City Views, Country Dreams

Good morning from New York.

What a busy time I have had in the past week since returning from my holiday.  I've had to fit quite a few actions and attentions into allotted time, while trying to retain all my memories of the relaxing, energizing and inspiring vacation.

Around this time of the year I've often done some posts about Halloween and the New York City Marathon, but this year I am going to return to my holiday reporting.

Let's see, where was I?

One of the benefits of being a Tate friend/member is having access to a room and a balcony terrace on a top floor of the Tate Modern building.  The view is obviously rather spectacular.

In fact, once I had been reminded of the existence of the still fairly new suspension pedestrian bridge linking the two banks of the Thames, I decided that I must join the others headed towards St. Paul's.

The fact that the weather was clearing encouraged my decision.

Here is a view from one bridge looking east toward some other bridges, and other architectural features.

Lots of other folks were taking photos along our stroll.  As I was exiting the bridge, I decided to take the following photo of various reflections in the windows of a building just to the right of the bridge.  Perhaps I was still thinking about the "gradations" that Klee used in many of his watercolor paintings.

All my holiday time was not spent in London.  Early on one Monday morning I set off from the South Kensington tube station for a journey to Shropshire.

The South Ken station looks different, very different, from the NYC subways stations through which I usually commute.  We don't see much natural light or many hanging plants.

My train journey to Ludlow required me to make a transfer in Newport.  I was in Wales!

I was tempted to hop on that pretty blue train, but knew that my ticket to ride listed a different destination.

As the train neared Ludlow, my gazing through the train car's windows showed me that I would have a very soggy arrival.  I began to wonder about the strength of my little umbrella, and the length of the walk from the Ludlow train station to my historic hotel, The Feathers.

I was right to worry.  Not only did the open station platform provide rain; stiff winds were also part of the menu.  Up the hill I walked, umbrella swaying over my head.

How grand to finally reach my hotel, receive a warm welcome, dry off a bit in my cozy room, and within a half-hour, have the immense pleasure of meeting one of my very favorite blogging friends, known to you all as Friko.

I'd been looking forward to actually meeting Friko for many years, and she truly brought me such happiness on that very dark and rainy day.  I am so grateful to her for getting her own elegant self a bit wet driving in to Ludlow to meet me.

We had a leisurely, chatty lunch at the hotel while keeping an eye on the weather, hoping that the rain would lighten up enough to venture outdoors.  Friko knows Ludlow very well, and I definitely wanted to have her show me around this beautiful ancient yet modern town.

Thank goodness, the weather gods heard our plea and the rain withdrew to drizzle status, and so we were able to take a wonderful walk up and down hilly roads and see beautiful old buildings and note how Ludlow is more than a museum.  It is a functioning contemporary market town.  Not every market town has a castle like Ludlow's!

I am so delighted that Friko and I had this opportunity to get to know each other much better, and am already looking forward to getting together again whenever we may next find each other on the same side of the Atlantic.

The above photo was taken from one of the old windows of my hotel,  and shows a view of rush hour in Ludlow on a drizzly afternoon.

The following photograph shows Ludlow on the next morning.  The sky was clearing, but more precipitation seemed likely.  On a clear day, there would actually be a view of distant hills beyond those bunting flags.

I was hopeful that by midday the air would be dry.  I was to meet some more friends for lunch, and hoped for another fine walk around Ludlow.

I will be writing about that get together in my next post.  

My New York schedule now demands that I leave my laptop and Ludlow memories so that I can get myself to an appointment with my dentist.

Thank you for your visits and your comments.  I will endeavor to reply to your comments and questions as time permits.