We woke up around 0730, rounded up our laundry, had a tasty breakfast, and headed to the strawberry/raspberry fields to pick our fruit for the day's journey to Bath. Here's some pics of the morning... we picked a couple pounds of strawberries, raspberries, and gooseberries. We ate them all within a couple hours:)
This cat playfully attacks fruit-pickers. We loved him!
After all this fun, Lisa dropped us in town and we headed for the round-a-bout so we could start hitching.
On the way, we walked by a used car dealer, and the wheels in my head started turning. We started to contemplate the pro's and con's of buying a car - we can sleep in it (pro or con depending on your attitude), travel more easily, save money (or so we thought). After talking to the sales guy, Hayden, we walked a while to the insurance guy, Simon, to see how much it would cost to insure the car. After giving him our info, he came back with a quote of 2,500 british pounds... Holy Shit, I was thinking, the cost of the car was only 1,300 pounds. This plan came to a screeching halt, and we abruptly pulled out our thumb and starting polishing it up for a ride...and we also made a cardboard sign for "Hereford".
So we were then "thumbing it" on the round-a-bout. Heidi was holding the sign and I was just standing there looking friendly. Not more than 10 minutes went by when a nice Audi pulled up and honked. Inside was Sue and Dominick, a very nice couple on their way to a funeral in Hereford. We had a great time chatting with them and learned that they almost never pick up hitchhikers, however they told us that Heidi's smile was why they stopped. Awwwww. Once we got to Hereford, they went out of their way to get us to our next hitching point. Sue also informed us that if she would have known we'd be with them on this drive, she would have packed lunch sacks for us. Once again, we were very fortunate to have been picked up by Dominick and Sue. The universe is good and so are the people in it!
We were then standing on the south end of Hereford, thumbing for a ride, finishing our strawberries, when a red Toyota pulled up and offered our next lift. Once again, we waited maybe 10 minutes. Bob was our driver to Monmouth, a very friendly man who informed us of all his worldly travels and gave some tips as well. Apparently, Luxor, Egypt is not to be skipped! As we entered Monmouth we noticed a Masonic Lodge up ahead. Bob saw it too and mentioned he'd been to a lodge in London but not this particular one. Then I asked if he was a member of the Mason's, and he was. I mentioned I was too. It was so great to know that we'd been given a lift from a brother. Once he dropped us in Monmouth, and after I shook his hand, he mentioned if we couldn't find a ride to our next destination, Newport, to give him a call and he'd come get us and take us there. Again we always manage to run into the most generous people.
We walked around Monmouth for about an hour and looked at some sites. Stopped at a nice little coffee shop, Coffee #1, had a soy latte, and found this lovely sign painted on the wall.
One significant piece of history in Monmouth is Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce. Maker of the finest cars and aircraft engines in the world.
Heidi still needed some boots and we found a good pair at a small outdoors shop. So we bought them and we were on our way to the freeway to start hitching. We got there about 15 minutes later, standing by a 6 lane freeway, cars whizzing by, thinking there is no way anyone is gonna stop here. About 5 minutes went by when we spotted a man about 100-yds down the highway waving at us. We grabbed our packs and ran to meet him. He had pulled off at an exit road to offer us a lift to Newport, which was exactly where we were headed. He mentioned that he used to hitch all the time, so figured he'd pick us up citing, "we didn't look dangerous." Great feedback, by the way! Roger was a very nice man as well, we talked about his travels and our plans and such. Once in Newport, he dropped us where he thought we'd have the best luck getting our next ride.
Turns out he was right, I was just getting ready to make a sign and a van stopped for us. Two younger guys picked us up and took us to Bristol. Kenny and Paul were a couple of musicians on their way to help someone move. They took us all the way to Bristol and found us a good dropping point for our next ride to Bath.
