Valle Crucis Abbey near Llangollen, Wales

One of the very first hikes that I went on in the UK was to Valle Crucis Abbey in Wales. So it seemed like a great book end to my trip to the UK this time around to spend the day wandering through the Welsh countryside. Llangollen is fairly near Chester and I have been there several times, but never am bored of it (unlike the guy who sneaked into my photo(below.))

We picked up some snacks and hit the canal path. There is one part of the walk that is a bit tricky as you have to find where it crosses over the canal and onto the road and up into a field to get to the Abbey.

We missed the cut off and ended up walking on the road (dashing back and forth across it because there is no pavement for pedestrians and the drivers in this part of the country think they are on the autobahn-- dangerous!) But because we approached in that way we had a chance to see the Abbey from afar...

and some little lambs up close!

Tim with the lambs, just so you would see how close we were. Though, I suppose you could tell based on the size of the baby lambs in the photo above. (oh well)

Then we reached Valle Crucis!

Above: Me

Below: TimI would highly recommend this little day trip if you ever find yourself in northwest England or Northeast Wales. Great little town, easy walk, lots of wildlife (ducks and lambs... the best kind) and if you are lucky enough to have good weather, sunsets at the Abbey are fantastic.

Snowdrops... I really like these little white flowers. Someone brought me a snowdrop from an Abbey they were visiting and here they are again... made me smile.

Nantwich, UK

I am well behind on my blog updates. I suppose that is what happens when lots of fun is happening in life! Who has time to write about it?? (answer: people who prioritize writing about it over sleep, reading, yoga, and spending time in the sunshine. I am not that person. I prioritize it over reading for my Process Theology class. :) ) anyway. NANTWICH!

For a little day trip before heading back to the states, Tim and I took a day-trip to the beautiful neighboring town of Nantwich. I was surprised, as I had picked the town for the day and it turned out to be really quaint and lovely. Last time I picked a destination for Tim and I we ended up in a crappy bookstore in the middle of nowhere... I was duped by a colorful brochure for the "Best Bookstore in the World" I don't know why I didn't question that it was in the middle of nowhere and I had never heard of it before... anyway. NANTWICH! much better.

They have a really cool park in Nantwich that includes this aesthetically pleasing bridge. Unfortunately, we arrived a bit late in the day and it was getting dark... and anyone with half a wit knows that, even in small towns, it is not good idea to go wandering through parks at night in England. Though I would like to go back there during the day sometime. :)

We brought an umbrella, but still managed to get soaked walking around town and ended up in this nice little pub for a pint and some games of backgammon (I lost. it's okay. I am practicing losing gracefully. So far I have the losing part down, now I just need to work on the gracefully.)But where there is a pint, an open fire and good company... what reason have we for sadness? :)

As a place to wait out the traffic before driving back to Chester we popped into a Costa coffee. I ordered the drinks whilst Tim grabbed a table. He asked me to order him a large cappuccino... we just didn't have any idea that they were serving American sized portions in this Costa. (Reminded me of the scene from So I Married an Axe Murder with Mike Myers.) we laughed pretty hard... I especially hard when taking this picture seeing that the mug/bowl was the size of Tim's head) That was us sorted for plenty of energy for more board games the rest of the evening and lots of chances for me to practice losing (and winning!) gracefully... still practicing.

Chester (heart)

Sometimes the timing is very lucky. I had less than 24 hours in Chester before heading down to London and managed to have a cup of tea with my friend, Rob, walk around the city walls as the sun was setting, eat an enormous amount of junk food at Starbucks with Rosario and meet another friend for a cappuccino. not bad, not bad at all.

That's me.

That's Rosario and our crispscookiecoffee deliciousness feast to celebrate her new job!!

Another one of Rosario and me in the streets of Chester. We used to work together at Fatface (they have the best scarves... fine example is the one I am wearing in the photo above) when I lived in Chester. She is such a delightful lady that we have since kept in touch and it is always a good laugh to meet up when I pass through town. Also, she makes a mean cup of tea.

