This is a fine mess you've gotten us into

This morning we had to bid farewell to our hosts, the Pitmans, at Tan-y-foyl to depart for the south of Wales.  Of course, since we're spending most of the day in the car we have some very nice weather.  We again chose the more scenic route which meant we would spend much of our day in the car. We made a brief coffee stop before continuing on to our first destination.  We visited a real Welsh butcher which is quite interesting.

Our first real stop was at Powis Castle and Garden.  These gardens were incredible.  They had a huge variety of flowers and trees in very well manicured , multilevel gardens.  Their fruit trees were full of fruit and their flowers were all in bloom.  After roaming around the gardens we took a quick tour of the house.  This one, while decorated in period pieces, is in one piece and could be lived in at anytime.  The house was nice but the real draw was the gardens.

The real adventure began when we were close to our destination for the evening.  With a little time to kill, our driver asked us if we would be interested in visiting an old priory ruins.  He thought they were worth the drive, so we decided we were up for the adventure.  We really got the opportunity to see real rural Wales.  The roads barely hold one car with hedges tower up on either side of the road.  If you met another car one of you had to back to a wide spot in the road to allow the other to pass.  It became even more exciting when a whole heard of horses needed by which left us backing for quite a long distance.  The priory wasn't exactly where the GPS showed it (yes, the GPS had all of these little country roads which were little more than a one car driveway).  It was really an adventure!

We did finally find the Llanthony Priory, which was well worth the drive (of course, I wasn't driving!). We had the place all to ourselves for most of our visit.  You could see the remains of the priory including the chapter house and chapel.  In one corner there's still a working pub, but we were a hair too early to have a brew.  Maybe next time.  These priories are all over the countryside because the monks and nuns were forced out of England when Henry VIII decided he really didn't like the restrictive rules on marriage in the church.  The rest, as we say, was history.

After our visit it was only a short distance to our guest house in Crickhowell.  It's really lovely setting, with a river outside our window and rolling green hills in the distance.  I believe a lot of people come to the area for walking trips which we would call hiking.  However, we're not going to have time to partake in the many trails on this trip.  While not what I had planned for the day, the adventure into the woods so to speak was the highlight to my trip into Wales.

Off to the Tower With Ya

Today we're off to visit the Tower of London.  This is a little of a misnomer, since the Tower really isn't just one tower but a complex of buildings some dating back to medieval times.  I think most of us think of the Tower as a place where prisoners where held and heads were chopped off.  Well, this did happen here, but it was also served as working government facility.  Oh, and did I mention the Crown Jewels are housed here?  That was the first stop on our tour since they are hugely popular and the crowds can get overwhelming as the day goes on.  They have devised a conveyor belt system to keep the tourists moving past the more popular exhibits.  I have to say, they really are quite stunning.  They also look to be quite heavy which may be why the newly crowned king or queen usually only wears the crown for less than 30 minutes or so before removing it for lighter fare.  The largest diamond in the world decorates the royal sword.  The jewels in the crowns aren't shabby either.

Our next stop was the White Tower, so named because it was painted white at some point in the past.  This is a large building in the middle of the complex and has several large displays of armaments from various periods including jewel crusted pistols.  This is definitely a testosterone rich environment!  There's also several displays of armor including Henry VIII when he's girth was quite a bit smaller than at his death.

Speaking of death, this was the sight of some pretty famous executions including some associated with the above mentioned king.  Anne Boleyn and Thomas Moore both meet their maker in the Tower.  There were also rumors about the fate of Richard's nephews, which was the subject of our visit to the Bloody Tower.  As part of the presentation, visitors are asked to pick who they think did away with the young princes.  One of our tour members recruited a group of school boys to push the Tudor button over and over to help give Richard a break.  After all, it really seemed only fitting that our tour try to help our hero out.

