Fountains Abbey

We had quite the adventure on Saturday.

I've heard so much about this Fountains Abbey, and seen pictures of it, that I knew it was a place I wanted to visit while I was here. So I spent quite some time looking up the public transportation to get us there (which, by the way, is quite the maze). I wrote it all down (walk to bus stop, bus to town, train to Leeds, walk from train station to bus station, bus to Ripon, bus to Fountains Abbey) so things would run smoothly. I even checked the weather forecast to make sure it would be nice and sure enough, it said warm and sunny, with only 10% chance of rain. We're set, right?

So what do you think happened?
Yep....trouble. :)We left our flat at 7:30am, and leaving out most of the details, got to Fountains Abbey at 2:08pm (even though in a car, it would've taken about an hour or a little more). None of the public transportation actually coincides with the schedules they put online. Oh, ha ha. We just had to laugh about it and make the best of it. The picture above is on a bus ride from Leeds to Ripon - some slept, some read for homework, and I just stared out the windows at the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen! I'm overwhelmed by it...everytime! I think it's definitely one of my favorite parts of England!

In Ripon we had to wait an unexpected 2 hours for our next bus to Fountains Abbey, so we walked around this small-town carnival/festival and went to lunch in a lovely pub called Ye Hornblower Tavern. As we were getting ready to leave, a ton of people started coming in to sit/stand at the bar. Then we realized a football (soccer) game was just about to begin! ;)

Once we got on our Little Red Bus to Fountains Abbey (we realized we should've just walked, because it was only 2 1/2 miles away), it took us another 45 min to get there because of the insane route the bus driver had to take before getting to Fountains Abbey. We were out in the middle of nowhere, hitting towns with about 5 buildings in them, driving what felt like 70 mph on pretty much a one-lane road, over huge bumps and around sharp curves. It was hilarious! But the countryside was, once again.....BEAUTIFUL! I swear there are more sheep in this country than people! We even passed the Studley Royal Cricket Club, playing Cricket out in their all white outfits - very cool!

We finally got to Fountains Abbey and had the treat of our lives! It was worth it all!!

This was a monastery built by 13 Cisterian monks in 1132 and eventually became one of the richest abbeys in Europe. It actually has a really interesting history - if you'd like to read more, click here.

This place was super cool!!Its hidden in the most perfect little valley with trees, so that you you can't see out of it, and you can't see the abbey until you're in the valley. Its a little paradise down there! Boy, I would become a monk (yes, a monk, not a nun) JUST TO LIVE THERE!And if the Abbey itself isn't enough, there is a river that runs through the valley and there are trails to walk that are uber gorgeous (forgive the German)!

Oh, and guess what? It rained on us! And it only rained the short time we were at the Abbey. It was never a full-out down-pour, and I didn't mind the rain, it was just another thing to laugh about! :) Yeah, 10% chance, huh? This was from a viewpoint on one of the trails, overlooking a bend in the river and the Abbey way in the distance.

Since we didn't get there until 2:08pm, and the last bus out of there left at 3:47pm, we kind of had to do it all in fast forward:

Ooo, aww... click(picture) ... run ... WOW! ... click...run...click...COOL!... click ... run ... click ... run, etc.

But it was still totally worth it! If anyone is planning a trip to England, I would definitely recommend this little piece of heaven! (Just don't take public transportation, and plan for several hours or more to enjoy it) I absolutely loved it!