Friday,
June 15
For now we say goodbye to Holland and cross the Channel to Great
Britain
and the airport of Coventry, where we met my friend Bryan Mitchell and
climbed into his very unique Fiat SUV (three front seats!) for the trip to
his family's home near the town of Monmouth, in
Gloucestershire, along the beautiful River Wye. When we arrived at
their home, we were greeted by Bryan's wife Agnes, their beautiful
10-year-old
daughter Phoebe, and a blur of
wiggles that turned out to be their 4-year-old black lab, Minnie, once she
settled down long enough to stand still! From the
moment
we arrived, we were
treated like royalty! The next
morning, after a great English breakfast, all five of us got mountain
bikes out of the garage and rode from
Yat Rock (a high
rock overlooking the Wye Valley, the word "Yat"
translates as "gateway") down to the town of Monmouth. The bike
trail was all
ours, slightly muddy from overnight rains, 6 miles long, and all
downhill! Nice!!
Thinking ahead, Bryan and Agnes had staged
their
SUV in town, so after a beautiful ride, stopping along the river to walk
across a suspension bridge, then walking around the village and
having lunch at a great little sandwich shop, we got
to take the easy way home!
While Agnes prepared dinner, Bryan & I returned
to collect the bikes. Over dinner, our hosts gave us the plans for
Sunday's activities, as well as ideas for our next week's adventures,
since we would be on our
own
while they went off to work and school. We spent Sunday in
Wales, near
Bryan's hometown, visiting an interesting village of traditional old
houses and businesses from several centuries, which have all been
relocated to create a village
of sorts. After
this tour, we were treated to a real "British Pub" experience. This
pub
allows dogs, and there were a few hunting dogs sleeping sprawled out on
the floor, but until new management took over, the pub would not allow
children
to enter at any time!
On
Monday Jeanie & I toured the area on foot, walking down from Yat Rock into
the town of Goodrich, looking for the Goodrich
Castle, and hoping to find it before
the rain found us. We
passed an asparagus field of several
hundred acres, a busy working farm with sheep and pigs, and
miles of beautiful fertile
valley. Just as it
started to drizzle, we saw a
tall spire and
thought we were on the right road. We came to an old vicarage and
thought it might connect to the castle, but as
we
approached, the
owner of the home, Pat Jones, came out to meet
us.
Learning that we were looking for the castle, she showed us the right
footpath to take, then asked us in for tea and cake while
the downpour passed
over us. Meeting this gracious lady and touring this
beautifully-restored 16th century vicarage was the highlight of our day!
We did have a pleasant walk to the castle and around it's grounds, which,
back in the 11th c., was well- situated to dominate all passage along the
river. We then made our way
back up the hill to Yat Rock,
taking a break half way to sample the great-tasting asparagus bei ng
grown in the valley! The next few days were spent walking with
Minnie along footpaths which traced the River Wye, or just through the
surrounding forests and pastures. There were so many trails to
choose from, we could have happily spent months walking them all!
-Robert
|