Cirencester, England, and St. John the Baptist Parish Church

So, in my last two posts I showed-n-told about our two days with Chad and Norma while in England back in May.  I decided the trip we took to nearby Cirencester was worth its own post, so here it it!

All you have to do is drive into the city and look at the architecture to see how old it is.

"The earliest known reference to the town was by Ptolemy in AD 150."  (Wiki)

Even though our main destination of the day was the parish church,

we stopped to see some sights along the way.

Chad and Norma knew exactly where to take us.

And as you know, Astrid and I love all the impressions we can get.

That includes weathervanes, of course.

And wildflowers.  I've been on a kick, haven't I!

But it was, indeed, the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist that we came to see.

The church is medieval, from 1115.

 This is a Church of England parish church.

 If you like stained glass, you'd be in heaven there.

You know me...because of preacher Dad and musician Mom,

I always pay attention to the pulpits and organs in these churches.

See the hour glass (bottom right)?  That's to help the preacher pay attention to the time!

I think I told you I'm starting to "collect" church cushions.  :)

Don't you wonder what every little thing means!

See the top-center cup?  It was made for Anne Boleyn in 1535

and was given first to her daughter Queen Elizabeth, then to the queen's physician,

who later gave it to the church.  That's history!

While Chad, Norma and Astrid climbed the tower to get city views,

I walked out into the churchyard (let's just say I have a bum knee) to see more of the outside church...

and the delightful cemetery.  What is it about cemeteries!

It's common in Europe to see war memorials in their cemeteries,
even if a bit make-shift and simple.

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And that makes a good segue to my Vision and Verb post today on Rights of Passage.

Let's just call this Pacifier Tree in Münster, Germany, the first rite....

with many rites/rights to follow, including death.

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This now brings us to our last days in England, back where we started with Lisl and Michael as our hosts.
Stay tuned for Bradford on Avon and Bristol.

Our 2013 American Trip: Savannah, Georgia

Most of you know by now that our annual trip to America is in October, to coincide with the Cumming Country Fair and our family trip to the cabin in the North Georgia mountains.  It's always worth the wait.

This year we started our trip with Robin for 5 days in New York City...which I'm saving for the last.  In the middle, we spent 5 days with Bob and Peggy, friends south of Atlanta, and visited Savannah and Tybee Island.

This post is about Savannah, Georgia's oldest city, established in 1733 on its east coast.  In spite of living in Georgia for 25 years, I had never visited it for a real look.

We arrived in time for lunch...a good way and place to start.

By now you surely recognize Bob and Peggy!

After lunch we decided to just get the lay of the land around River Street.

We would have the entire next day to tour the city properly.

(And that's City Hall, not the capitol of Georgia, which is in Atlanta.)

The musicians and artists are part of Savannah's ethos.

BUT they do NOT want you taking their pictures, some of them!

(Savannah reminds me of New Orleans with a strong Voodoo influence.)

Then we just walked around and took in the beauty of the trees with Spanish moss.

EVERYWHERE.

Going back to the car, look what we found in the parking garage.

It even had Astrid's name on it, as the Co-Pilot.

We had 2 nights at a nearby hotel and enjoyed an evening snack in B&P's room that first night.

And, yes, that's moi getting familiar with my new iPad.  What a fun toy, right?!

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The next day we got serious about Savannah, starting out with a trolley tour.

Since it was a hop-on-hop-off tour, we did the full loop first and then went back to spots of interest.

What I failed to mention is that our first night together, before we started this trip, 

we watched Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, from 1997.

Because it's based on the true story of millionaire Jim Williams in Savannah, it was a must-see beforehand.

I won't give the movie away if you haven't seenn it but, yes, there's a murder inside this Mercer House.

The famous drag queen, Lady Chablis, "makes" the movie, as far as I'm concerned...

and Kevin Spacey as Jim Williams is clearly sweet on the eyes.

Don't forget Johnny Mercer, who co-wrote the soundtrack and was born in Savannah in 1909.

We even had a sweet-tooth break in Clary's café, one of the movie's hot spots.

Did I mention this was 2 weeks before Halloween?

I loved the pumpkins everywhere.

There's a cemetery in the movie, remember?  So Savannah is already perfect for Halloween,

...and for any other transportation you'd want to choose.

Savannah's historic district has 22 squares represented by parks and fountains and playgrounds.

Two other squares are in the process of being "revived" to total the original 24.

 Did you know Juliette Gordon Low was born in Savannah in 1860?

She's the founder of the Girl Scouts of America.

Other famous people dot the landscape, often from humble beginnings,

like this 14-year-old drummer boy, Henry Christophe, who became the first King of Haiti.
(click on any collage to enlarge)

You could spend weeks, of course, learning about every little thing.

We saw "SCAD" signs all over town for Savannah College of Art and Design.

And guess what some of those college students do???

They renovate buildings for the preservation of Savannah's architectural heritage!

Look at these houses.

Can you imagine getting a degree in restoring such a place?

It's hard not to like the architecture of Savannah!

 Churches and synagogue included, of course.

But it's the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist that we earmarked for visiting,

founded in 1700 by the first French colonists.

WOWSER!

After all the European cathedrals I've seen the last few years,

I was totally impressed.

It was time for dinner by then.  We were short of eyes....

...and just when we thought we had seen it all,

we walked into the middle of a new SpongeBob SquarePants 2 movie in the making.  Seriously.

It's scheduled to be released on February 13, 2015.  Hmmm.  Just may have to watch it!

Supposedly even Antonio Banderas will be in it...one of my faves.

We ended the day at the City Market where we had a before-dinner drink

(yup, that's my Guinness!)

before a wonderful dinner there at Belford's.

It was so good I forgot to take pictures!

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Back to the hotel for another night...and the next day, to Tybee Island.

 To be continued....