Across The Pond - South Wales - Crickhowell

July 2, 2012

Today we parted. Rowan and I took Pat & Jake north to Harpenden so they could meet up with some of their old friends who are here in England and attend a wedding. We had them in Harpenden before noon and then turned right around to go back to Chelmsford to pick up Rowan's parents for our road trip to Wales.

I got one last 'big head' photo of Jake as we left them. I am holding up what is left of a gingerbread man's big head (Pat and I tore his limbs from his body in a cookie frenzy). We will miss Jake's big head.  

I think I will have to photoshop it in to the Brecon Beacon mountain range at some point, so stay tuned. :o)

We piled the folks in the car and headed west to Wales. We will stop to have lunch with Auntie Ann in Cirencester, about 2 hours down the road. We dined at a pub called The Fleece in this very charming village. Here are Rowan and Auntie Ann.

 My lunch was locally made pork bangers and mash with super delicious gravy and onion rings. YUM!!!!!

 Dad had a HUGE gammon (ham) steak (almost as big as Jake's head :o) with a fried egg on top. Very common way to serve it here.

After lunch (which was really almost dinner since we had it at 4:30pm) we headed on our way to South Wales and Uncle Bob's place in Crickhowell. It was well after 9pm when we dropped mom and dad off  at Uncle Bob's and went on to our cottage just across the River Usk in Llangattock. The only business' in the village are two pubs. Here is the map of where we are: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=safari&oe=UTF-8&q=map+of+crickhowell+wales&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x486e282776e502a3:0x19179821f1b08db8,Crickhowell,+Powys&gl=uk&ei=9fj5T86gCYOd0AW_ocCdBw&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA

Our cottage is in what used to be horse stables built in the 17th century, now called Neuadd Cottages.

Here is their website: http://www.weacceptpets.co.uk/Powys/1838

We will spend the next week here in the BEAUTIFUL Brecon Beacons and Black Mountain Range. Look forward to some fabulous photos of some of the most beautiful country on the planet.

The view from our cottage in Llangattock...

Our front door.....

Fully stocked kitchen and sitting room.....

Very comfortable bed with view of the hills and loo/shower/tub all included

We are totally surrounded by sheep pastureland so it is extremely peaceful here. 

With all of the driving today, we had no problem at all falling off into some much needed deep ZZZZ's. 

We were greeted the following morning by this smiling face just outside our door......(mmmm...lamb shanks  :o)

.....and this dramatic view of Crickhowell and Table Mountain....

....and around our cottage

After we had our morning tea, we went on our 1 mile journey to Crickhowell and Uncle Bob's.
Here is Uncle Bob's place, built in 1903. Uncle Bob has lived here since the 1950's.  Note his fabulous vegetable garden in the foreground.

the view from the house out to the Usk Valley

Rowan and Uncle Bob looking out into the valley

Rowan and Millie the donkey, who lives in the pasture just on the other side of uncle Bob's fence. They enjoyed having a sniff at each other.

Mum & Dad taking in the view

Here are a few photos from around Crickhowell. This is a typical Welsh village. Small, quaint, always at least a hand full of excellent pubs, a butcher, green grocer and a baker. Oh, and I can't forget the OUTSTANDING cheese. The main attraction around these parts is the hiking in the Black Mountain Range (more pictures of that will be coming).
The Bear Pub at the end of the road. This is where we will get our internet & beer & lamb shanks.

The main street (High Street) all dressed up for when The Queen came through here on her tour of the UK during her Diamond Jubilee Celebration. The Royal Family has a huge presence here in Wales since their family roots are here.

The meat market fruit and vegetable display out in front of the shop.

THE MEAT. All local.  (check out the bowl of liver) :o)

The cheese :o)

We are really looking forward to creating some delicious local meals at the cottage from these delicious ingredients. Stay tuned for that and lots more about Wales, it's beautiful people, language, culture and country side..........we will find out just how many colors of green there are...... 

