Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight

So far we've been lucky to find a good number of breathtaking places since we got to the UK.  Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight, is certainly no exception.  Its early roots date back to the iron age, but most of the buildings date back to Tudor England.  The town is actually quite small and very charming.  The people are lovely and very welcoming -- and also very willing to talk your ear/jaw off about anything and everything.  Especially when they realize that you're from Canada.  It's odd that even in our motherlands (Britain and France) apparently they don't see a lot of Canadian tourists.  Are we really so focused on tropical getaways that we don't stop to ponder those tributaries that feed the rivers of our own (albeit brief) history?

But I digress.  I could just keep on writing away, but it may be easier to show you a few little snapshots than to simply tell you everything.

Sarah on the ferry.

The view from the ferry as we came to the Isle of Wight.  Yarmouth Castle is in the foreground.

A few shots from inside the castle.  It costs about 4 pounds to walk around.

A shot from the village green,  The yellow buoy marking the wreck site is closer to shore than you'd think.

Construction on this church began in the 1100's.  It's still in use today.

This one, on the other hand, was converted into a private residence.

There are plenty of little lanes like this off the streets...

That lead to views like this.

The King's Head Inn -- so called because the people of Yarmouth were loyal to Charles I before he lost everything.  The first time I read the sign I thought it said "The King's Dead."  Oops.

A bowl of chili with rice, cheese, and sour cream at the King's Head.

Steak and ale pie with vegetables and potatoes.  Strongly recommended.

The old cemetery at Yarmouth.  Most of it is very overgrown like this and some of the stones are so old and weather beaten that you can't read them.  Many are leaning in one direction or another, and some have even fallen and disappeared into the grass.

The other interesting thing we noted while we were here is that not all the gravestones face in the same direction.  It's difficult to observe certain matters of graveyard etiquette when you don't know which way they're lying.

The view from a bench.

Of course this is only a brief little window into the day we spent here.  We perused book stores (of course) and crystal shops and stores full of art and handmade crafts.  If I showed you everything there would be over a hundred photographs in this post.  I'm not going to do that to you or myself.

For now though, I must look up language schools to visit while in Galway and see about getting some groceries for our stay here.

You'll learn of our adventures in Cardiff next time.