Felt like going to a castle this weekend, so I did! Yesterday (Saturday) I took a train to Ludlow in Shropshire. I just love taking these train rides through the beautiful English countryside, and this route to Ludlow was very hilly as it is in Wales. Ludlow is about an hour and a half train ride from where I'm living and about 15 miles or so from Wales. It was one of the places on my ever-growing-and-have-to-prioritize must-see list. When I got off the train in Ludlow there wasn't even a train station--it was more like a bus station. So I looked around, crossed the street, and asked a passerby where the town center and the castle were. She very kindly showed me the way. It wasn't very far, and Ludlow Castle was right at the edge of the village center. As I walked toward the village, I became more and more excited because I was seeing centuries-old Tudor houses and shops. Ahhh, here was the Old English charm I was looking for! I marveled at the black-and-white clay and timber houses and shops with their old beveled, stained glass windows and imagined life as it must have been hundreds of years ago. One of the more interesting shops I saw was a butcher with a whole string of dead pheasants hanging outside of it! Then I went into an antiques flea market where I was surprised at what I saw sitting on one vendor's table. It was a bust of a cowboy that I recognized immediately as a Michael Garman sculpture! I couldn't believe it! I told the vendor that Michael Garman is a very well known American sculptor whose studio is in the town I come from in Colorado. She told me that she thought I should buy it and take it back to its home. I passed. I wandered around more shops and then explored side streets. I stopped in front of one house that was sort of leaning into the street, its ancient, imperfect charm leading me to inquire of the man who was white washing it how old it was. He got down from his ladder and told me that his house dated back to around 1468 during the time of King Richard III. Can you imagine living in a house over 500 years old?!
I then walked up to Ludlow Castle and gladly paid the £5 entrance fee. The castle is a massive 11th century medieval castle that was originally a Norman fortress and Welsh stronghold and later became a royal palace. What a contrast to come through the entrance to the castle grounds from the bustling market town to the haunting quiet of the castle (there were only a few other people there besides me). The narrow stairway spiraled up and up to the towers much like ones Nadine and I climbed at Blarney Castle in Ireland. A beautiful day in Ye Olde England.
Today was even warmer than yesterday with clear blue skies beckoning me out for a walk. I ventured to Stourbridge (about an hour's walk from where I live) and took a detour along a canal I discovered on my way back home. As I walked along, I looked down and saw the most amazing mushrooms! They were red with white dots and huge! The funny thing is, whenever I teach my students how to draw mushrooms, I always draw red mushrooms with white polka dots. Who knew I'd actually find these fairytale mushrooms on a stroll in England! A nice couple stopped and asked me what I was taking pictures of, and they were amazed as I was because they said they'd never seen them before. We had the loveliest chat and they gave me more recommendations for places I must visit before I return to the good ol' USA. They asked me how I was enjoying my stay here and expressed their chagrin at the seemingly prevalent attitude that the West Midlands is just an industrial part of the country (which it used to be) and had not much to offer. They sang its praises as having the most beautiful countryside in England, the warmest people, and many, many historic sites. I couldn't agree more. They were thrilled that I was in Ludlow the day before. Later in the evening I went with Eileen and her boyfriend, Bryan, to an Irish club to see an Irish concert. It was a lovely evening of old-fashioned Irish music, but I didn't get home until midnight, and that 5 a.m. alarm is a cruel reality for this teacher.
For the past couple of weeks people all over England have been wearing poppy pins in anticipation of "Poppy Day", nickname for Rememberance Day, an annual day of commemoration of all the fallen soldiers in the Commonwealth. Poppy Day is celebrated on November 11th--specifically, 11-11-11, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year that connotes the day and time when WWI officially ended. People buy these poppies with donations to the British Royal Legion which facilitates the recovery of wounded and disabled soldiers. Poppy wreaths are laid on graves of soldiers. At our school, all the children and staff headed out to the church's graveyard at 11:00 to lay paper poppy wreaths on the old graves of military heroes. There were hymns sung and two minutes of silence and a man played a somber bugle piece.
Friday night a lot of the school staff went to the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton to see a local performance of the musical version of
A Christmas Carol. It was pretty good, and seeing it with proper authentic English accents was a treat! But it was raining cats and dogs. Luckily, Carol had a brolly in the boot, but it was bost. See? I'm learning the language!
Felt like going to a castle this weekend, so I did! Yesterday (Saturday) I took a train to Ludlow in Shropshire. I just love taking these train rides through the beautiful English countryside, and this route to Ludlow was very hilly as it is in Wales. Ludlow is about an hour and a half train ride from where I'm living and about 15 miles or so from Wales. It was one of the places on my ever-growing-and-have-to-prioritize must-see list. When I got off the train in Ludlow there wasn't even a train station--it was more like a bus station. So I looked around, crossed the street, and asked a passerby where the town center and the castle were. She very kindly showed me the way. It wasn't very far, and Ludlow Castle was right at the edge of the village center. As I walked toward the village, I became more and more excited because I was seeing centuries-old Tudor houses and shops. Ahhh, here was the Old English charm I was looking for! I marveled at the black-and-white clay and timber houses and shops with their old beveled, stained glass windows and imagined life as it must have been hundreds of years ago. One of the more interesting shops I saw was a butcher with a whole string of dead pheasants hanging outside of it! Then I went into an antiques flea market where I was surprised at what I saw sitting on one vendor's table. It was a bust of a cowboy that I recognized immediately as a Michael Garman sculpture! I couldn't believe it! I told the vendor that Michael Garman is a very well known American sculptor whose studio is in the town I come from in Colorado. She told me that she thought I should buy it and take it back to its home. I passed. I wandered around more shops and then explored side streets. I stopped in front of one house that was sort of leaning into the street, its ancient, imperfect charm leading me to inquire of the man who was white washing it how old it was. He got down from his ladder and told me that his house dated back to around 1468 during the time of King Richard III. Can you imagine living in a house over 500 years old?! 
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