Free Wheeling: December 2004

Castle Combe, Boxing Day 2004

Old Man's Beard, Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Gold and green, the Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Judith and Laura walking in the Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004 (Tom remained resolutely in bed!)

Grey beeches in the Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Fungus growing on a tree stump, Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Thinning snow in the Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Snow in the Bybrook Valley, Boxing Day 2004

Treviso Trip

We spent the weekend in Italy, having booked places on a "Living with the Lions" group trip to support Bath Rugby in their game against Treviso.

We had no expectation of Treviso as a place, and were really delighted to find a beautiful medieval walled city, surrounded by flowing moats, and traversed by lovely canals. Almost an outlier of Venice, many of the great houses were merchants houses related to Venice. The town is not a big tourist destination, and by comparison with Venice, all the better for that. The photos below give a small glimpse of the place.

We ate and drank well, enjoyed the excellent shopping, and yes, took a trip into Venice by train on the Sunday morning. It is a fascinating city, but even in December overrun with tourists, and one comes away feeling we did well to get out of it without being seriously fleeced.

So, a great weekend all round, with flights from and to Bristol making the whole thing really convenient. The less said about the rugby game the better!