After lunch we had the opportunity to visit Crosby Hall, the only medieval wooden structure still around.  This is where Richard III stayed while in London, although it is not in its original location.  It is now in private hands but we were able to visit thanks to the generosity of the owner, who some think is a bit of a cad.  We were allowed to take pictures but we were asked not to post them on a public sight.  You'll just have to take my word for it that it has been beautifully restored.  There was wonderful artwork displayed along with some exquisite antique furniture.  It really is quite a sight.

Tonight was our final dinner which was fittingly held in a pub where we were served fish and chips with mushy peas.  It was a yummy finale to our trip.  Our guides were thanked along with kind words for Sharon without who would we not be gathered.  We topped off the evening with a pint shared among friends.  It has been a delightful week with this group of Ricardians!

On to London

Our next two days included stops at two royal sights that most visitors to London have probably visited.  Our first day, we stopped at Windsor Castle, the Queen's weekend get away.  While still in use by the modern royals, Windsor is a very historic sight having originally been built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century.  Various royals have added on and remodeled through the centuries.  It really is quite stunning, if overrun with tourists.

The tour takes you into the rooms used during state visits and also by one of the nicest doll houses you'll ever see.  Royal china is on display (some even bankrupted the manufacturer it was such an expensive gift) as well as artwork collected through the years.

As with Americans, the Royals wanted to be located in a good school district, so they built one of the finest across the river, Eton Hall.  The children could probably even walk to school!

Probably the highlight for most in our tour was a visit to St. Georges' chapel.  Edward IV (Richard's brother) made major changes to the chapel during his reign and is buried here along with his Queen. Henry VIII is buried here as is the Queen Mother.  When the Queen dies, this will be her resting place.  This is also the home to the Order of the Garter, a very exclusive, prestigious order. Started by Edward III in 1344 as a PR move.  His popularity was falling and he felt instituting such a group might help.  I guess everyone is subject to public opinion, even back then.  The chapel is really quite something - a not to be missed.

We took our bus into the heart of London, which was a slow experience since it was Friday afternoon rush hour.  We had an early dinner in the hotel, then off to bed.

Our journey today took us into the Shropshire hills to the charming town and castle of Ludlow.  The castle was being prepare for a food festival occurring this weekend, which meant the castle wasn't quite as scenic as it usually is but we still had the opportunity to see a very historic castle. Our tour was led by the quite humorous Lady Catherine.  While not 100% accurate she did an excellent job describing the living conditions at the time, which weren't very good to say the least.  The castle did have a form of indoor plumbing, but you really didn't want to be standing at the other end of the pipe, if you know what I mean.

After the tour we had time for lunch and a walk around the town.  If you know me, you know I'm drawn to food, so the market in the square was an immediate draw for me.  The produce was lovely and the people friendly.  There was also a rather cute dog that I had to snap on my way by.

Right before we got back on the bus, I ducked into a little antique store where I found a obviously English carousel horse.  Notice the buck teeth, which helped to identify his heritage for me...

On to Tewkesbury, where Edward defeated the forces of Margaret of Anjou and ended any hopes of Henry VI retaking the crown.  We started at a cute (but not terribly well done) museum.  The staff however was quite enthusiastic and had spent a couple of days preparing for our arrival.  We then walked to the Tewkesbury Abby where the defeated Lancastrians sought shelter only to find that this church was not actually able to shelter them from Edward's forces.  Not a very happy ending for them.  

Elizabeth, our tour guide, met her match with the Abby guide.  He absolutely refused to wear a microphone to talk to our group.  Our other local guide wasn't too great at using it either.  Let's just say, technology hasn't really found it's was to this part of the world.

Our museum guide walked us down to the actually battlefield to look at the bloody meadow.  What he lacked in knowledge he certainly made up for with enthusiasm!  It was enough for us to get an idea of where the battle occurred.  Tewkesbury is an absolutely lovely little town with some of the prettiest gardens I've seen on the trip so far.  It was a very nice day of touring.