This locale wasn't working at all, due to it being rush hour. I'm sure folks just wanted to get home and didn't wanna bother with hitchers. We waited a long while and began walking. About 2 miles later we crossed the freeway and got up to the side roads. At this point we were tired and decided to get a bus and just get to Bath. Here's a pic of a nice church at the bus stop
We arrived in Bath and went to a pub to check email and contacted our host Neil who graciously came to pick us up, and we headed to his home in Bath. What a lovely home, and what a lovely individual! Neil is a pediatrician in Bath, has traveled extensively, and is an avid guerrilla gardener to boot. From helping to clear landmines in Afghanistan to planting sunflowers under the cover of darkness, Neil is a true peaceful warrior. Anyway, we got to his place and had a snack or two, a little wine, then we chatted for a bit and went to sleep.
Saturday we got up and had some incredible East Timor coffee in Neil's garden. The sun was out, and it was going to be a beautiful day. After having some freshly-picked raspberries, we got ready for an amazing guided foot-tour of Bath. Neil guided us around in such a perfect path to capture all of the best spots of bath in one afternoon that included a look at Salisbury Hill, a large farmers' market housed in an old train station, a walk along the canals, a beautiful spot to picnic, a few very green parks, the Royal Crescent, a Georgian garden, some community flower and veg gardens, the Abby, a photography exhibition, an illegal look into the Roman Baths (Heidi climbed the wall), tea time at an underground tea house and a lovely dinner in Neil's garden...whew! What a wonderful day!
We stopped for a picnic by the locks on the canal. and watched the process of boats moving from one lock to the next.
Then we went back to the city center and had some great tea in a basement tea room. After tea we parted, Neil went home and Heidi and I went to a pub to have a beer and a wine. I'm still on a Guinness kick so I had to have one. After our outdoor drinks we walked the long and steep walk back to Neil's house. We made a tasty dinner with the food we had bought at the local market as well as some of the veg from Neil's garden. Neil and I made the dinner, so we made Heidi do the dishes. :)
Then it was time for the activity we'd been looking forward to most, Guerrilla Gardening.
We gathered our weapons - pitchforks, water, plants, and a camera. The images speak for themselves. It was great fun.
Turns out Neil has been cultivating this public corner for a while now He's planted fruit trees, berries, and now we've added sunflowers. Glad the Police didn't show up, we might have been thrown in jail. Thank you so much Neil for an amazing tour of Bath and some "unauthorized" gardening to go with it...Cheers!
Would you look at that!
This cat playfully attacks fruit-pickers. We loved him!
After all this fun, Lisa dropped us in town and we headed for the round-a-bout so we could start hitching.
On the way, we walked by a used car dealer, and the wheels in my head started turning. We started to contemplate the pro's and con's of buying a car - we can sleep in it (pro or con depending on your attitude), travel more easily, save money (or so we thought). After talking to the sales guy, Hayden, we walked a while to the insurance guy, Simon, to see how much it would cost to insure the car. After giving him our info, he came back with a quote of 2,500 british pounds... Holy Shit, I was thinking, the cost of the car was only 1,300 pounds. This plan came to a screeching halt, and we abruptly pulled out our thumb and starting polishing it up for a ride...and we also made a cardboard sign for "Hereford".
So we were then "thumbing it" on the round-a-bout. Heidi was holding the sign and I was just standing there looking friendly. Not more than 10 minutes went by when a nice Audi pulled up and honked. Inside was Sue and Dominick, a very nice couple on their way to a funeral in Hereford. We had a great time chatting with them and learned that they almost never pick up hitchhikers, however they told us that Heidi's smile was why they stopped. Awwwww. Once we got to Hereford, they went out of their way to get us to our next hitching point. Sue also informed us that if she would have known we'd be with them on this drive, she would have packed lunch sacks for us. Once again, we were very fortunate to have been picked up by Dominick and Sue. The universe is good and so are the people in it!
We were then standing on the south end of Hereford, thumbing for a ride, finishing our strawberries, when a red Toyota pulled up and offered our next lift. Once again, we waited maybe 10 minutes. Bob was our driver to Monmouth, a very friendly man who informed us of all his worldly travels and gave some tips as well. Apparently, Luxor, Egypt is not to be skipped! As we entered Monmouth we noticed a Masonic Lodge up ahead. Bob saw it too and mentioned he'd been to a lodge in London but not this particular one. Then I asked if he was a member of the Mason's, and he was. I mentioned I was too. It was so great to know that we'd been given a lift from a brother. Once he dropped us in Monmouth, and after I shook his hand, he mentioned if we couldn't find a ride to our next destination, Newport, to give him a call and he'd come get us and take us there. Again we always manage to run into the most generous people.
