We just returned from a 5 day trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Sedona was stunning as always. Such a beautiful and spiritual place set in the red rock canyon.
While we were in that part of the country we made a side trip to Jerome. It is an old mining town on the side of a mountain. There is an old west vibe in the town and they have a haunted hotel.
The Grand Hotel was the hospital for the mining town and it is said that 9,000 people died there. I guess that is enough souls to leave a few behind to haunt the guests.
We also got to spend a day at the Grand Canyon. No matter how many times I go there I am always overwhelmed by this natural treasure.
It was a wonderful break in the routine. We will be leaving for Florence in 2 weeks. We will be taking a cruise across the Atlantic to Barcelona and flying to Florence. After a month there in an airbnb we will begin pet and house sitting in Europe. Go, go, go…..
It was really lovely and because it is the end of the season there were less people to contend with. We used the all day ferry pass to visit small towns on both sides of the lake.
The second day we took the hydrofoil ( fast boat) to the city of Como because if you do not it takes two and a half hours by regular ferry. Como is a lovely small town with a cathedral.
The late afternoon brings a light fog over the lake.
The last sunset over the lake was stunning.
Here is a photograph of David watching the Taf estuary and waiting for me to finish taking photographs.
She loves walks in the fields but really loves to chase the ball. Here she is catching the ball.
We have been in the city for all of the sits this year, so coming out to the country is an entirely different feeling. We can see the sea from our bedroom. Those tiny dots on the hill are cows.
This was a clear and sunny day, but most of the days have been overcast, windy and rainy, which is fun for us since California hardly ever gets rain. Yesterday, we went to two small beaches near us, Little Haven and Broad Haven. (“Haven” comes from the Norse havn meaning harbor.) The wind was almost 40 miles per hour, which made the waves very large and strong. I was up on a promontory over the ocean and I nearly blew away taking this photo.
In the harbor it was a different story. The waves were small because they were protected by the high cliffs.
We then drove over the hill from Little Haven to Broad Haven beach, which is a very long and sandy beach .
One day we drove through the tiny lanes they call streets to Pembroke castle. This is a 13th century castle that has been restored so that you can climb the stairs in the various towers and read about what life was like in the Middle Ages.
And they have free castle tours around four times a day. We went on the tour and learned a lot about the history of who lived in this famous castle and what they did.
The Museum of London, which has excellent exhibits on Roman London and the middle Ages in London.
Then there are many interesting art and theater events to see. Here I am at Shakespeare’s Globe, where I saw an excellent production of Othello.
Now to end this blog post on a more pleasant note. We stopped by the glass blowing studio featuring Peter Layton’s latest works called Homage. Mr. Layton was in the studio and we got to talk to him about his remarkable work.
London is a wonderful city to explore and discover and it does not have to cost you a fortune.
It was designed in the Arts and Craft style, and in the interior it was decorated with William Morris carpets, fabrics and wallpapers. Here are some photos of the wallpaper.
I love this style of interior design. This house is particularly pleasing because they have set up chairs for the visitor to sit and read about the furniture and even have letters written by family members who lived there. It is like being invited into their family home on a lovely summer day in 1935. Here is the dining room table set for the fruit and cheese dessert course.
This is a photograph of the business desk that the family used; including the typewriter. If you are careful you can hit a few keys and experience what it was like to type on one of those machines.
But when you go down to the kitchen you are reminded that our modern stoves were not in use in the 1900s. Here is the stove in Standen House.
The gardens have been restored to what they would have looked like in the early 1900s. There is an extensive kitchen garden with lots of healthy pumpkins, pears and flowers.
The staff is very kind. One gentleman sat with us on a bench for a few minuted to answer our questions about the buildings. The cafe in the old barn has a nice range of lunch food on offer and ice cream too.
Senior Gap Year 