Lu-Gerda's Travels

The next town we were visiting was Grahamstown.   It was less than 30 minutes to drive from Bathurst to Grahamstown.   We drove into Grahamstown and the first thing we saw was the Methodist Commemoration Church.   My husband saw the open door and we stopped for a look inside. The foundation stone for this church was laid in 1845.   It is built in a Gothic Revival style and can seat about 1200 people.   The organ was installed in 1875 and is the 3 rd largest in South Africa.   The original pew boxes are still in use. The simple benches in the galary were interesting.   Thousand of boys from Kingswood College carved their names into the benches over more than a hundred years.   In 1878 an officer was appointed by the church to control them but still the tradition continues. The church has the most amazing stained glass windows.   I spend most of my time admiring the windows while husband re...

While visiting Bathurst we stayed the night at The Historic Pig & Whistle Inn.   After a busy day of exploring the Big Pineapple , Toposcope and The Anglican Church it was great to relax in a comfortable room.  Our room was spacious, clean and comfortable (Although there was no TV in the room we could watch rugby in the pub).  The only negative was that the bath/shower could do with some upgrading.  Later we went down to the Pig & Whistle Bar for a drink in the oldest licensed pub in South Africa.  It was established in 1832 by Thomas Hartley, a blacksmith who cam from Nottinghamshire with the 1820 Settlers. It was originally called "The Bathurts Inn" and was next to his Blacksmithy. The name changed to "Widow Hartley's Inn" after his death in 1840 when his widow Sarah took over.  The current name was given to the Inn by the RAF members based close to the town during the Second World War. ...

We started our second day in Italy with a nice breakfast in the hotel.   By 8:00 we were on the bus again.   This time we were on our way to Rome.   This was the city I was looking forward to the most.   The first 90 minutes of the ride was very flat with fields next to the road.   Then it started to get hillier and we drove through many tunnels.   It was very warm and most of the people on the bus were sleeping. I used the time to update my travel journal.   About 12:45 we stopped for lunch and then continued with the drive to Rome. We arrived in Rome about 15:30 in the afternoon.   The first part of the city we saw looked like any city with lots of apartment buildings and residential areas.   We drove pass the Vatican City and our tour guide told us a bit about Rome’s history before the bus dropped us in the city.   Our tour guide then took us on a walking tour of Rome.   In about 2 hours we saw a lot of Rome.   Th...

Our next stop in Bathurst was the Church of St John The Evangelist.   This church is the oldest unaltered Anglican Church in South Africa.   During the Frontier wars it was also used as a sanctuary for hundreds of British Settlers. The foundation stone was laid in 1832 and the church was opened on 1 January 1838 and it was declared a Nation Heritage site in 1967. All around the church is old graves.   We spend a lot of time walking around between theses gravestones.   We even found graves for some original British Settlers who cam to South Africa in 1820. We talked to a man who was visiting his family graves and he told us about a Powder magazine close to the church.   He tried to give us directions but it sounded difficult to find.   He then said he would take us there.   The Old Powder Magazine was erected in 1821 by the British Military.   It usually carried about 273kg gunpowder, 7 000 ball cartridges and 60 rifles a...

After spending time in Piazza San Marco we decided to just walk around and explore Venice.   We walked around for about 2 hours over bridges and down narrow streets between the old buildings of Venice.   It is a beautiful old city and even with hundreds of tourists walking everywhere it seems quiet and calm.   All the buildings look old and even a bit neglected.   The rising water damages the bottom part of walls and doors.   At about 17:45 we went on a gondola ride through the canals to get another view of the city.   A gondola is a flat-bottomed rowing boat and is 11 meters long.   Our gondolier took us on a tranquil trip through small canals, under bridges and even passes clothes on washing lines.   In some smaller canals the water is dirty and does not smell very nice.   Because of the length of the gondola it is difficult to turn in the narrow canals. ...