The Worcester Cathedral, England

Bill and Ange, our hosts, knew we are keen on seeing these well-known cathedrals, so off we went to see the one that is just minutes away from where they live in Droitwich, just 10 km away.

Worcester is a city in the West Midlands of England with a population of close to 100,000.  Like Droitwich, it's Tudor, half-timbered buildings are part of its charm.

 The fun part is you don't even have to walk far to see them.

And yes, this is that city, known for its Worcestershire sauce and its porcelain.

See the knitted sushi and English licorice?  

The lady happened to be outside and she said she makes them from her knitting left-overs.  :)

But it wasn't sushi or licorice for which we came to Worcester!

It was the Worcester Cathedral, built in 1084 and situated on the banks of the River Severn.

The portal entrance itself, with all its statues, is worth the visit.

But the first view of the nave is always what takes my breath away.

I still can't put my head around worshipping in such a place!

And then I look up!  How did they do that?

And then I look down.  Even the floors tell you something.

Every stained-glass window, of course, also means something.

When you get down to the details, I'm always mesmerized by the quire/choir.

Having sung in many choirs in my lifetime, I can just imagine singing here.

Would my choir-director mom be enraptured, I wonder?

And what about my preacher dad?  Would such a pulpit fluster him?

Most of the pews look comfortable...for the rest of us.

(Did I mention I'm starting to "collect" church cushions?)

The rood screen and high altar...and modern attempts to reach all, perhaps?

It's a place for remembering those who have passed on before us.

It's always time to remember.

Speaking of which, the Norman crypt below is from c. 860.

And then we went to the cloisters. 

On one side of the cloister garth is the Chapter House.

It was a huge and empty circle that day...ready for an imaginary concert or reception.

With the garth/courtyard across from the Chapter House, what a reception that would be!

Wouldn't you love being the gardener there.

While we ate our lunch there, at the inside edge of the coutyard, a photographer took our picture.
We're famous!  Supposedly we've ended up in a magazine somewhere.

Then we left the cathedral, and I was suddenly short of eyes again.  I love ruins like this.

The college green, the archway leaving...what a way to say Good-Bye.

It left its mark on us; and we left our mark on it.

As we left for the car, a congregation of swans directed our view back to the cathedral.

I've never seen so many swans gathered together in one place in my life!

I think it means something.

And thus ends the two-day visit with our fabulous hosts, Bill and Ange, from Droitwich Spa.
THANK YOU.

For Bill and Ange: the Family

Some of you will remember that our Shutterchance blogger friends, Bill and Ange, came to visit us a year ago, just about now.  So how appropriate that this post is about and for them!

It so happens they wanted to return the hospitality favor for two of our days while in England this trip.  And boy did they ever!  This is just the first of THREE posts on that time with them.

Lucky for us, they BOTH love to cook...together.  They even sing together while they do it.

More English you cannot get when you eat a meal like this!

And since we were there for two breakfasts....

Here's Bill's collage of moi eating what he's known for:  a bacon buttie.

He actually put it up on our Shutterchance photoblog.  HA!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

But eating, splendid as it was, was not all that we did!  Trust me.

 One of the most important things on our list was to see their new and only grandchild, Joseph,
who turns one on August 20.  He was almost 9 months old.

I sure hope you're ready to be gobsmacked.

To be honest, Bill has been showing Joesph to us since he was born.

By now, Astrid and I both feel that we, too, are the proud grandparents.

Bill grabbed him first.

Talk about a grandpa who is also a grandma, working off both sides of his brain.  Seriously.

And Joseph just observes, soaking it all in.

(I should mention that Astrid and I brought Joseph the Dutch cap...but more on that later.)

Is he A D O R A B L E or what!

The proud mother happens to be Helen, the younger of Bill and Ange's two girls.

Look at him after his tummy is full.

And that's when Ange got her hands on him...patiently waiting all that time.

I would have been DYING if I were the real grandma.

About that time Kathryn, daughter #1, stopped by before work.

She wanted to get in on the action, of course.  

And now you can also see the Dutch slippers we brought, besides the cap.
(Joseph's daddy also wears a cap, so apparently that's why this cap didn't seem to bother him at all.)

Those little hands and feet.  OMG!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Speaking of Kathryn, later in the afternoon we stopped by to see her at her place of work.

She works at The Hive library in nearby Worcester,

a partnership between the university of Worcester and the Worcestershire County Council.

And yes, that's the city of the famous Worcestershire sauce.  You got it.

 Here we are leaving The Hive, the four of us, living and loving life...just like busy honey bees.

And now let me tell you this:  I have seen very few families that love each other as fully as this one.
It starts with Bill and Ange themselves...husband and wife and then parents and grandparents.
It all trickles down, doesn't it!

THANK YOU, Bill and Ange.  You outdid yourselves on our behalf.
Next up, everything else you showed us in your neck of the woods....