Tag: europe
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the four green fields blog12: Three crescents, a circus & more
[Ceiling of the nave in Bath Abbey. Photo is mine.] Oh! Who can ever get tired of Bath? ~~Jane Austen Northanger Abbey Like a grandfather clock on the landing of a staircase of an old house, like a circular staircase leading to the dark places in a haunted Irish castle, like an elderly couple at…
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the four green fields blog9: London to bath…nearing the end
[A detail of an art exhibition in the nave of Bath Abbey. Photo is mine.] A premature victim of the Exertions of an ardent and fuperier mind. ~~From an epitaph inscribed on white marble, on the north wall of the nave of Bath Abbey. who passed on to his reward in 27 January, 1792. Aged…
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the four green fields blog8: a few bumps in the road
[Standing in the English rain, waiting for the sun. The author standing near the entrance of the Natural History Museum, London. Photo taken by Mariam Voutsis.] The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage. ~~Mark Russel Slainte, Ireland. Allow me, gentle reader, to add…
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the four green fields blog3:the burren
[Where we were. Photo is mine.] Burren (‘b^ren0 n. A limestone area on the North Clare coast in the Irish Republic, famous for its wildflowers, caves, and dolmens. The Burren is a lot of things. It’s a place in Ireland, a route to tour, and a UNESCO Heritage Site. To me, it’s something else altogether.…
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The four green fields blog: Touchdown at shannon to Kenmare
[The shortest distance between two points is a curved line (when The Great Circle is in play). Photo is mine.] To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart. ~~Old Irish Saying Five hours and fifty some minutes separated us from New York City and Shannon Airport. Round…
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I Bought A Bath Bomb
[The Bath Bomb. Photo is mine.] Do you think we’re going to leave this bath now? said Beaver Hateman, going menacingly to Uncle. Yes, I do! Well, you’re jolly well wrong! I’m going to stay here all night, if I want to! ~~ J. P. Martin “Uncle” I glanced at the rear view mirror. The…
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The Journey’s End 3: Inside Wimborne Minster-The Man In The Wall & The Chained Library
[Wimborne Minster. The Church of St Cuthburga. Wimborne, Dorset. Photo is mine.] The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~~Anon Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. ~~Thomas Gray Elegy…
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The Journey’s End 1: Winchester Cathedral
[In the nave of Winchester Cathedral. A man stands at a mirror, allowing the viewer to study and admire the vaulting of the ceiling without cracking a vertebra in one’s upper neck. Photo is mine.] Winchester Cathedral You’re bringing me down You stood and you watched as My baby left town. ~~New Vaudeville Band It…
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Aethelgifu, The Teenage Abbess: A Peak Inside The Walls Of The Shaftesbury Abbey
[Gold Hill, Shafesbury] Silence isn’t empty, it’s full of answers. It was a chilly day, this fourth day of October. Chilly and windy. Mariam and I had just had a very enjoyable lunch with a former student of mine, Sally, and her husband, Matthew. Sally was in my Geography class when I had the joy…