La Bella Italia- Pisa (Day 3)

We spent Sunday morning touring Pisa. And we were impressed. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is taller and more beautiful than we expected, and it is something to behold.

And she leans!

The Duomo, the Baptista, the bell tower that now leans

Plaza Cavalieri

More Espresso!

London Bridges

We had a bitter sweet time in London, saying goodbye to good friends who are moving to India and getting a chance to catch up with an old friend who we can't wait to see more often!
Here are some views of London and the Thames. I seriously hope this doesn't get old.

The Tower Bridge from the London Bridge

The Tower Bridge at night

The Tower Bridge

The Tower of London & The Tower Bridge across the Thames

The Tower of London across the Thames

One Year Later

We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary today, unpacking boxes and having an amazing meal at the Tuddenham Mill, a watermill turned boutique hotel and restaurant. We will be continuing to celebrate with a trip to Tuscany later this month.  What an amazing year; here is to many more!

Welcome Home, Stuff. Welcome Home.

It happened today. Our household goods made it to our front door. They left our apartment in Albany on June 23rd and arrived here over two months later on September 2nd.

The moving truck with our crates

Until our goods arrived, we were using a few pieces of furniture from base. Does this remind you of your college dorm room?

And this too....

Ok, so getting back on track here. The movers were great. Efficient and careful with our stuff. We had them unpack everything so we wouldn't have to dispose of the paper and boxes afterward. This is what we were left with. Bring on many hours of organizing. Especially when we only have two closets in the entire house and one has the water heater in it and the other has a sloped ceiling; it's under the stairs.

Our kitchen

Our dining room

Our Garden!

In England, backyards are poshly referred to as gardens. And we love our garden! The ground in Suffolk is actually rather sandy making it difficult to grow grass.  A previous owner trucked in pounds and pounds (truck fulls really) of imported dirt from a nearby region to create such a beautiful space. We love having it, and we love maintaining it (Adam loves having a lawn to mow and grass to grow!)

Mowing is an activity that presents its own challenges as it the mower we have is electric. This means it has to be plugged in via extension cord, and while mowing, you need to be sure not to mow over the cord. Adam has found a pattern that works though, and all is well.

Welcome to our garden!

The back of our house. Notice the ivy climbing the wall of the garage on the left, our clothesline, and the hanging plants? Oh, and our french doors! We love it!

The gate to our garden

The Secret Garden  portion of our garden

Our shed

Our bird feeder

Our other bird feeder

Our tree (See the solar lights? They are all over our garden)

Adam planting perennials. It should be beautiful this fall!

One of the three cats who love to visit. This is likely to change once Tanka arrives.

Our piglet.

The arch and side garden, pre- planting.



The arch and side garden post- planting. Hydrangeas, perennials, mint and thyme to start us off.



Framlingham Castle, Medieval Festival & Bloody Mary

We drove about an hour and 20 to visit Framlingham Castle (or what is left of it) and to experience "the medieval festival." We had a great time, despite the weather (it was, in typical fashion, very cold and rainy at one moment and then sunny and almost summer-like a few moments later. You'll see that in the pictures), we had a great time. An intro to the castle:

Framlingham Castle

Inside the Castle Walls

Inside the Castle Walls

The chimneys were added by the Tudor family to make a fashion statement. Each one is different. Only 3 were usable.

This was, at one point, a dungeon used to hold priests who wouldn't convert-- both protestant and catholic depending on which Tudor sister was in power. The very lower decks had no windows-- just a trap door through which food was dropped.

What makes this place historically significant?

As it reads, Mary Tudor (a.k.a. Bloody Mary) was proclaimed Queen of England at Framlingham Castle

Typical Tudor dress

I have to share some of the medieval festival with you. It was so worth making the trip to the castle the day we did.


Official Protector

 

Medicine Woman



Medicinal Herbs

The Castle Fool-- and his (un)lucky volunteer

More foolery

Life sized chess game

Archery of course

Aldeburgh & The North Sea

During our trip to Framlingham Castle (see previous post), we discovered we were only 15 miles from the coast. That, of course, meant we had to stop and see it. We ended up in a small (and adorable) coastal town called Aldeburgh that has beautiful coast line and a fish and chips shop that attracted a queue that streched around the block. We didn't sample (due to the length of line) but did stop in at a modern restaurant called the White Lion located on the High Street. We were only in Aldeburgh for a few hours, but it would be worth the return.

Metal sculpture on the beach

The Beach

The same beach, the same day, from the other direction

Adam & Jaclyn

Friends (who are about to become parents!)