We walked around Monmouth for about an hour and looked at some sites. Stopped at a nice little coffee shop, Coffee #1, had a soy latte, and found this lovely sign painted on the wall.
One significant piece of history in Monmouth is Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce. Maker of the finest cars and aircraft engines in the world.
Heidi still needed some boots and we found a good pair at a small outdoors shop. So we bought them and we were on our way to the freeway to start hitching. We got there about 15 minutes later, standing by a 6 lane freeway, cars whizzing by, thinking there is no way anyone is gonna stop here. About 5 minutes went by when we spotted a man about 100-yds down the highway waving at us. We grabbed our packs and ran to meet him. He had pulled off at an exit road to offer us a lift to Newport, which was exactly where we were headed. He mentioned that he used to hitch all the time, so figured he'd pick us up citing, "we didn't look dangerous." Great feedback, by the way! Roger was a very nice man as well, we talked about his travels and our plans and such. Once in Newport, he dropped us where he thought we'd have the best luck getting our next ride.
Here's Heidi, certain we will never get a ride at this spot.
Turns out he was right, I was just getting ready to make a sign and a van stopped for us. Two younger guys picked us up and took us to Bristol. Kenny and Paul were a couple of musicians on their way to help someone move. They took us all the way to Bristol and found us a good dropping point for our next ride to Bath.
This locale wasn't working at all, due to it being rush hour. I'm sure folks just wanted to get home and didn't wanna bother with hitchers. We waited a long while and began walking. About 2 miles later we crossed the freeway and got up to the side roads. At this point we were tired and decided to get a bus and just get to Bath. Here's a pic of a nice church at the bus stop
We arrived in Bath and went to a pub to check email and contacted our host Neil who graciously came to pick us up, and we headed to his home in Bath. What a lovely home, and what a lovely individual! Neil is a pediatrician in Bath, has traveled extensively, and is an avid guerrilla gardener to boot. From helping to clear landmines in Afghanistan to planting sunflowers under the cover of darkness, Neil is a true peaceful warrior. Anyway, we got to his place and had a snack or two, a little wine, then we chatted for a bit and went to sleep.
Saturday we got up and had some incredible East Timor coffee in Neil's garden. The sun was out, and it was going to be a beautiful day. After having some freshly-picked raspberries, we got ready for an amazing guided foot-tour of Bath. Neil guided us around in such a perfect path to capture all of the best spots of bath in one afternoon that included a look at Salisbury Hill, a large farmers' market housed in an old train station, a walk along the canals, a beautiful spot to picnic, a few very green parks, the Royal Crescent, a Georgian garden, some community flower and veg gardens, the Abby, a photography exhibition, an illegal look into the Roman Baths (Heidi climbed the wall), tea time at an underground tea house and a lovely dinner in Neil's garden...whew! What a wonderful day!
We stopped for a picnic by the locks on the canal. and watched the process of boats moving from one lock to the next.
Then we went back to the city center and had some great tea in a basement tea room. After tea we parted, Neil went home and Heidi and I went to a pub to have a beer and a wine. I'm still on a Guinness kick so I had to have one. After our outdoor drinks we walked the long and steep walk back to Neil's house. We made a tasty dinner with the food we had bought at the local market as well as some of the veg from Neil's garden. Neil and I made the dinner, so we made Heidi do the dishes. :)
Then it was time for the activity we'd been looking forward to most, Guerrilla Gardening.
We gathered our weapons - pitchforks, water, plants, and a camera. The images speak for themselves. It was great fun.
Turns out Neil has been cultivating this public corner for a while now He's planted fruit trees, berries, and now we've added sunflowers. Glad the Police didn't show up, we might have been thrown in jail. Thank you so much Neil for an amazing tour of Bath and some "unauthorized" gardening to go with it...Cheers!
Would you look at that!
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