Blogs from Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

We were booked on the first ferry crossing of the day on the Stena Adventurer from Dublin to Holyhead and we needed to be at the ferry terminal at 7.15am. It was silly really to worry whether we would wake in time to shower,breakfast and drive the short distance to the ferry terminal considering that my usual hour to wake has been 5am for the past few weeks since the days have lengthened so much.So setting the alarms on the weather clock and cellphone for 5.15am turned out to be a waste of time because we were already finished showering by the time the alarms went off. We tried to be as quiet as we could because we were aware that one of the other rooms in the quartet of bedrooms became occupied during the early ... read more

The Yorkshire Dales The morning began with a short train to Skipton followed by a bus ride to Bolton Abbey. The commute took about 40 minutes. And the transportation there and back cost 7 GBP. The trip was largely organized by Stacey (from California) and I. After arriving at our destination, we walked to the Bolton Priory, which was a large church founded in 1120. Several photographs were taken of the fantastic building. Then we proceeded to cross the river by a stone footpath. One of the stones were missing, requiring one to leap 4.5 feet across the open river. The cross was dangerous, but was completed successfully by each member of the group (minus one girl who decided to use the bridge. After getting across the river, we proceeded to follow up the river for ... read more

Today we took a short trip to the nearby ruins of the Byland Cistercian Abbey and then to Standbrook Abbey, the Benedictine Sisters Abbey which is currently being rebuilt near Ampleforth. Our retreat presenter, Fr Matthew Burns led the outing. Incidently, some months ago, Matthew was chatting with Dom Placid from New Norcia in the recreation room when Placid collapsed and died. I didn't go into the recreation room! I leave the retreat pondering on Eph 2:10 'For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.' ... read more

Geo: 53.9577, -1.08229After a great night sleep, we ate an amazing breakfast at the hostel. It was a buffet full cooked breakfast- we made the most of it as it was included in the price of the accommodation. We walked through Museum Gardens and past the Hospitium, which was built in the 14th century. We then walked through the under croft of the St Leonard's hospital chapel and along the old city walls to the York Art Gallery. From here we joined a free walking tour and followed an old man who knew a lot about York, just didn't know how to be a good tour guide. He was talking and walking at the same time and it was impossible to hear him, especially when he faced his back to the group!Again we walked through The ... read more

Hello again everyone! This year on vacation I visited my fabulous Aunt & Uncle in England. I spent an entire week traveling around Northern England visiting abbeys, castles, and beautiful gardens. On the first day we took a drive through the Yorkshire Dales. It was rainy early, but cleared up later in the day. The English countryside is breathtaking. It's like something out of a movie. The hills are lined with dry-fitted stone walls and dotted with sheep. In England people are allowed to hike through property. No such things as trespassing. There are alot of hiking and walking paths around and people can go for a walk through the fields. Alot of the fences have steps build in so that people can get over them easy. You just have to be careful about not stepping ... read more