On to Switzerland!

On Saturday we went to the Christmas Fayre in Ludlow. It was fun, lots of neat vendors, but so cold that we didn't end up spending very much time outside and didn't take pictures. We flew out of Manchester on Sunday (over an hour late), and were picked up by Kate's host family!

 We're definitely in a different country... everything's covered in snow! On Monday we went sledding with Meret in the hills around Dornach, south of Basel.

The view back towards Dornach

Dorneck Castle

Later that day we got a ride into Basel, and wandered around the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas Market). More snow on the way!

Last Shropshire Walk

Today was beautiful and sunny, so we took the opportunity to go on a nice long walk.  This will probably be our chance before heading to Switzerland on Sunday.

The walk was amazing- on public lanes, footpaths and bridleways (horse tracks).  It went through some of the farms around Ludlow.  For lunch, we stopped at a local foods market, which carries all products from local farmers.  Delicious!

The most exciting part of the day by far was getting chased by some young, frisky cows at dusk as we were coming back to town.

Definitely a worthy last hurrah here!

A new part of Ludlow!

Cute sheep outside town

With me, for scale

Lucky sheep

Part of the walk

Lucky people

The view towards Ludlow

Almost back (and gateway to the cows)

Back to Ludlow Castle

York

Today we went into York.  Mostly we walked around the downtown area and I also visited the University there.

The Shambles

The building being redone is where my dept would be in York

One of the dept buildings

One of the dept courtyards

Yorkshire

Today we drove with our friends from Malpas (on the West coast) over to Ripon, a small city near York, on the East coast.

On the drive

We stopped at Fountains Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage site, started in the 12th century.  It also has 18th century formal gardens anda park.