A few things in England

I've just come back from a week in England. I didn't do much or go to many places; the weather was mostly terrible, but here are a couple of things.

From Zaragoza airport, this is where I could fly to with Ryanair. I paid very little for my flights, which I booked three months in advance, and I didn't pay the €50 extra for a checked-in suitcase. However, in Zaragoza airport I checked in my small cabin baggage suitcase; they said yes, they actually preferred people to do that, and it was free. No problem. However, in Stansted they told me that I couldn't do it, they had changed and I had to take it on board with me or pay to check it in. Do they do it just to annoy passengers?

That was Saturday. Arriving at Stansted I had to go and pick up my rented Fiat 500 and drive to Ringmer. Lots of traffic. 

The next morning I went to the morning service in the parish church. It just happened to be the day they blessed the new statue in the doorway. 

An atypical Mary with little boy Jesus.

The vicar sprinkled the statue with water 

and the lady in the wheelchair got wet too!

Lewes. In a moment when it wasn't raining on Monday the Harvey's dray came out from the brewery. Very picturesque!

This photo is a packet of pork in Tesco supermarket. Spoilt pig must have been fed only the very best food!

A Flying visit to England

Last week the schools in our area had "Semana Blanca"- literally White Week, which means time off classes to go skiing. Instead of that, we took a Ryanair flight from Zaragoza to Stansted. The view over London was really spectacular. We could see the London Eye, bridges, unfinished Olympic site, etc.  Lovely weather on the drive from the airport to Ringmer. Terrible traffic! The south east of England is so full of cars.

The next day we went to Seaford beach in the afternoon. Beautiful, but cold and windy. This photo is before the sun went in.

The next day we drove westwards to Chichester. What a nice city! It's got a market cross that looks like a stone crown. The streets that radiate from the cross had a farmers' market: meat, sausages, fruit, cheese and cakes. It all looked and smelt delicious. Chichester has got a strange cathedral. The belltower is separate from the rest of the building. The first thing we noticed was the Jaca chessboard design on one of the outer walls. You can just about see it here, also some nice Romanesque (Norman) windows. Did they get it from Jaca? Or is it just called Jaqués here, but really it's universal? Inside, the basic impression is Gothic, but there are several Romanesque elements, two stone-carved reliefs which were rediscovered in the 19th century, very similar to the images on the columns in the old monastery cloister in San Juan de la Peña.

On the way back we stopped in Arundel, which is dominated by a massive Norman castle (closed for the winter). In the town I found a shop selling forced rhubarb. It's such a nice colour!
The next day we went east, to the ancient Cinque Port of Rye. It's very quaint and pretty, and was full of tourists for the Scallop Festival.