Chester Cathedral: Just throwing this one in there because it is so beautiful. I can't believe that my commute used to include walking by this building each day. Granted, it was not always this bright and sunny, but the architecture is always impressive. Am looking forward to a chance to visit Chester again soon. :)

The worst museum I ever loved.

This is terrifying to me.

This is the wonderful Natural History portion of the museum in Stoke on Trent. While I learned much in this museum visit and am happy that I spent a few hours there, the natural history portion was terrifying. Was it the low lighting? Was it the knock off taxidermy? or was it that I was completely alone with animals prepared to look alive and ready to attack? Who knows! All I know is that the combination of these factors made me very grateful to move upstairs to the pottery exhibit.

Above: Fiercest predators in England.

This is more like it! Stonke on Trent is a collection of five villages that use to be called "the potteries." They are named as such for their extensive history and contribution to the pottery industry in England. Above is pictured what is called "slip pottery" I liked this bit quite a lot on account of all the earth tones used in the decorating.

Apparently this owl jug was found on Antique Roadshow and is an ancient artifact and example of slip pottery at its finest. Well found BBC! You can read more about the Owl Jug here.

Now I am not one for geese, but this little plate captured me. adorable.

All in all, a great afternoon in Stoke. I do recommend the little cafe on the ground floor of the museum. Great cream filled donut-like pastry things and tea while sitting in front of big picture windows to watch the rain pour and the traffic go by is a nice way to spend the time. (that sounds like I am joking, but I'm not... really is lovely! and no fake animals anywhere!)

Wolverhampton- Lea Road Community Church

Last Summer I went to the Greenbelt Festival in southern England. At this weekend event I met the lovely lady photographed above. Jessica had recently arrived in England for a year of work and service in the Young Adults in Global Mission Program. Because I had also been a YAGM and lived in England, we had much to talk about. When it came to finding placements for j-term I emailed Jess and she connected me with the going ons in the beautiful suburb of Birmingham: Wolverhampton

Jess is a volunteer with Lea Road Community Church, this is where I spent my time while in the outskirts of Wolverhampton.

One of the activities they hold at the church is "Rainbows" Rainbows is a level of Girl guides which is similar to our the Girl Scouts in the United States. Although, in Rainbows, each participant picks a flower name in place of her given name. I must admit, I did like being called 'Tiger lily' all evening. ha!
They do arts and crafts and have a snack at the end, sing a little song. Today was a special day because two Rainbows made their rainbow promises (be good etc)
Pictured below is one of the little girls just after making her Rainbow promise. :)

Once a week a Jamaican Family support group meets at Lea Road. This was my favorite activity of the week where I basically had a chance to sit and listen to a small group of dear people talk about their lives with each other. Sometimes they fought, sometimes they were silent, but mostly everyone laughed.

There is a meal served each week and Jess helps to prepare it. Below is a picture of Jess doing the dishes at Lea Road. She told me that a lot of her volunteer post involves doing the dishes. I love that. Whether it is true or not, there is something about shared task like cleaning (in camp we used to call them work projects) which bring people together without them even knowing it. Sometimes you just have to role up your sleeves and address the practical tasks set before you. I am not a huge fan of doing the dishes (not many are I don't think) so when someone does the dishes for me it is like a hug, high five and kiss on the cheek all at once.

I'm really grateful for my time in Wolverhampton. I had a great host family and in the limit time I spent with Lea Road Community church I saw the gift that their church is to the members and to the greater community.

LONDON-All work and no play makes Rachel a dull girl

While in the UK working with churches in Leeds and Wolverhampton I thought it would be a shame to not make it to London to see some friends. I wasn't sure how it would pan out, but there was certainly a United States McDonald's French Fry amount of fun packed into those 48 hours! I stayed with Matt and Maddy, however I didn't actually take any photos of them. Not that they aren't lovely. I can actually attest to the fact that they are. But when we went out to dinner, they were sitting next to me at the table and these two gals were sitting across the way.

Above is the nice picture of Rebecca and Caroline, but really what they looked like most of the night is the one below. (on account of the laughter and not that they were in black and white.) I met these two lovely ladies through a mutual friend a few years ago. Through the magic of facebook we were able to stay in touch over all these miles and minutes and though we don't get a chance to meet up often, it is always a good talk and a good laugh.

