October 16--Seeing Red

The heart that gives, gathers.  --Lao-Tzu

    After breakfast and a bus ride, yesterday started in Plymouth. This is where in the 1600s the pilgrims sailed the Mayflower to the new world. It's another quaint seaside town. We roamed, sampled fudge, shopped, and ended up at a Greek restaurant serving spaghetti with various sauces. Lanie and I ordered those, then our traveling buds found us and ordered Greek food, so we all shared everything. The walk back to the bus took us past into an ice cream store where we supported the local economy. 

At Plymouth harbor

    On the road again, we drove to Exeter where we visited the Cathedral. It was badly damaged by German bombs in WW2. There was loads of construction and restoration going on. The most shocking thing was a food truck literally in the back of the sanctuary selling coffee and tea. The remaining stained glass was beautiful. There were organ pipes bigger than I've ever seen. The largest is 36 feet tall. 

    We used the restrooms in an adjacent church building. Given my love of the color red, this was an extra fun experience for me 😉😉

    We wandered around the church square and shops, and to no one's surprise, Lanie and I found a pub. We had time for a quick half-pint. There was much activity in the pubs getting ready to watch the English team playing in World Cup rugby.

Another delicious half-pint

    We drove to Cheltenham, where we are staying at a Doubletree Hotel. Picture 25 people, average age well over 60, in a hotel with no lift (elevator) and the only electrical outlets in the rooms are by the desk, none at bedside. This is a problem with the multiple CPAP users on the tour. Suitcases had to be moved on large flights of stairs. Fortunately hotel staff hopped to the rescue. We had a lovely staff person helping us with an extension cord and other things, so we are just fine here. "Lemonade from lemons," as it were. 

    There is another cathedral and castle in our future...

        Leta