England 2016: Wells Cathedral and Bishop's Palace

You thought I had finished the England trip from last September, didn't you!  HA!

Well, I did finish the Cornwall part of the trip and the Bristol walk the weekend before, but I still have two big posts from after Cornwall when Lisl and I went off on our own, while Astrid was off with "big brother" Chris.

This is the big post on Wells, so strap on your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

Wells is only 31 km from Bath, where Lisl and Michael live, so Lisl drove us there.

It is said to be England's smallest city.

So how did it end up with such a huge cathedral????

Entrance into the Wells Cathedral, built between 1176-1490, is from the cloisters.

(That alone already made my day!)

And then you enter the nave with the immediate view of the "scissor arches."

They may look modern but they're "a medieval solution (1338-48) to sinking tower foundations."

Can you imagine "working" there!

I don't even know where to begin!

But since we started paying attention to the details right away, let's start with these carvings.

How is it, I wonder, that these carvings ended up in this cathedral!

Surely someone knows (probably even Lisl).

Did you know that the salamander (top-left) represents Eternal Life?
And did you see the guy with the toothache?

I suppose you can memorize, after awhile, where everything is situated.

The tombs, especially, and the chantry (top-left).

The stone pulpit is center-left.

I am always drawn to the side chapels off the nave.

But it's the quire that grabs me every time.

Was that because I sang in my church choir growing up and into my married years?

Can you imagine sitting (let alone singing) in such a "choir loft?!"

The embroideries are so delicate no flash photography is allowed.

From the quire you enter the...I'm not sure what?  (Lisl...help!)

But it appears to be where the clergy sit?

You know me by now:  impressions, impressions, impressions.

And more impressions.

Oh, and don't forget the clock, installed c. 1390.

It's one of the oldest medieval clock faces in the world.

Every quarter hour you can watch jousting knights go round in tournament.

Not in this order but at one point we went to the Chapter House, completed in 1306.

It's where the clergy met to conduct their cathedral business and is still used on formal occasions.

Man alive!  What an entrance.

It's an octagonal chamber "full of nothing" but incredible architecture.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We purchased tickets for the adjacent Bishop's Palace, so off we went to take in the second part of our tour.

It actually has the feel of a castle, if you want to know the truth!

But it's been the home of the Bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years.

We had walked around the moat earlier in the morning, to get the lay of the land.

You can see how close the cathedral is.

Once you cross the moat and through the gatehouse, you enter the massive lawn in front of the chapel.

The ruined arches of the Great Hall invite you inside.

Everything is manicured to perfection.

And before you get to the boundary wall, the area feels spacious.

The bishop's palace and house inside the walls did feel like a castle to me,

maybe even a monastery...

especially with views of the cathedral in the background.

We went inside, of course...

where I had the feeling of something akin to the cathedral's quire.

Can't you see all the bishops having a chinwag here!  (No singing allowed, I'm sure.)

I'm not sure which was the palace and which the house but you get the idea.

Can't forget the green men, of course.

And one of those other important details...

our lunch and tea at two different spots in the day.

How's that for doing it up right...for such an awe-inspiring place on God's earth!

The Muiderslot Castle in Muiden, NL

Back to finish up Astrid's birthday weekend in the Huizen/Muiden neck of the woods, this is the castle she wanted me to see from her childhood.  She could hardly wait to go back to see it herself, just 20 km away from Hilversum, where she was born and raised.

I, too, was excited when we first spotted it from afar.

That's a castle...considered the best-kept and most beautiful Medieval castle in the Netherlands!

 It even has it's own weathervanes, of course (bottom 3 images).

Everything else we saw as we walked from our car, along the harbor.

And yes, we got to use our museum card for this.

Can you imagine having an inner courtyard like this for your humble abode?

 Lucky for us, a half-hour tour came free with the ticket.

Do you think it'd be fun to live during that day and age?

The castle was built in 1285.

