6 Comments CherryPie on Dec 13th 2023
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.
James Openheim
12 Comments CherryPie on Dec 10th 2023
During our Christmas shopping trip to Shrewsbury, we intended to have an afternoon cuppa in the Cafe within St Mary’s Church but unfortunately the cafe was closed for refurbishment.
It was a pleasure to see the Jesse Window and the detailed roof panels. Seeing the window reminded us that after a previous visit in December we had always intended to go back to visit the church in summer months when the light is more favourable to explore the finer details of the church.
The church is now the only complete medieval church in Shrewsbury. It dates from Saxon times and has beautiful additions from the twelfth-century onwards. Inside, the atmosphere is peaceful with the soaring stone arches giving way to the church’s great treasure – its stained glass. There are panels in glorious colour including the world-famous fourteenth-century ‘Jesse window’; filled with figures of Old Testament kings and prophets, and scenes from the life of St Bernard – a Medieval cartoon strip that shows him ridding flies from an abbey, riding a mule and curing the sick. No other church in the country has a collection to equal it.
Most of the glass was brought from elsewhere, much of it from Europe, by two remarkable clergymen, and installed in St Mary’s during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Warmth and richness is also provided by superb Victorian coloured tiles on the floor. Lifting your eyes upwards, you will see the wonderful fifteenth-century carved oak ceiling of the nave, with a profusion of animals, birds and angels.
7 Comments CherryPie on Dec 10th 2023
On one of our walks around Valletta a road had been blocked off due to filming taking place near one of the buildings. I wasn’t able to find out what was being filmed but during my search I saw that Fort Ricasolo was being used as a film set for Gladiator II. Part of the fort is leased to the Malta Film Commision and is used as a location in many films. We had noticed the Gladiator II film set from the other side of the harbour but had not realised what it was at the time.
Fort Ricasolo is currently closed to the public due to its dilapidated state. Some of the fortifications have been eroded and fallen into the sea but approval has now been given for the proposed restoration plans.
Today, Fort Ricasoli remains largely intact, although it is in a dilapidated state.[40] The headland that it is built upon is prone to coastal erosion, and some of the walls between No. 3 and No. 4 bastions have already collapsed into the sea.[41] In 2004, the Restoration Unit of the Ministry of Resources and Infrastructure removed, restored and re-attached part of the fort’s walls,[42] but nothing has been done to restore the entire fort.[43]
2 Comments CherryPie on Dec 9th 2023
… Attingham Park decked out for Christmas
4 Comments CherryPie on Dec 4th 2023
We had a bit of miscommunication on how we were going to get to the train station. I thought we were walking, there had been mention of Glühwein from the Christmas market…
I know how long it takes me to walk to the station and time was running short so I went on ahead and told Mr C I would meet him at the station. When I had been at the station for a few minutes there was no sign of him catching me up so I phoned to see where he was and thought there was no way he was going to get to the station on time. A few minutes later I saw him running towards the platform, arriving just as the train pulled into the station. Talk about cutting it fine. Later he mentioned that he intended that we should drive to the station!
There was standing room only on the train which meant by the time we arrived in Birmingham my left knee had become a bit stiff. This caused me to stumble on the stairs and bang my leg. Oops! The young man behind me helped me regain my balance and walked beside me for the last few steps of the stairway.
At the top of the stairway, I was impressed to see Ozzy the mechanical bull that was created for the Commonwealth Games.
This years Christmas market and Christmas lights were less impressive so I wasn’t able to take my replacement camera through its paces.
Back in Wellington we had just missed the Christmas Lights ‘Switch On’. The lights looked lovely lighting up the town. The atmosphere was lovely and uplifiting with a long queue waiting to enter the market’s late night opening event. We visited one of the local hostelries (which was packed to the seams) for a glass of something warming before our walk home.
6 Comments CherryPie on Dec 1st 2023
We enjoyed our last breakfast in Malta before checking out of the hotel and leaving our cases with the concierge. Our taxi to the airport was due around 1pm leaving the morning free.
We walked into Valletta to visit Muza, the National Museum of Art, which is housed in the Auberge d’Italie. The Auberge building needed to be restored before the art collection could be displayed. We enjoyed the architecture of the building and also the excellent artwork within the museum collection. I particularly enjoyed some of the religious artwork.
Before returning to the hotel to wait for our airport transfer, we had just enough time for me to enjoy a fresh orange juice in a café we had used on previous occasions.
On arrival at the airport, we were greeted by a Jet2 rep who directed us to the baggage check in desk.
On our outward flight there were lots of pool players heading to Malta to compete in an international championship. The championship had concluded the previous day and as we waited to check in our luggage we were once again in the company of the competitors.
As we went through the hand baggage scanners, it was Mr C’s turn to be stopped and, his case, have his hand luggage and himself checked for ‘substances’! We still had time for a quick snack lunch before going through the gate to await boarding.
Our departure was slightly delayed but on take off I was treated to the sun setting over the clouds, then mostly darkness. For me the plane descent was a little unpleasant due to my recent cold causing excess pressure in my ears. The landing was a bit ‘wobbly’ and we arrived in cold and wet 39F Manchester which was a shock to the system after leaving 80F sunshine in Malta.
Our passage through immigration and collecting our baggage ran smoothly leaving us plenty of time to dine in the Tatton Arms once again before setting off on our journey home.
10 Comments CherryPie on Nov 30th 2023
