Saturday, 2 November 2019
As I laid in bed this morning, it sounds like a monsoon outside. The wind is howling and the rain sounds very heavy. Although it seems to rain most days, the rain is usually light, so just a rain jacket with a hood is good enough, but this is real rain. Maybe it will stop by the time we are ready to go?
Luckily, the rain did stop when we drove out of town. After 1.5 hours of driving, we arrived at TIntern Abbey, built in 1131 with continuous construction through 1526. The Abbey fell into ruins in 1536 after King Henry VIII dissolved all monasteries.
Tintern Abbey was occupied by Cistercian monks. Cistercians broke off from the Benedictines and lived a life of very strict monastic rules.
Luckily, the rain did stop when we drove out of town. After 1.5 hours of driving, we arrived at TIntern Abbey, built in 1131 with continuous construction through 1526. The Abbey fell into ruins in 1536 after King Henry VIII dissolved all monasteries.
Tintern Abbey was occupied by Cistercian monks. Cistercians broke off from the Benedictines and lived a life of very strict monastic rules.
After visiting the Abbey, we drove 20 minutes to the town of Chepstow. The Rick Steves guidebook suggested stopping in this town for walking tour. This tour isn't from his guidebook, it is a tour on Chepstow's website.
We parked in a car park and paid for 3 hours. According to the website, the walking tour should last 90 minutes, so 3 hours should be more than needed.
Here I am walking up High Street, the main shopping street in town, reading the walking tour on my iPhone.
We parked in a car park and paid for 3 hours. According to the website, the walking tour should last 90 minutes, so 3 hours should be more than needed.
Here I am walking up High Street, the main shopping street in town, reading the walking tour on my iPhone.
These houses were built between 1805-1823. Notice the bow windows...pretty cool.
Here is a row of cottages built in the 17th and 18th century.
Just past thees houses is the Old Wye Bridge, built in 1816. The bridge crosses the River Wye, that has a 40 feet tide range, and is second only to that in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia where the range averages 46 feet.
Another cool thing about the Old Wye Bridge is that it joins Wales to England...that is Gloucester, England across the bridge. This cute photo is me in England and Tim in Wales.
We wound up back at the car park after 2.5 hours of a 1.5 hour tour. I guess it the extra time was due to the sandwich we stopped for and then the pint we had at a pub. Whatever the reason, we feel like we should move along even though we hadn't seen Chepstow Castle or completely finished the walking tour. Plus, it has been raining on and off all day and it is currently pouring and we are soaked.
Tim did manage to get a photo of the Chepstow Castle.
Tim did manage to get a photo of the Chepstow Castle.
It took us about 1 hour to get to our AirBnB in Bath. We arrived around 4:30 PM, brought our stuff up to the apartment and then headed out to the supermarket. This AirBnB is nicer than the past 2 we stayed out, so we decided to take advantage of the kitchen and cook dinner (shrimp quesadillas).
After dinner I caught up on some blogging and watched TV. We are here in Bath for 4 nights, so we can relax some and not run around as much as we have been. The plan for tomorrow is to have a relaxed morning, cook breakfast, and walk into town to check out Bath. I'll let you know how it goes.
After dinner I caught up on some blogging and watched TV. We are here in Bath for 4 nights, so we can relax some and not run around as much as we have been. The plan for tomorrow is to have a relaxed morning, cook breakfast, and walk into town to check out Bath. I'll let you know how it goes.
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