The tour was totally worth it.  It's all in the details, you know.

Then we went off on our own to the tower and checked out the view from there.

That body of water is the IJsselmeer, Western Europe's largest lake (fresh water).

As we explored the castle, I started thinking about living there.

HA!  And playing hide-n-seek.

Kids of all ages have so much to see and do there.

And this is just a smattering.

What would YOU be tempted to buy?

We bought a white stone bottle of the Tesseltje Likorette, since we collect stone bottles.

It's made on Texel Island and is sold only there...and at this castle!

Once we were done inside, we went out and walked around the castle to see all sides.

 Remember my oculus?  I couldn't resist.

Couldn't resist the plum trees outside the castle moat, either, with no Do Not Touch signs.

Astrid grabbed 2 each as a nice little appetizer for our walk into town for lunch.

 Have I mentioned how much I love the Dutch harbor towns?!

Even on a rainy, overcast day!

Astrid had already picked out where would eat:  the Ome Ko Café just outside the harbor lock.

It's a brown cafe that is part of her young-20's years growing up.

After the huge breakfast we had had at the Fletcher Hotel that morning (this post), 

the panini-tosti lunch was exactly what the doctor ordered.  We always share, you know.

It was the perfect way to say Good-Bye to a BIG 6-0 birthday celebration weekend.

Lots of memories for Astrid to share with me from her former neck of the woods.

It was as though it were my birthday!

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland

So, I made an executive decision!  Trier, Germany, from early July (2 months ago!) can wait.  Let's see Dublin first.  It is too much in my blood right now to stand waiting.

But, because our two "boyfriends" from England (Chris and Chad, from our Shutterchance blog) are arriving on Tuesday, staying till Friday, I can only give you an appetizer today.

In fact, this is how I ended my short Dublin stay this past Sunday-to-Tuesday...with the Christ Church Cathedral, just a 10-minute walk from my hotel before heading back to the airport.  My girlfriends, Catherine and Robin, were already off separately for the day.  I was on my own....

Isn't she a beauty, facing the sun like that!

Born in 1030, she's the elder sister of Dublin's other medieval cathedral, St. Patrick's, from 1191.
(Let's save St. Patrick's for when Astrid can join me.)

Upon entering any church/cathedral, I always go for the "first impression" of space.

Heighth (68 ft.) and breadth, front and back, ceiling and floor.

Then the details quickly follow!

And because design enthralls me, I was mesmerized by the medieval mosaic floor tiles.

And the chairs!

Astrid was the one who noticed the 3 together...for Catherine, Robin and me.

And Astrid wasn't even there (unable to take time off work)!

Besides the pulpit (bottom center), I saw 3 lecterns.

The one near the pulpit (top center) is medieval...old enough.

But the one on the right, in the crypt, is supposedly Ireland's oldest of them all.
(To be honest, I'm confused...because the one on top may be a replica?)

Speaking of the crypt, it's the largest not only in Ireland but in all of Great Britain.

It's also Dublin's oldest surviving structure, from 1172-1173.

It houses the 2 oldest known secular carvings in Ireland
as well as memorabilia from King William III and James II.

But what takes the cake is the mummified cat & rat, found trapped in an organ pipe in the 1850s.

And that was the end of my short Dublin trip!
Soon you'll see the rest, with these teasers...

This is from Catherine's phone, taken by the Murphy's ice-cream man.
L-to-R:  Ginnie, Robin and Catherine.
Did I mention we're all from Vision & Verb?
Catherine is Irish and Robin lives in NYC, on a business trip with her hubby.

See.  Bloggers really DO meet up and have loads of fun!
Robin is the one who visited us in the Netherlands a year ago,
but Catherine was a "first" for us both.

And because I promised myself at least one Guinness,YES, I DID IT.

As we say, the proof is in the pudding.  (Thanks, Robin.)

(Actually, I think I've already acquired the taste.  HA!)

To be continued....