Across The Pond – Cambridge

Today we will visit Cambridge. We made the short 1.5 hour drive north to this magnificent and very historic university town. Cambridge is most widely known as the home of the University of Cambridge.   The University was founded in 1209 and is consistently ranked one of the top five universities in the world. Kings College, St. John's College and the University Library are main attractions on the campus grounds, which dominate the landscape in the town. The rowing and rugby teams here are quite well respected throughout the world.

Go here for more history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge

We parked just on the edge of town and took the shuttle bus into the town center. This is the best option, as you will see, the roads here are VERY narrow and parking is impossible. 

I just love this place. It is the quintessential British town. Very, very historic, classy and clean. The streets are very narrow with many tiny walking paths running everywhere. Makes us feel like we are truly in a very medieval setting. 

Map of Cambridge here: http://www.planetware.com/map/cambridge-map-eng-cambrid.htm

Corpus Christi College

 The ornate ceiling inside the Corpus Christie entrance way

 Approaching Kings College

We are lucky to be here on a Sunday. The church bells are ringing everywhere. Here is a movie of the Kings College area with the bells of St. Mary's ringing in the background.

We went up to the King's College entrance to see if we could go inside the cathedral for a tour. I have done this twice before and it is something not to miss. Because it is Sunday, there are no tours, but we can go inside for a church service later today for free :o) and we get the bonus of hearing the world famous boys choir sing. This is VERY EXCITING indeed. So, we make our plans for the rest of the day around the church service at 3:30 this afternoon. Of course the only thing we could possibly do while we wait, besides walk around the campus is EAT! Soooooooo, my sister finds one of her favorite things on the planet, a German sausage on a bun, and I find my passion while in England, meat pies! Oh dear, more stretch pants in our wardrobe.

Culinary Note: When in England, if you want to find the absolute BEST meat pies, you need to find a traditional Cornish Pasty Shop. There was a FABULOUS one here in Cambridge. I got a lamb & mint pie and Jake got a cornish special beef pie.

About now we are wondering why we packed that picnic lunch we brought along with us. Oh well, that just might be dinner. We carried our food with us as we walked through the windy narrow streets a few blocks away to find a bench on the river so we could watch the punters while we eat.

As we crossed the river Cam, we enjoyed watching the many punting boats. This is one of the main attractions here in Cambridge. You can rent these boats by the hour to tour around the campus on the water. Go here for info. on Punts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_(boat)

 

We found our bench and  down went the pies :o) Seriously the best meat pie I have ever eaten.

St. Johns College

Some photos as we walked back to Kings College for our church service.

 A video from just inside the entrance to The Kings College. It is really a magnificent sight.

A couple of the very young choir boys waiting outside the cathedral just before the service.

 Inside the college grounds

 There are no cameras allowed inside during the church service, so sorry, no photos or movies. If you can imagine being in front of angels while they are singing, this is what it is like to be in that chapel and hearing their voices. It took our breath away. A recording could never do the live performance justice. Here are photos I got from the internet of the inside of the chapel.

PLEASE go here for a You Tube video of the boys choir. The closest thing to share with you about our experience. Turn up the volume: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc_Mo2KrIzw

And go here for more information about the boys choir: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choir_of_King's_College,_Cambridge

Here are a couple of photos as we came out of the hour long service. The Minister at the door.

 A zoom shot of the organ pipes at the back of the cathedral.

Out in front of the Kings College, there was this CRAZY guitar player in a rubbish bin, yes, INSIDE a rubbish bin, playing continuous music and singing (and not a bad guitar player either). I thought I had seen just about everything, but this is a new one. Here it is....

Here is a photo of the guy inside the can.....

Going to church has just made us FAMISHED! So, I went back into the pasty shop to ask them where we could get some good fish and chips (looks like those sandwiches we packed for lunch will now become breakfast). The chap pointed me in the direction of a pub called The Eagle, so off we went.

Some history on the pub, because everything here comes with some history.

As we came into the pub, we noticed that the Minister from the church service was already there with a few of his college age members from the choir. Even those good church boys need a pint once in a while. It also made us feel less guilty. :o)

After our meal, we made our way back to the car and Chelmsford. Another day well spent in the English country side.

Pat and Jake are off tomorrow to visit other friends here in England, so we will bid them good-bye in the morning.

We will be off to Wales. Stay tuned.........