Seaton Wetlands

Bearing in mind I live so close to this, it's amazing I've never been to visit the wonderful Seaton Wetlands.  JC is away and I needed a Bank Holiday distraction - this was perfect.  It even had a kiddies trail where you use the map to find where the hidden letters were.  No-one minded I didn't have a kid with me ;-)

I started with Black Hole Marsh, the Island Hide, then walked to the Discovery Hut.  This was not only next to the Seaton Tramway, but at a dual length of railway where the trams crossed.  I hadn't realised that the trams' colour signifies which timetable it is - but then I've not yet ridden on it.  This little tramline tractor was funny - it was following along behind the pink tram.  Keeping the rails clean perhaps?

After this I walked across Colyford Common to the Hide there, and around a reed path.  I don't think I walked every path at the wetlands, but I gave it a good shot.  Lots of flora and fauna to enjoy.  There was a  50/50 mix of either families with kamakeze kids on push bikes or photographers with serious zoom lenses. I fell into neither bracket but just enjoyed pottering around (and finding the letters of course).  

There was also a cafe - hurrah - so I sat in the sun with my coffee and a book.  I then found a leaflet which showed more areas of wetland to walk explore, and a path down into Seaton town centre.   So off I trotted, first to Borrow Pit then to Seaton Marshes Hide.

Then I walked down into Seaton and found myself a quirky cafe with gluten free panini on the menu and a super sunny garden.  A quick jaunt to check the sea was still there (very windy!) and back to the car.  

All in a lovely 12.6 km ramble.

Barbie Barbie!

Saturday 17 August 2024

Caitlin had asked for tickets to the Design Museum's Barbie exhibition for her July birthday.  And what sort of mother was I to turn her down?  Wonderfully, it worked out that Riona could also join us: she came down early to London as she and Caitlin are attending a Swifty concert on Monday.

So off to see Barbies we did, via the Natural History Museum.

Confession time, I had a Sindy as a kid, not Barbie.  I suspect I had a Sindy as it was British made, not American produced - in the same way Dad adhered to buying British Leyland cars as long as he could.  We didn't have much spare money so my Mum made me all my Sindy clothes which was kind of cute as we ended up with matching dressing gowns.  

I was always of the impression that Barbie was a blonde haired impossibly-figured doll.  It turns out she evolved with the times and has had work wear and even an astronaut suit for the past few decades.  I should pay more attention.

Oooh, Barbie box!

I then had a quick 10 minutes in other parts of the Design Museum. I am always drawn to map things (sigh) and typography.  And I found both.  Don't you just love a well designed road sign?

Amazingly, not only was Riona in town, but Mark was on his way back from France via London to Cardiff.  So we caught up with him too - I haven't seen him for ages!  Had a super meal in the cute Mali Vegan Thai before going our separate ways.  Lovely day, thanks everyone x

Portugal - More high scary things

Saturday 29 June 2024

We left Batalha and visited Tomar today.  Our main aim being the Convento de Cristo, another UNESCO site.  It was massive!

We started with some decorated rooms and cloisters.  This convent had more tiling than the previous two monasteries we’d visited.

Another cloister and view onto the ruined castle.

The central chapel was quite an eye popper.  It has a huge free standing octagonal structure in the centre of the room surrounded by colourful Biblical friezes.  I liked the fact that the painting on one side (left side of archway, below) reflected the 3D version on the right side of the archway.

It went on and we kept coming across cloisters.  I suppose with so many nuns you need space to walk and get fresh air.

On the east end of the church is an amazing stone mural.  This facade was executed between 1510 and 1513 by Diogo de Arruga. It is one of the most singular examples of the late Gothic 'Manueline' style.  Subsequent owners built a second floor onto the cloister in front of it was latterly removed as it hid the bottom third of the mural!  Lovely stone work everywhere.

Once we’d had two hours of visit, we headed down into the centre of Tomar for a drink.

The river was interesting with its water wheel, weirs and lovely bridge. 

The town was pleasant to stroll around.

We then hauled ourselves back up the hill (still not yet back to normal strength) and quickly trotted around the castle behind the convent.  Lovely views despite the grey clouds.

The convent was fed by the 6 km Aqueduct Pegões.  We'd spotted a sign to part of it, so we decided to explore.

 

Wow. Didn’t expect to find this!  And didn’t expect to be able to climb up and walk along it!  It has 58 arches and is 30 m above the road at its highest point.

Again, no safety rails and a 20 cm wall which was fine(ish); but being so high up bothered me after a while and once we were 30 m high I needed to return.

We returned the hire car to the airport and checked into our hotel which was a few stops down on the metro.  After supper it was nice to swing by the river to say farewell.

We shall be back.  Lisbon/Portugal is certainly worth a re-visit.  And I'll hopefully stay a bit fitter this time.

 

Portugal - Sort of back on track

Thursday 27 June 2024

We both still felt rubbish today, but JC was on the bounce back (he blamed his 24 hour sickness on the sardines he munched on Tuesday).    My poorliness was more like catching up on 2024 so I was taking longer to recover.  Anyway, we managed to rouse ourselves enough to visit Batalha Monastery, another UNESCO site, and a mere shuffle across from our hotel.

This one had a more austere style church which we prefer.

An interesting side room with amazing carvings and impressive ceiling.

Cloisters.

Spot the photographer.

Then we visited the 'unfinished chapels'.  These are east of the main altar and strangely pretty much complete except the roof.  Odd to get so far and then stop but I suspect either the money ran out or the enthusiasm petered off.

We found a cafe for lunch and I managed a soup and salad which was good for me.  Lovely spot and I do like a fancy salad.

Then it was back to the hotel for a lie down.

We were struggling to find places to eat - Batalha seems to shut down at night and few of the restaurants are open - so we popped to a mini market and bought cheese/ham and bread.  That’ll do.  I dozed whilst JC, who was feeling better, popped out to photograph the abbey at night.  Another day survived!

Friday 28 June 2024

We both felt better today, although I was still on paracetamol for the headache, so drove down to the Monastery of Alcobaça.  It was drizzling, but I’d rather feel better and it rain, than feel ill and it be sunny. Once again, austere rooms but large.

This was the refectory.

And the kitchen was a surprise!  Tiled to the top of the very high ceiling with a massive chimney for the fire.  

Their bedroom was massive.

The church was only used by the monks, as commoners (and even then, only the men) were allowed in halfway on very rare occasions.  The church is notable that the aisles are the same height as main nave.  They are, of course, usually lower.

I was very taken by the stone mason markings that were scattered everywhere.

After sopa (soup) for me and croissant for JC - our standard lunch now - we drove south to Obidos.   Obidos is a historic village built within the city walls.  This is the entrance.

You can climb up and onto the walls.  Like other places we found in Portugal, they are not health and safety managed and people use them at their own risk.  There are no railings to stop you plopping off so you have to watch your step especially when passing others.

The views would have great if the cloud hadn’t been so low.  

Really pretty village.

It was fun to walk around and then we headed through the village.  

Looking down.

We managed to eat supper out in Batalha although it was still tricky finding somewhere open on a Friday night that looked semi suitable.  To be honest, it was tricky finding much open at all - and this was a Friday in June.  But we managed and it was my largest evening meal for days.  Getting there.