Into the West, or The Magical Mystery Tour, or What I Did Over My Easter Holiday

There's something to be said about taking trips that indulge your inner-nerd (or, well, whatever word best describes literary-enthusiasts). And among other things, that's what this trip did, even in the places I wasn't expecting it to. Even now thinking back on this marvelous trip I'm having difficulty putting words to the experiences, on the other hand, though, I don't want this post to be just the lovely pictures. So, to the best of my ability, since it's long overdue, here's my attempt to do a "show & tell" of this particular holiday.
Here's Penzance:

 
<--The walk into town from our hostel (read old converted mansion) on the hill.
^ the house where Emily, Charlotte, and Anne Bronte's mother and aunt grew up! (one of those unexpected literary experiences!)

 
 <-- the coast! and ^ St. Michael's Mount

 
 <--literally the end of the line (can't get further than the train station in Penzance), ^ a friendly pup on the beach (with St. Michael's Mount in the background)

 <--the spec in the water on the left in this picture are people trying to get, through the rising tide, back to land and off of St. Michael's Mount.
That smaller island, yeah, I was sitting on that to take the last picture. -->

 <--there aren't words to describe getting to see a church I'd been praying for since about a year before, especially on their Easter service: Light and Life, where our friends Phil & Christine Jensen are now serving.

And of course, we spent a lovely Easter day with Phil and Christine and some amazing Cornish hospitality. Here's a picture of our spontaneous trip to Land's End. It's a bit blurry, but I figured it's important for you all to see the furthest South West point on the UK! -->









After leaving Penzance we headed North to Bath.

 ^ This is our hostel. :-D (and the view from our room's window)
<-- And of course, here we are, in front of it, having just checked in, and headed out to explore.

 
<--the next day we hopped on a bus and took a 3 hour tour out to....
^ Stonehenge!!!

  <-- there are Tank Crossing signs on the road out to Stonehenge...it's pretty nifty.

 <--and then we visited the Roman Baths!

 

  
And what's a trip to Bath without Tea at the Pump Room?

          

 and being the Jane Austen fans we are, we had to see one of her Bath residences (right picture) and the Royal Crescent (left), of course.

Next, into Wales! To Hay-on-Wye, via an afternoon exploring Cardiff!

 
 <--The Millenium Centre and Roald Dhals Plass

Here we are, on Cardiff Bay! (searching, of course, for the entrance to Torchwood Cardiff's entrance) ;-)

And we may not have found a way in, but we found a memorial wall to Ianto!

 

One last parting shot of the Centre

and a picture of Cardiff Central Train Station (with Welsh Dragons)

 And then we were off to a town of bookshops: Hay-on-Wye!

 
We stayed in this lovely B&B and enjoyed wandering around a town that gave new meaning to the phrase "small town".

 

  Needless to say, Wales has some beautiful countryside!

And next it was off to Liverpool. We happened to be in town for the Grand National, and while we didn't get to see any of the race, we did get to see plenty of people wearing some fantastic hats. But, being completely honest, we were in Liverpool for one reason: The Beatles!!!

So after finding our hostel and checking in, we made our way to The Cavern Club (the place they played their earliest shows) and we got to see a Beatles tribute band play there! It was soo much fun!

 
 and what's a visit to Liverpool without a visit to the sights? We saw Penny Lane, and Strawberry Field, and the homes of all of the Beatles! Below you can see the homes John Lennon and Paul McCartney grew up in (which are some of the youngest building protected by the National Trust)

 
 The tour we took was, of course, called: The Magical Mystery Tour! And after the tour we went back to the Cavern Club to take a few more pictures.

 

<--Obviously, I was overcome with Beatlesmania, here. :)










And that, was our trip. These pictures let you see what we did and saw, but unfortunately I can't convey the emotions we felt along the way with each of these. Each one represents a fantastic memory as part of this brilliant holiday! So, now that I've posted this trip update, I can finally do some more current blog-updates. Be expecting to have a few more updates coming very soon.