimes used in film or TV productions; it appears for instance in the Agatha Christie TV adaption of "The Moving Finger".

The rest of Sunday was spent travelling. My sister-in-law kindly took us to Harrogate station, where we boarded the train to Leeds. There, we got onto the Transpennine "Express" (as usual, it was packed, and once again, I spent the journey sat on my suitcase, just like I have done before.) Our flight was punctual, even landed in Stuttgart a bit early, and almost precisely at 7.30 pm, I unlocked my front door and was back home.
On flying in, for the first time ever, my sister and I were able to identify our home town! It was a beautiful and welcome sight.
(This is not my picture; I shamelessly nicked this one from somewhere on the internet.)

It had been a very good week. Yes, the weather could have been better (mainly warmer!), but I still think we were lucky compared to other parts of England where apparently it never stopped raining at that time.

Mary gave me so many presents (it was my birthday parcel, actually) that I had to enlist my sister's help and she put some of my things in her suitcase to fit it all in:
Books and choccies and a necklace and more choccies and small gifts for my parents and more books and more choccies... Just what I like!

Well, that's it, as I said. No more England travelling posts for about a year, I guess.

My next trip will be on Monday morning: RJ and I are going to spend 10 days in Italy, Lake Garda. For me, it will be the first time since 1998 for my feet to touch Italian soil again, after I used to spend almost every summer on Sicily for 10 years (you can read about my first trip to Sicily on my blog, simply put "Sicily" in the search box on the top left corner).
We are both very much looking forward to our holiday, and I am sure some pictures will find their way on here in due time.

28 comments:

  1. We are both very much looking forward to our holiday ????
    What was it you were doing in England, if you were not on holiday?

    Your trip appears to have been a great success (never mind about the weather - this is England!) and you have filled every minute with pleasure and activity. Good for you!

    Have a good time in Italy.

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    1. Friko, of course it was a holiday, but not "our" holiday! RJ wasn't with me; this was a family visit more than anything else. But Lake Garda will be a "proper" holiday, just RJ and I.

      Thank you, I am sure we will!

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  2. Glad to have had a chance to catch up with your posts today. Beautiful pictures, wonderful trip -- I'm envious.

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to catch up, Mark; there was quite a lot to read and look at, but now you're on top of things again :-)

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  3. Enjoyed your whole trip to England and it matched my imagination of what a trip like yours would be for me.
    I hope your time in Italy will be equally as enjoyable.

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    1. Thank you, Jill! I am sure we'll have a good time in Italy, although it will be a very different trip.

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  4. I hope that you have a wonderful time in Italy - I'm sure you will. I shall be there in September. I am so looking forward to it because I haven't been there for some years.

    The cars are Sunbeam Talbot 90s. They are one of my all-time favourite cars. There was a time when I would have given my eye teeth to have owned one. I still think that it ranks amongst the most beautiful production cars ever made in England.

    The blue one is a Mark III manufactured in about 1956. Only about 2000 were made. After the Mk II they actually dropped the Talbot and it was a Sunbeam. The red one is a Mk II or IIA Drophead. I assumed earlier that it was a Mk II (of which there were about 5,000 saloons and Dropheads made in total) but if it is a IIA then there were about 10,000 made in total. Didn't you just want to know that? It was a fabulous car and won the Monte Carlo Rally in about 1955 or 56.

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    1. Thank you, Graham! I wouldn't have even recognized both cars being of the same make, let alone any names, model numbers or anything else about them.

      I am sure we will have a great time in Italy; I haven't set foot on Italian soil since 1998. We still used to pay in Lira then...

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  5. What beautiful photos! It looks like you had a wonderful time! It must be so nice to live in Europe and be so close to all those wonderful countries!

    Have a lovely week!

    Mary

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    1. Thank you, Mary!
      It certainly is nice being able to enjoy the advantages of living in Europe. To get to our destination, it shouldn't take us much more than about 6 hours in the car.
      Oh, and a belated Happy Birthday to you!!

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  6. I have enjoyed catching up with all your news about your trip. Lovely photos of lush, green England. (It's all the rain that makes it like that!) I also love your mother's socks! So beautiful, I may have to treat myself.

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    1. Thank you, Joanne! Indeed, the rain is the price to pay for that lush, green country.
      My Mum will be happy to have another customer to her Etsy shop :-)

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  7. I enjoyed reading all your posts about England. Just now I followed your link to the Leper Chapel and then looked up more information about leprosy in Europe...It reminded me of reading the Brother Cadfael books. Have you ever read any of them - by Ellis Peters?

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    1. Hello Kristi, years ago I have read one book by Ellis Peters, "City of Gold and Sins" (or the other way round?), but that one didn't have Brother Cadfael in it. I do remember, though, that I enjoyed the book and style of writing a lot, so I may have a look for more from her.

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  8. Glad your trip to England was so nice and interesting. I've enjoyed reading about it. But all those chocolates make me feel a bit queasy. Still, I guess you can spread them out over time.

    I hope you have a wonderful time in Italy!

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    1. Italy was beautiful - mostly :-) (More about that in an extra post)
      Regarding the chocolates... well, there's only the Cadbury's Roses left now, everything else is gone...

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  9. I love the piccy of your collection of presents, Librarian! Gosh, though, I can't keep (much) chocolate in the house without eating it. It's like - see chocolate, must eat, with me, I'm afraid. That leper chapel was really interesting as well - I love old churches etc. Poor lepers, though - what a life, back then. Sometimes I'm very glad to be living in the 21st century. Must look out for Cadfael now.

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    1. Oh yes, I'm very glad to be living in this time and this place, too!
      I do like my chocolate and will usually eat it when I know it is there, but there's nothing wrong with that.

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  10. Hello, I'm just dropping by to promote my latest design project called AFAWFAY. (short for A Furniture A Week For A Year) It's a personal design challenge where I'll come up with 1 furniture a week and post it in my blog. This project starts this week (June 9 2012) and updates will be made during saturdays or sundays, which also means I'll be posting at least 1 entry in my blog! YAY! see denisewy.com/afawfay for more details though new designs will be posted in my blog t denisewy.blogspot.com

    Sorry for the plug, but let's go to your post... I love the cars, makes me want to visit the countryside driving one of those. btw, when was your birthday? I had mine last wednesday (May 30) haha! ANyway, belated happy birthday to you!

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    1. Belated Happy Birthday to you, too! My birthday was in March (I blogged about my cocktail party then).
      A furniture project? Sounds interesting!

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  11. Dear M,
    I am so touched by the chapel, It is in amazing condition. 900 yrs old? remarkable.
    I very much enjoyed these chronicals of your time in the U.K.!
    Best
    Julie

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    1. Hello Julie, yes, 900 years old.
      And last week in Italy, we walked among buildings and walls that were from the 1100s, too. Places breathing history, you could say.
      Glad you liked my reports!

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  12. Totally OT, but I have to reply to tell you and your dear mother that my wonderful socks, bought from her ETSY shop have arrived in Ohio. The colors are even more perfect than I thought they would be from the photo and they fit perfectly! Thank you all so much! Your Mom's work is perfect.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi!!! My Mum will be well chuffed when she reads your kind comment.

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  13. Hello Kristi,
    I am so glad, that you like the socks and the colors! Thank you so much for your very kind comment. You also could leave a feedback on the Etsy-shop, if you would like to.

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  14. Thanks for reminding me! I've left feedback now.

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  15. Ah, for long European vacations! Here in the US our vacations are criminally short (1-2 weeks).

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    1. To me, usually one or two weeks is enough; I rather break up the working year several times with a shorter holiday than have one long vacation and then no other break to look forward to until the next year.

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