Fountains Abbey

I love Fountains Abbey! I've been here several times and never get over how beautiful it is. I've tried to take different pictures than I did before. And! They've altered the water gardens since I took pictures of those a couple of years ago, so some of these pictures will be totally new. The above picture is a favorite view of the Abbey from down near the water gardens.

Caroline Oliver was my adventure buddy this fine Saturday. Caroline is an out-doorsy sort of gal, so we've decided to try and get out a bit this summer and enjoy some places. She's never been to Fountains and really enjoyed it. Here we are resting ourselves on our walk round the extensive estate.

Here we are again, just before we head down into the renovated portion of the water gardens.

Water, water, and more water. There is something so peaceful and relaxing about water. I love it!

Here we are on the bridge crossing from one side of the water gardens to the other. There is a water fall behind us and a big lake as well.

We left the main estate down by the bridge and went out to hike a bit of the 'Seven Bridges' walk. Sadly, there wasn't much water in the rivers, but there were seven bridges of different kinds, though not all of them were worth taking pictures of.

This picture is on our way back into the main Fountains estate after our jaunt down the Seven Bridges trail. We also had our lunch out there next to the lake.

I liked this spot very well. Whoever designed it did a tasteful job, in my opinion.

After we left Fountains, we took a detour over to Ripley where they are famous for their soft ice cream. As you can see the store is packed! It's crammed into this little space between two big buildings on the high street.

And, as we sat by the lake enjoying our lunch, a little family of ducks came by. So enjoy them. The little ones aren't that old and are so cute!