Glad Nomad: Swans and Spooky Tombstones

Ashley and I rode our bikes up to the borough of Christchurch today. It was about a 25 minute ride from home.

I have to say, it is my FAVORITE place around here! Let me count the reasons why...

1) The swans!!!! (Watch the video below of Ashley feeding one!)

Swans are the Queen's bird. It's illegal to capture, injure, or kill them. In the Christchurch harbor, hoards of swans fight amongst each other for the precious bits of bread crumbs people throw at the them. Although beautiful, swans are known to be vicious hissing monsters. Luckily, we found a nice one.

2) Christchurch Priory Church & Cemetery

This massive medieval church sits in the middle of the town, surrounded my beautiful gardens and a creepy cemetery. And most impressively, it was built in 1094!! Can you freaking believe that! 1094!

Although we visited in the middle of the day, Ashley and I couldn't help but get a creepy feeling in and around the church. Being England's longest Parish church there were plenty of dark corners and stained-glass windows, candles and tapestries along the long walls. Haunting images of heaven, hell, birth, death, angels, demons, as well as skulls were carved into history. There were even narrow stoned passageways leading towards a lower level which was closed off to the public, which was very off-putting. Pictures were not allowed in the church but I sneaked in a few anyway. (Yea, I'm going to Hell.)

3) Ruins of Christchurch Castle

This castle was built in the 12th century, so sometime between 1101 - 1200 AD. Only a couple walls are still standing, but they're intriguing. A little moat even continues to run around it!

4) The waterways

Besides being invaded by swans, the harbor is a picturesque seafront where one can go fishing, rent a motor boat for a few hours, park a sailboat for the night, or get a tour of the small working Mill, called Place Mill.

Ashley and I rented a motor boat last year when I visited and it was fun. We should be doing that again shortly.