A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 18 April 2017 - T for Bath and Easter

Hi folks, I hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday. Too much chocolate? Then you all have to go to the gym!

I'm joining Elizabeth and Bluebeard at Altered Book Lover in T for Tuesday, where we all share something with a drink in it (doesn't have to be tea though...)

But first I would like to share some postcards with you. My pile of postcards on my desk had become so tall that it fell over and I had to put them away somewhere. Now I always put off this moment as I love having my postcards on my desk and I love looking through them etc. (I have hundreds in boxes too). So these postcards were destined for the storage box. Then I found these. They are from Bath in England. We used to live not far from Bath. In fact we lived in a small town in between Bristol and Bath, but nearer to Bristol, which is where I worked. Bath is very beautiful and is always full of tourists. I suppose I would avoid Bath a bit for that reason, but it really is a lovely city with beautiful architecture, independent shops and a great atmosphere.

This is the façade of Bath Abbey. We used to just walk in but nowadays you have to pay to go into the abbey. In the summer they hold concerts etc and I have happy memories of Christmas midnight services.

This is the famous Royal Crescent. The houses, made with Bath stone (Limestone), are built in a semi-circle. There is a large lawn in front which has a ditch called a ha-ha, so the sheep (in the old days) wouldn't stray off the area.

Wikipedia doesn't mention the sheep, but that is what I have always been told by the locals.
"In front of the Royal Crescent is a ha-ha, a ditch on which the inner side is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer face sloped and turfed, making an effective but invisible partition between the lower and upper lawns. The ha-ha is designed so as not to interrupt the view from Royal Victoria Park, and to be invisible until seen from close by. It is not known whether it was contemporary with the building of the Royal Crescent, however it is known that when it was first created it was deeper than it is at present."

The Royal Crescent overlooks the park (Victoria Park).

Here's the last card of Bath. It shows the Circus from 
the air. Again, very spectacular. 

Wikipedia gives this information:

The Circus is seen as the pinnacle of Wood's work. It consists of three long, curved terraces designed by the elder John Wood to form a circular space or theatre intended for civic functions and games. The games give a clue to the design, the inspiration behind which was the Colosseum in Rome.

Like the Colosseum, the three façades have a different order of architecture on each floor: Doric on the ground level, then Ionic on the piano nobile and finishing with Corinthian on the upper floor, the style of the building thus becoming progressively more ornate as it rises.

We've had a hectic week. It has been Holy Week (Semana Santa), which is big is Spain. People have time off work, most of the week, and everything stops as businesses are closed. There are processions and religious activity all week, Family from far and near visit and the village is jam packed. Processions are the big thing. Even our small village has an impressive display:

The photo is not mine as I don't attend these things. I apologise to anybody who is Catholic.No disrespect intended. (just my opinion). I hate the pageantry and the people worshipping the statues instead of the Lord Jesus. They are there for the wrong reasons. Where you walk in the procession, reflects your social position in the village. It's all about see and be seen etc. Then there are those people dressed up in Ku Klux Klan outfits, which send shivers down my spine. I once asked one of them what the meaning was of those outfits, and they couldn't tell me. "Tradition" was the answer. 

The ladies normally wear black and put their hair up with those traditional combs (called peinetas) and then drape black lace (mantilla) over their heads. It looks very pretty I must say.

Our Easter was a quiet affair. We celebrated the resurrection of Christ in our little church. After the service we had a 'bring-and-share' meal together. Before we started our pastor explained about the Jewish Passover. I had cooked a leg of lamb and someone else provided the bitter herbs.

Oh, there is wine on the table to qualify me for the T-party!

My hubby usually plays guitar and we sing our hearts out. This time one of the girls had brought her ukulele. That was great fun! I took some photos but they are on my phone. I'll show you in my Friday blog. We had a really good time.

I'll leave it at that I think. Please join us at the T-party with a drink of your choice.

Happy T-Day,
Have a good week,
Hugs,
Lisca