The Events of Tuesday, May 31, 2011

                Today was a beautiful day. It began with a beautiful morning, fantastically sunny with a few fluffy white clouds dotting the spectacular blue sky. Birds sang and sheep baaed. I awoke feeling glad to be here on such a wonderful day.

                After a great personal quiet time with God and an absolutely delightful shower, I joined my family for breakfast. We all gratefully tasted a variety of cereals kindly left for us by our wonderfully accommodating host. Next, we met for our family devotion time, and then quickly readied ourselves for the day’s adventures at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal.

                Driving through the gorgeous countryside of the Yorkshire Dales, we sighed and gasped as each new bend in the road revealed more rolling green hills speckled with fluffy sheep. We soon arrived at Fountains Abbey and found our way to the Visitor Centre, where an obliging lady staff member kindly helped us find the best arrangement of the attractions available to us. We unanimously decided to first amble to St. Mary’s Church, then stroll back to the parking lot to enjoy a picnic lunch, then amble to Porter’s Lodge and catch the 2:00 guided tour of the Abbey. Upon the conclusion of this tour, we would stroll through the luxurious water gardens to the picturesque and ornate Lakeside Tea House and enjoy a scrumptious Yorkshire Cream Tea as the perfect close to our day at the Abbey.

                Heading out, we happily walked along a charming little footpath through the woods to Studley Royal’s St. Mary’s Church. The ostentatious architect William Burges designed this brilliant High Victorian Anglican church in the 1870s. It has been called his ‘ecclesiastical masterpiece’. The lavishly ornamented interior displays colored marble, stained glass, a wonderful organ, and painted and gilded figures in all their original splendor. An elderly guide greeted us with loads of information. Mom and Dad received laminated sheets to read as they wandered the church, while we four kids each obtained a clipboard, paper, and pencil for a scavenger-hunt-type game. We had great fun exploring this little church, finding hidden carvings, like colorful parrots above the choir, as well as mice and snails carved into the burial chamber, where the for the first Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon laid. The talkative guides willingly shared their abundant knowledge about the church.

                I personally enjoyed circling the church’s exterior alone, while my family continued to explore inside this place of worship. Being alone under the bright blue sky, admiring the beautiful church, nestled in a gorgeous countryside, I felt spectacular.

                When we had fully exhausted all known information about the little church we walked back to the car park along the same path we had come, still completely enjoying the smell and feel of the fresh, clean country air.

                Next, we engaged in a delightful picnic lunch on the grass next to our car in the car park. The highlights of this meal were the kiwis, the cheese, and the desserts. Mom kindly cut our kiwis for us, according to our quirky preferences. Lindsey desired her fruit to be cut open along the equator, while Abby wanted hers sliced along the prime meridian. To complicate things further, Dad requested that his kiwi be divided along the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The cheese was something special, because it was a deliciously soft and crumbly local Wensleydale cheese. Last, but definitely not least, we feasted on tasty homemade desserts from our hostess, Mrs. Hurst. Especially delectable were her Millionaire cookie bars.

                Once we had finished our wonderful lunch, we walked from the car park, through the Visitor Centre, past multitudes of adorable children having fun in the play area, to the stunning twelfth-century ruins of Fountains Abbey. Upon arrival at the evocative remains, we found our way to the Porter’s Lodge, where we waited for the 2:00 guided tour. Dad wandered inside the Porter’s Lodge to explore the exhibition there. My siblings drifted a stone’s throw away, and then sprawled out on the bright green grass in the shade of an ancient oak tree, where they mingled together like friends.

                Mom and I rested on a cool stone bench in the shade, talking like friends. Before long, a smiling old man walked over to us and asked if we were there for the 2:00 tour. We conversed for awhile, and Mom asked if it was a school holiday. He replied laughingly, “How did you know?” gesturing towards the many families lounging on the grassy knolls around the abbey ruins, and then proceeded to discuss with us the differences between the school schedules of American and British schoolchildren. This enlightening conversation revealed many dissimilarities to us. For example, British schoolchildren have two weeks off of school at Easter, whereas we only have one. Furthermore, this week, the British have a week off to celebrate Pentecost, which explained the schoolchildren touring the abbey with their families, rather than as school groups. However, the British summer holiday lasts only six weeks, from the mid/late July to the beginning of September, while the American summer vacation (or at least that of California) lasts three months, from mid-May to mid- August.

                Soon, our jolly tour guide gathered the tour group together and introduced himself: David Ridgway. David then commenced his talk, showing himself to be an extremely informative tour guide and fascinatingly attentive to detail. It turns out David enjoys a career as a dry stone waller. He studies, builds, and teaches people to build stone walls without mortar. His unique perspective on the abbey helped us to imagine it as it existed in its heyday.

                After the tour, we explored the gigantic fireplace in the “warming room” and strolled through the roofless church nave before walking through spectacular Georgian water gardens. Next, we enjoyed a delectable Yorkshire Cream Tea overlooking a picturesque lake. Besides the Yorkshire Tea (with lots of sugar and cream), we dined on scones with currants, strawberry jam, and clotted cream. Clotted cream is like butter, but softer and sweeter – truly luscious.

                After strolling back to our car through a charming deer park, we subsequently drove to Ripon, where we shopped for groceries at Morrisons. Then we drove home the scenic route, but in the Yorkshire Dales, every road is a beautiful one. When we arrived back at Hanlith Hall, our host greeted us. Dad struck up a conversation with him and learned that their Hanlith Estate covers two thousand acres. However, the grounds of Hanlith Hall used to extend 32,000 acres, all the way to Studley Royal Estate, where we had just spent a fantastic day.

                After a spectacular spread of spaghetti and sausages for dinner, we looked forward even more to a delicious dessert, kindly provided by our generous hostess. This meant a rich chocolate coffee cake for everyone but Dad, who had trifle. Trifle is a popular English pudding made with sponge cake soaked in sherry, topped with fruit and jelly, then with creamy custard, and, on the very top, thick whipped cream. Apparently, it was truly delicious.

                After dinner, we decided to watch one of the vast selection of family-friendly movies on our fantastic 60" plasma television. Though we did not find the DVD Night at the Museum in its plastic case, we didn’t let a little problem like that spoil our good spirits. Instead, we just watched Night at the Museum’s special features DVD: hilarious bloopers, horrible deleted scenes, the energetic directors’ commentary about the cast, and how special features really made the museum come to life. All too soon, it was time to go to bed, but it was the perfect end to a perfect day.