Michelham priory

Here I am going back in time again, back to England — I miss it there if truth be told, it was so quiet and soothing there…On June 6 Mark and I went to visit Michelham priory. Here is a little blurb from Sussex Past’s Web site:

“England’s longest medieval water-filled moat, Michelham Priory’s “Island of History” reflects its nearly 800 year existence. The house dates back to 1229 when the Priory was founded and was lived in by Augustinian canons until the Dissolution in 1537. After this time, the Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed and the house underwent various transformations including the addition of an extensive Tudor wing. The range of furniture and artefacts on display trace the property’s religious origins through its life as a working farm and its development as a country house. Exhibits include tapestries, furniture (including some made in the 1920’s/1930’s specifically for the then owner), kitchen equipment and a fully furnished 18^th Century child’s bedroom.

The annual Garden Sculpture Trail features works by local artists and are specially selected for their merit and their ability to complement the garden.” http://www.sussexpast.co.uk/property/site.php?site_id=15

Here are a few pictures:

There was a beautiful swan who quite liked having its picture taken:

I really loved this place; such a pastiche…we were greeted by an elderly gentleman who had what sounded like a Scottish accent. His name was Alexander Davies and he turned out to be such a hoot!! Here he is:

The people who work there as guides are all volunteers and it turns out that Mr. Davies had only been volunteering there for 2 weeks! I have rarely met someone as passionate and excited about sharing his knowledge as he (albeit sometimes a little shady) — he was like a breath of fresh air; good for the soul. He was clearly very happy to find a captive audience in Mark and myself and was very keen on telling us all he knew. Every few minutes he would exclaim: “incredible, isn’t it!?”, it was so cute!! His favourite thing was to walk from one wing to the next and say something like: “we’re stepping 200 years into the future”! The most peculiar thing about him was that he kept contradicting himself about his ancestry and his careers…he was quite the character! Although the building itself was fascinating, Alexander helped make our visit even more special. He was very proud to have his picture taken and seemed quite happy when I told him that I would post it on my travel blog!

The vast sculpture garden was truly spectacular; I felt like a child on an Easter egg hunt! You didn’t know what you would discover next, it was great! There were so many beautiful plants too:

And they had lovely pear trees; I didn’t know what they were at first as I’d never seen one before!

This post has taken for ever because the Internet at the hotel is sloooooooow. I received no responses to the emails I sent out for the flats so I will have to buy a cell phone tomorrow and start calling! I may have to stay in another hotel for a couple of days while I get things sorted; we shall see! That means that I will probably not be posting anything this elaborate for a while!

Farewell, again

I said a very emotional goodbye to Mark and am preparing for my big departure. I saw so many beautiful things here in England and felt so many strong emotions, it will be difficult for me to leave…I have never liked endings — they fill me with sorrow. Sadly Mark is working today so I must take a taxi to the train station, then a train to Gatwick airport, then a plane to Dublin and then a bus to my hotel…phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it!! I hope I manage not to get lost or miss something; makes me a little nervous but I’ll be fine. I found a good deal on the Internet for my hotel (40% off) so I booked five nights! It was only a tad more expensive than a private room in a youth hostel and have a look at how lovely it is:

http://www.pembroketownhouse.ie/

It’s in Dublin 4 (the lower the number, the closer to the city centre and even numbers are generally in better neighbourhoods), which is great as I can walk to the city centre in about 15 minutes! I will have my SWAP orientation session on Friday at 11:00 a.m. in Dublin 2 and then I believe that some fun will be in order! I am going to check this out: http://www.spwc.ie/ — free entertainment sounds good to me!!

The next days will be very hectic for me; I will have to find a flat, find a job — although there is no big rush for that as I’ve been offered some more editing contracts with the same organization because they were very happy with  my work! It’s really the flat that will be the most difficult thing because the ads are presented in a very different way, it’s almost impossible to tell if it’s a self-contained unit (what we would call an apartment) or if it’s shared. This one looks good: http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?search=Search+%BB&s[cc_id]=ct1&s[a_id][0]=pc2&s[a_id][1]=pc4&s[a_id][2]=pc6&s[mnp]=&s[mxp]=500&s[bd_no]=1&s[pt_id]=4&s[move_in_date]=0&s[lease]=&s[furn]=1&s[search_type]=rental&s[transport]=&s[advanced]=&s[price_per_room]=&s[refreshmap]=1&limit=10&id=737342

We shall see!

I’ll try to post one more day of my trip to England before I leave here but I’m not sure I’ll make it!!

Once settled in my new flat it will be much easier for me to keep on track, I promise!

Thank you Mark for letting me stay with you over the past two weeks.

xo

Pevensey Castle, Battle Abbey and St. Mary’s church

Hello all,

Yes, yes, I know, it’s been a while but I’ve been a busy bee! I decided that I should try to give you a chronological account of the past week while I still have wind in my sails. So let’s start with June 5. We went to the historic site of the Battle of Hastings, which took place in 1066. We started by visiting Pevensey Castle, where there was once a Roman fort dating back to the 4th century. William the Conqueror landed there in 1066. Have a look:

 

Next we went to see Battle Abbey, which William the Conqueror had constructed as a monument to the thousands who died there. Its missing walls made me think of Sweetheart Abbey, which I visited in Scotland; such a mix of strength and vulnerability, it always moves me.

As you all know, my favourite jewellery store is Magpie, so here are a couple of pics of magpies for you:

I fell in love with this sculpture…a queen, I forget which one now! Mark, do you remember? You have a great memory, right?

On the grounds of the abbey we saw more rabbits than I’ve ever seen in my life! So very cute 🙂 I took out my trusty zoom lens, they are a little fuzzy as I didn’t have a tripod, but better than nothing, right?

They had a Royal Oak pub there as well, nicer than ours might I add:

They also had some lovely plants on the grounds:

We also visited St. Mary’s church, which is the first church the Normans built in 1080. It was small and there were tombstones propped up around it, I’d never seen that before:

Every hassock was unique and was done by needlepoint:

And everywhere I went it seems, I found daisies, my favourite flowers!

All in all, a lovely day! 🙂

Sadly the pics have to be greatly reduced to fit into the blog so if you want to see any of them full size, email me!