Wednesday, November 30 (Part 1)

Catchy title, huh. Draws you right in...

I can't always be clever you know.

Pilates and coffee helped yesterday. Some. I am trying to relocate my obliques. Where have they gone? They used to be in there somewhere.

Wednesday was the last day of my three day trip to Royal Tunbridge Wells...
My hope was to explore the town a bit and had scheduled a time to meet a Tunbridge Wells Transition Town member, Sue, for a cup of coffee and a chat.

I planned to sleep in that morning, but, no way. I was awake by 6.30 or so. Tried to go back to sleep, but gave up a little after 7. I desperately wanted a cup of coffee but didn't want to have to get and dressed to locate one. I wanted to stay all cozy under the comforter, so I called room service to see if I could get a little pot sent up. I am not doing too much "splurging" here, because money doesn't go far. That's a blog post unto itself... Money. Anyway, I thought, how much could a little pot of coffee cost anyway? He said it would have to be after 7.30 so I declined and we hung up. Less than a minute later he called back saying the cofee was brewing and he'd bring me a pot in five minutes or so.

As promised, he knocked on the door a few mintes later with a tray... and informed me that my key was in the lock on the outside of the door and I really should have that inside with me. Really? D'ya think? It's not like I was in some huge place with a long hallway and a bazillion rooms. It was just mine and one other room at the end of a short little hall. But still. Probably a good idea to not leave the key in the lock on the outside. Sort of defeats the purpose of locking oneself in for the night. Guess someone is looking out for me...

I notice things... like when things I really like come to me unexpectedly. For instance, the little coffee pot had a flying goose motif on it... the bed had a canopy and curtains and a comforter, and one of my favorite prints was on the wall... little gifts, each one.

So, I poured myself a cup of coffee and crawled back in bed and pretended I was Queen Anne.

view of the Pantiles from me room..

That was in English speak that was...

The Pantiles Hotel... can you see the sign above the colonade (to the right) that says 'coffee house and tea rooms'? My room was the double windows 2 floors up... so, I had a nice view of the Pantiles.

Read what Wikepedia has to say about the Pantiles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pantiles

It was sunny and mild that morning so I was waiting outside for Sue, and she was right on time. We went next door to Woods for a cup of coffee and then we walked up to town so I could see a garden planted by their Transition Town group. Pictures below...

Thats Sue, and the beautiful garden! Yes, things still in bloom. They've done quite an excellent job at providing plenty of food and shelter for the insect populations and have even grander plans for that in the future.

mostly intended to promote biodiversity this year... last year was fruit and veg and they have plans in place for next years Olympic themed garden.

one last pic... Sue had fixed the sign and is waving at all my friends at Transition Town Montpelier!

Sue gave me a bit more of a tour around town and then back to the Pantiles and we parted company for this trip. It was wonderful to be able to make this connection with her, via the ning website... and that she was willing to take the time and make the effort to meet up with me. Such a nice lady! I'm sure we'll have opportunity to get together again another time while I'm here and even hope I might meet more members of the group too!

So. I wandered around the Pantiles a bit and took a few pictures. There is something very special about being in a place that has so much history... it feels very different to me, almost like there is an interaction with the people and events of the past on some kind of other-worldly plane. Do  you know what I mean? I just can't find the words to describe it...

the colonade... along part of The Pantiles

standing on the lower level looking back towrds the hotel

I turned around and took a picture of this, the  building that houses the chalybeate springs

I failed to get a picture of the springs...  it was actually less of a focal point than I imagined it would be and no water was flowing, so, I felt somewhat disappointed. Much the same as when 

I visited  Plymoth Rock in Massachusetts... when I finally saw that -a little rock, fenced in and enclosed in a gazebo type building - it was a letdown. I had always imagined it to be a gigantic rock that people stepped off the boat onto.. perhaps it once was, but, not any more. In this case too - my minds eye envisioned a large and elaborately decorated fountain- not the case. I had wanted to dip into the water for myself... guess i'll need to come back sometime between Easter and September to do that! At any rate it is down right fascinating and cool to know the history and there is history here, every where I turn!!! Sue pointed out to me the rust colored stain on the bottom of the fountain, from the high iron content in the water, which is supposed to be the quality that gives it its 'healing' properties.

a wonderfully diverse mix of paving materials... including, once again, a use of very small stones... seems to be common here... in buildings as well as paving materials.

left foot in Kent, right foot in Sussex... Sue had told me about this paver and we had looked for it a little bit... I happened to notice it pretty much by accident. It was raining when I was heading to the church and consequently had my head down to avoid getting my glasses wet... and there it was!!

This stone is outside of a church, King Charles the Martyr, the very first building in Tunbridge Wells. Built in 1642. Amazing architecture and the plasterwork of the ceiling was incredible. I desperately wanted to just lie down on the floor and look up... but, didn't quite dare since I was not the only person inside. Sorry. No pictures. Maybe another time. I just needed to enjoy it and take it all in for myself.

more later.

love-

susie