A warm welcome from Paul and Elisa!

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Elisa and Paul ended up at the airport right on time. I gave them each a huge hug! It was such a wonderful feeling to see a familiar face! There we where not a long time since our last meeting in each other’s company. They had also brought along Martin, a friend of Paul’s. We had a great time on the way to their house recounting our past, present, and future travels. We also brought each other up to speed with the events in our lives in the past few months. Elisa was now four months pregnant! After resting up a bit at the Morgan Residence, we head out to the town for some dinner. We had it at a delicious place. Then we went bar hopping where I learned it was “uncool” to have more than one drink at the same place. It was such a fun day!

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Sun July 17 2005

Bristol, England to Edinburgh, Scotland

Paul and Elisa planned a trip along the country side before they dropped me off at the airport later in the evening. We went to Wells, Glastonbury, and Cheddar. Wells is a small market town with an extraordinary 13^th century cathedral. From what Paul explained, there are some houses in the town that are hundreds of years old. People can petition to use them as their residence. They apparently have the original code of arms. I was thoroughly impressed at how well preserved the house were after so many years!

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After a lengthy walk, we were feeling pretty hungry and decided to have lunch in Wells. I ordered a dish I had never heard of named Ploughman's. A ploughman's lunch usually consists of a lump of cheese, pickle and salad, accompanied by crusty bread and butter. I learned that “pickle” referred to some condiment tasting paste used to spread over all of the meal’s components. It was so delicious…yummy indeed!

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After lunch it was off to Glastonbury, a small rural town which is associated with the Holy Grail and King Arthur. We spent some time hiking our way up to The Tor. The Tor is a natural mound overlooking the town. It is identified with the Isle of Avalon and other biblical references. Up on the hill, we found several people in a meditative state. On our way back down, Paul offered to go get his car so that Elisa wouldn’t get so tired. How sweet!

Our final stop was the small town of Cheddar. Yes. This is the birthplace of Cheddar cheese. The Cheddar Gorge was formed by the collapse of a cave system. We did indulge in some ice cream, cheese, and my favorite of course…CANDY! Our final stop was the AIRPORT! We were running out of time!

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Paul and Elisa were awesome hosts. I really enjoyed spending time with them, albeit rather brief. After visiting so many major cities, they start to lose their flare. You need an authentic experience to break up the monotony of travel. The sights I experienced were truly “off the beaten path” making my time in England very well spent. Hopefully, I will be given an opportunity to extend the same hospitality to Paul and Elisa one day.