This is the lovely Charlotte. Charlotte and I were lucky enough to be randomly put together as flatmates whilst studying at the University of Leeds in 2008-2009. Sharing an affinity for chocolate, Bridget Jones Diary, and International Politics we have been friends ever since.

I like to think of the place where we had lunch as kind of "our hang out" but we've only been their twice... just happens to be that we went there the two times I have seen Charlotte in the past six months. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, but it is Belgian (so is Charlotte) and serves food like I would make it and eat it... see below:

I do like the traditional English fare as much as any west-coast American vegetarian... but sometimes it is nice to have a little hippy food to mix in the lot. Also... a BIG cup of hot chocolate.

As I mentioned before... somehow I managed to make it to London and spend two days with Matt and Maddy and not take one photo of them. Alas... the closest I have is a photo of Matt's place of employment where Maddy and I met him before going out to dinner.

Much was packed into those 48 hours in the city of London, even managed to sneak a breakfast/coffee date with my favorite Glaswegian, Jill, before hoping the train back north. I don't know if I could ever live in London for a prolonged period of time, but I certainly do love going to visit all the great friends that live there. :)

New City of David: "Fresh Start" Program

One of my placements during January was to work with the New City of David Parish in Leeds, UK. New City of David is a church community of roughly 30 people who work within various ministries in Leeds. One of this is the "Fresh Start" program. The Fresh Start program provides meals to homeless and underemployed people in Leeds. The range of need varies, but the compassion and humanity with which the volunteers treat those who enter for a meal is consistently abundant. While the focus of the program for the moment is on the Tuesday evening meal and conversation, building relationships within the homeless community, Pastor Nicholas has a vision of extending the program to include job assistance, housing assistance, and mentoring. I say they already do a wonderful job in offering the transient community a bit of compassion, food and a listening ear.

On Tuesday nights the cafe quickly moves from the numbers above,
to the full house pictured below.Volunteers take turns doing dishes, but tonight Shepherd has taken over the responsibility which allows for the other volunteers to have conversations with the guests in order to build relationships within the community.

Every week they serve a hot meal. This week, Mercy is in charge and making chicken curry with rice.

This is a group shot at the end of the night. Some of the volunteers have already left, but from those remaining you can get the idea of the playful, and dare I say, joyful attitude with which this community approaches service to others.

It was a joy to work with Pastor Nicolas and the rest of the New City of David Community. Pastor Nicolas told me that he feels that England and Leeds in particular have given a lot to his community and it is their goal to give back as much as they can.

I love that the posture of gratitude toward the gifts that God has given them that seems to inform all the service, outreach and preaching that New City of David does in the Leeds community. It is contagious. They take hospitality seriously. I know this not only because I benefited from their kindness, but observed the gracious manner of the volunteers during the Fresh Start program. My thoughts and prayers are with them as their ministry continues to develop and grow.

New City of David- The Cafe

One of my favorite aspects of English life is eating in a cafe. Pretty simple idea really, good simple food (ie full english breakfast, beans on toast, soup and bread, toasted sandwich or perhaps a teacake) and a hot drink (or cold drink if you fancy it.) Ideally, it would be a low cost meal in a clean environment. In January I volunteered with this great group from the New City of David Ministries in Leeds, UK

Sebastian organizes the cafe and Tracey (left) and Marion (right) are two of the volunteers from the church community that work in the cafe. Run mostly by unpaid staff from the church community, the proceeds from the cafe help to fund their other ministries.

Tracey and Marion pose in front of the menu. The cafe can be really busy (it certainly was when I was helping out!) but there is time for fun as well (or at least there is time made for it.)

Sebastian works tirelessly to improve the menu and bring the best quality food to the people who patronize the cafe. Sebastian models the kind of leadership to which people respond well, he is patient, diligent, and never asks anyone to do a job he isn't willing to do himself.

If you happen by Leeds, I would recommend the Trinity Cafe. They serve more than good food, they serve love and care into the community in which they live and serve. I feel very lucky to have joined them for a brief time and the experience of being with them will not quickly leave me.