ENGLAND 2016: Cornwall's Roche Rock and Parish Church

So, now I start a new set of posts on our 10 days in England, from September 23-October 2.  There will be no rhyme or reason to it...just what strikes my fancy for the time allotments I give myself each week.  I may even post irregularly, just to get it done.  HA!

Our main base while there was with Lisl and Michael in Bath, with whom we have myriad memories.  But in between their bookends, we spent 4 days in Cornwall with other mutual friends, Pauline and Chris (like last year).

Today I start in Cornwall with the village called Roche, just 2+ miles from where Pauline and Chris live.   Roche means "rock" in Norman-French and gets it's name from the outcropping of rock we went to visit that day.

OMG!  You see the Roche Rock from the road, just sitting there, 20 meters high (66 ft).

At the top is a ruined chapel dedicated to St. Michael.

To get the lay of the land, this was where we walked to get there, just off the side of the road.

And then we walked around it, taking in its various faces.

When we discovered you could actually climb to the chapel, yup...up she went!

Not to be outdone, of course, I had to follow suit!

(Thanks to Pauline below who documented the veracity of the event, both up and down.)

But at least I was smart enough to not follow Astrid to the upper level,

where she was able to take in these breath-taking views.

Once at the first level, I wasn't too proud to admit my legs were shaky.  HA!

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Once down off the Rock, we drove into the village to visit the parish church dedicated to St. Gomonda. 

The 85 ft. tower is medieval, 15th century, but the rest of the church was rebuilt in 1822.

You know I always want these big views of the nave first.

And then come the details, the impressions.

The cushions in particular keep my interest in the English churches/cathedrals, large and small.

But what Pauline most wanted us to see was the "pulled tongue" on the ceiling (bottom-center).

Can you imagine that up there in the middle of a church service, staring down at you???

Short and sweet, Roche...the Rock and the Church.

But what a memory to start off with, right?!

MALTA: The Addolorata Cemetery

To be specific, the Santa Maria Addolorata Chapel and Cemetery, built between 1862 and 1869 on Tal-Horr hill, a burial site from prehistoric times...

which we had seen on the way from the airport to our hotel our first day 

and immediately said to each other, "I want to go there!"

Astrid and I have always believed we can learn a lot about a people and culture

from visiting their cemeteries.

So, we went 6 days later, taking the bus from Bugibba to Valletta, the capital, and then to Paola.

The bus stopped outside the cemetery entrance.

Immediately, upon entering the gates, we faced the central cross,
with the spire of the chapel behind it.

Arches surrounded the inside courtyard, leading to the cemetery.

From that point on, we realized we really were on a hill, 

with level after level of stairs climbing ever onward and upward.

The goal eventually was to get to the chapel at the top of the hill.

Even though it wasn't open while we were there, it was totally worth seeing on the outside.

And then, all along the way...where do I even start!  We were short of eyes.

There were the very big and obvious mausoleums of the rich and famous, I assume.

We even saw the one for the Dingli family (bottom-right), 

important to us since we had visited the Dingli Cliffs two days previously.

We paid attention!

There were crosses of every which kind...Celtic, included...

but especially the Maltese Cross (top and center right).

Remember that the Maltese Islands were once ruled by the British for 150 years,

and that this is a Roman Catholic country.

At the very top, we could see far off into the distance, of course,

with gravestones extending out far beyond our sight.

It really did feel like we were on top of the world with those who had gone before us.

But what impressed me the most was how the tombstones were "mobile" and clumped together.

It appears that whole, extended families "occupied" the same spot...with room for more to be added.

Family.  Families.

And look how their photos are important to them!

Often the birth date was NOT given...just the date and the age at death.

You had to do the math in your head.

Do you find this as touching as we did?

And yes, English is spoken/written as well as Maltese.  The British influence.

One particular grave site fascinated us both.

Wouldn't you love to know this story!

And this story...and that one.

There are 250 Commonwealth burials from WWI and 18 from WWII.

(sigh)
Requiescat in pace.

Impressions.  Always the impressions.

We saw a lot but also missed a lot, as you can tell from this YouTube.

 But as we left, we had seen enough and were thankful for what we had learned...
perhaps more from the living than from the dead?

Open Monument Day: Hoeven Abbey/Bovendonk

Remember how I mentioned (last post) that every September there is an Open Monument Day in the Netherlands when over 4,000 historic buildings and sites are open to the public free of charge?  Actually, that day, Saturday, has now become the weekend.  And because of that, we got to go somewhere on Sunday.

The village of Hoeven (pop. 6,500) is only 60 km from where we live here in Gorinchem, so even when we drive the backroads, you're talking about less than an hour's drive.  And you know us, we like to stop to see whatever is of interest along the way.

Like this city hall in Klundert, built in 1621, for instance.

Astrid LOVES doing the research to find these gems for our cameras!

It doesn't take long to walk around such a specimen and ooh and aah.

And since Dutch weddings are done at city hall, can you imagine getting married there?

While I'm at it, we saw other stuff, coming and going,

including that colossal basilica in the middle of nowhere in Oudenbosch (remember?),
just 15 km from Klundert.

But the weathervanes still take the cake for me.  I c a n n o t  resist them.

(To be honest, I don't think Astrid can either!)

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But now, the Hoeven Abbey, which was our goal for the day!  Here's an overhead view which I found on the internet:

You enter at the bottom.

 The ground was purchased in 1282 by the abbey of Cistercienser of St. Bernard.

From then till now, it lost its Roman Catholic church function, became Protestant,

and now is the Bovendonk conference, hotel, exhibition and event center.  

 Because it's used as a conference center, it's not open to the general public,

which is why we jumped at visiting it on Open Monument Day.

Step inside and be amazed.

It was hard to know where to start, even at the very entrance.

We knew we wanted to see the chapel, of course, and eat lunch,

but the chapel wasn't open yet (recent service) and we weren't ready for lunch, so we walked around.

When we entered the courtyard, it all took my breath away.

Smack dab in front of us was the chapel...and the lunch tables...

and the chapel weathervanes....

And the cloisters clock, by architect Pierre Cuypers!
Gebruik den Tijd eer hij Ontvlied (old Dutch): 
"Use the time before it flies away."

Yup.

The cloisters.  The cloisters.

Okay, so they're modern now but couldn't you be a nun/monk there?

You'd at least want to go to a seminar, right?!

By then it was time for LUNCH.

As you know, many abbeys make their own beer, but because this is no longer an abbey per se,

this Magister beer is made for it by the Scheldebrouwerij in Belgium.

We are loving trying out new beers, can you tell?

On that wonderful note, totally satisfied, the chapel was ready for viewing!

Have you noticed how ornate the floors are throughout the entire abbey,

including the chapel!

I could imagine sitting at a service here.

As we left the complex, the same way we entered, the statue out front had new meaning for me.

I made up my own story for it:  Praise and Hallelujah.

A few yards further, near the gate, Mother Nature, too, was singing her praise.

It was that kind of day.

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As an FYI, Astrid and I fly to Atlanta on Wednesday for our annual 3-week trip to see my family and friends.  We're down to counting hours....!  :)