Great Malvern

We took a day and relaxed a bit. I got caught up on work and Becky ran some errands, took a walk, visited with people at coffee shops. Then in the evening I had my time out with the men and Becky had her time with the women. It was a full and good day.

Next up on our travels was off to Great Malvern. When Becky had come for Jamie’s birth, Abigail, Mark, Jamie and Becky took one day and traveled to Great Malvern. It is one of Mark’s favorite places. Becky was very impressed with it and really wanted to go back for a longer visit. We decided to make a weekend of it and head that way and have Mark, Abigail and Jamie join up with us. Becky and I took off on Thursday and really enjoyed the 2 1/2 train trip out of the city to the west part of the country. So much open space as we traveled, with farms, sheep, hills, and so many old tall stone churches dotted along the way. As we traveled away from the city of London the train stations each took on their own personality. It was a very nice trip out, even if the train we were on stopped several stations early and said they equipment failure and we would need to wait 30 minutes for the next train to come and take us the rest of the way.

Great Malvern is one of the highest points in England and is only 1,394 feet above sea level, but in a country that is an island and pretty flat, this area stands out. We decided to walk to our rental from the train station and we quickly discovered this town is not flat. The walk from the station to our flat was uphill the entire way. We got a good work out, but once in our flat the view was spectacular, especially since we got there right at sunset. We also very much enjoyed the two bedrooms, living room and kitchen space we had in our rental. We felt like we were living in a palace after months in our one room Daniel House space.

The next morning, I enjoyed my quite time while watching the most beautiful sunrise. Our flat looked due east and the Worcestershire valley spilled out before me. The light fog had settled in the valley, and I just sat and marveled at God’s beautiful creation of a sunrise. Becky and I then got our morning drinks and pastries from the next-door Faun coffee shop. Then we split up for the day. Becky did some shopping and got ready for Abigail and Jamie to arrive, and she sent me off to climb up the hills. She warned me that once I got going, I would not stop till I got to the top of Beach Hill. She was not wrong. Each curve of the trail exposed a more gorgeous view than the last. I will not bore anyone with all the photos I took as they will never be able to show what it looked like in person. The day was bright, clear and in the low 50’s. I was so amazed once I reached the top and could not believe how far I could see.

I slowly made my way down the hills and met Jamie and the ladies at the Faun. Then Abigail had to run off to Coventry for a Friends International meeting. We took care of Jamie and fed, bathed, and got him down to bed. Meanwhile Mark rode the train out after work and walked up to the rental, Abigail drove out after her work meeting, and we all settled in for the night.

We were all a bit disappointed that all the coffee shops nearby did not open till almost 9:00, as Jamie does not wait that long to get up. We eventually made our way down and got some caffeine and treats to start our day. Mark then got in a run, we got Jamie down for a morning nap. Then we loaded up, grabbed some sandwiches, got Jamie in a backpack and then we all hiked up the hills to top of Beacon Hill. Much more crowded on the first warm day of the springtime and it was the first of March when everyone comes out of their hibernation. It was another gloriously clear, warm and wonderful day to hike up the hill. We loved the sheep, got some great family photos at the top and hiked down.

Since Jamie chose not to nap at all along the hike, we headed right to a restaurant to have an early dinner before he lost it. We went to what we thought was going to be Italian restaurant but turned out to be a Tapia place, Bar Limon. The food was good. We got Jamie back and down to bed at a good early bedtime. Then we decided to play some dominoes. We at one point had to call Samuel to get some help on getting things setup, but after that we had many laughs and fun, but by the time we were done we were all dragging pretty good.

Sunday Jamie decided since he went to bed early, he must awaken early. Again, the local coffee shops did not agree with this. Eventually they opened and we got the energy we adults all needed. After packing everything up we loaded up all our stuff in the car and then we found a great place to have lunch, The Fig and Kitchen Deli. They had a nice quiet little upstairs room with toys for Jamie to play with and we were the only ones up there. After a great lunch we walked around town and played in the great city park they have.

Finally, around 1:30 Mark and Abigail dropped us off at the train station and they headed home, and we headed back to London. It was a great time of being out of the city. It is so strange feeling like we are heading “home” every time we go back to the Daniel House. When we got out of the tube at Glouster station and start walking the sidewalks back, it really feels so comfortable. We were greeted happily by many students when we got back and many of us decided to end the weekend at the Duke of Closter pub for trivia night. About 12 of us went down there and had a great time. Neither of the two teams won, but we had many, many laughs.

It was a full and fun weekend with great weather. Really felt like spring is coming into the UK.