Sun Days

Sun Days, a set on Flickr.

My friend Victor told me that the day I blog about going to get coffee is the day he quits reading my blog. Well, I might lose him as a reader today because I'm quite ecstatic that I successfully found a coffee shop this afternoon that offers free, unlimited wifi, so there is much more talk about coffee to come.

But today's post isn't about coffee, it's about the weather. For some reason it seems like people talk about the weather when they're bored, or when they're out of other conversation starters. And plus, people can always say something about the weather, and it's easy to talk to strangers about the weather. You don't have to have anything in common with the person standing next to you, but you can always say, "Nice weather today, huh?" or if you're in New Mexico, "Is it still windy outside?"

This conversation about weather may or may not be in that category, but it is worth talking about because the weather here in northern England for the past six days has been unusually pleasant. And by unusual, I mean rare. Every day has ranged from 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit (that is 22-28 degrees Celsius, which I am making progress on learning the conversions). Instead of reading about the weather, I figured you would much prefer to see it in pictures, so I have spared you from text and attached the following album.

The following pictures were taken on Wednesday and Saturday. On Wednesday, one of the Australians and I went to a public park. This was unlike any park I've ever seen in America. It was massive with rolling hills of green grass, a lake, cafes, and hundreds of people sunbathing, walking their dogs (and children!), and just playing in the warm sunshine.
The second half of the pictures are taken at a place near Skipton at the base of the Yorkshire Dales. The Yorkshire Dales is like a mountain range or a national forrest, except that instead of mountains, it is rolling hills of breathtaking countryside. The place we went is called Bolton Abbey, the estate of the Duke of Yorkshire. Bolton Abbey is also the home to a priory church (the Christian version of a monastery) that dates back to the 1100s. Christian worship has been held in this church for the past 860 years. Click here to see where it is geographically: Bolton Abbey
Six Germans and myself explored this amazing countryside by hiking nature trails, sitting on the riverbanks, and exploring the thickest part of the woods of the Yorkshire Dales. Enjoy!