It's almost December and I'm so excited about Christmas! A mountain of uni work and other deadlines meant that recently I've had barely any time for blogging, but Oli and I managed to take a couple of days off last weekend and visit his grandparents in Wells.
Strangely, although it was November and we had last visited Somerset in July, the weather behaved itself and was much better for most of this trip. We were lucky enough to have the very best sort of winter weather: clear and sunny, but absolutely freezing! After arriving on Friday evening, we decided to take a stroll around the tiny city, which in fact is England's smallest. Our first stop was Cathedral Green, where I spotted the above house and immediately decided that I must live there. It's also home, as one might expect, to Wells Cathedral, featured on a recent BBC documentary.
Oli's grandparents caught up with us in the market, which runs every Wednesday and Saturday outside the town hall. We browsed the local produce and potential Christmas gifts, then headed through the Bishop's Eye - as peculiar as that sounds, fear not, as it is actually one of a pair of medieval gateways, the other being Penniless Porch, where people are permitted to busk - to the Bishop's Palace.
Though the trees had by now shed their leaves, I think that the bare branches are still strangely beautiful, particularly set against a bright blue winter sky. The Palace grounds are one of my favourite places to visit when we go to Wells and I've actually never been inside the buildings. This may have a little something to do with us being tight students, but I like to just wander around the garden and the moat outside.
The moat surrounds the Palace's outer walls and is now just a decorative feature - I'm sure that the Bishop of Bath and Wells is very pleased to hear that he's no longer under any great threat as he goes about his business - and is home to such specimen of British wildlife as the giant swan. This swan and her friends make up the Swans Of Wells, a public art project to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
The next time we visit Wells will probably be in the New Year now. There's so much to do between now and then, but luckily I managed to get some Christmas shopping done over the weekend, particularly at the Clarks Village in nearby Street.
In any case, I had a fabulous weekend and there are only two weeks of term left before the Christmas holidays. I'll be back soon with new posts about Princesshay's shopping events and more festive fun!
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