Where there are no stone walls among the fields of England, there are perfectly pruned hedge-rows. Now in my small yard, I refuse to grow a bush that must be kept trimmed. In England there are literally miles of hedges - along the highway and separating pastures and estates. Granted they use machinery to maintain the height and shape of the hedges, but still, that is a lot of work.
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| Stone Marker between Scotland and England |
The countryside is serene with huge vistas of pasture, grasses, a scattering of trees, some stone hedges or privet hedges against a blue sky or painted clouds - and lots of sheep.
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| Pastoral |
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| At Hadrian's Wall |
Churches and cathedrals abound as well. The strife between Catholics and the Church of England colors the history of the Royal families and the nation. This is another bombed out cathedral - a monument to World War II.
Lady Godiva was wearing a red sweater the day we saw her, but the English had a work crew out there with ladders and broomsticks to assist the good Lady. I can't help but wonder if this happens often - some high school or college students on a dare to clothe the Lady Godiva under cover of night...
The sweater nearly off and the Lady returned to her naked glory once again.
As Cubby has pointed out,
The Shambles in York was used in the Harry Potter movies. The link will provide more info than I can about this interesting street. I've added a picture of the street name as well.
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| Tidy Gardens |
Our last night on tour we all went to a great little restaurant -
Ye Old Sun Inn - somewhere off the beaten path that our tour company, Trafalgar, scouted out for group dinners. This wonderful meal was included in the tour price and included a glass of wine or half pint of ale, a "starter" (appetizer), main course and dessert.
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| Starter: Terrine of Pigeon, Pheasant, and Venison |
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| Tender Roast Pork with Mashed Potato and Crackle |
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| Three desserts: brulee, raspberry tart and homemade ice cream |
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| Ann Hathaway's Cottage |
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| Shakespeare's House |
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| Highway Rest Stop |
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| Highway - From the Rest Stop |
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| That would be about $8.50 |
Warwick Castle awaits and the last days in London.
8 comments:
The crooked street with the houses that look like they're about to fall in looks like it is straight out of Harry Potter. It's Diagon Alley!
Yes, Cubby, you are correct about the Harry Potter connection. I have added a link to the Shambles as the street is called.
It looks so clean and neat over there.
Yeah, Stan, there seems to be little trash, plastic bags, bottles, cans, tires or household appliances strew along the roadsides.
Looks like the food has improved since I was there. I gather that a "toastie" is a toasted sandwich of some sort . . . but what is "crackle"?
Crackle is pork rind or pig skin - don't you Southerners have a name for it? The cuisine has gone "English-Continental" but somewhat on the plain, garlic-less side.
Huh, that's interesting. Yes we buy pork rinds in bags like potato chips for snack food - not to serve with dinner, though.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that the crackle is roasted with the pork in the oven - not quite like the chips that come in a bag. It is tasty like the roast pork - perhaps a little too hard for my taste.
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