The Journey to Wales

After journeying to Cambridge for the day, we didn't that was enough.  So, on Saturday Libbie and I got up 6 and made our way to the north side of central London.  It wasn't easy because the Circle line was down for construction.  So, at 7 in the morning we got on the Piccadilly line and headed northeast until we hit Green Park station.  From here we transferred to the Jubilee Line and headed north until we hit Baker Street.  We than had to take a bus straight east to Great Portland Street.  This is where we had to be at 7:45 in the morning.  It had already been a lot of traveling and we hadn't even got on the coach yet.  Anyways, we got on a full size coach and headed west out of London with all sorts of different people.  Some from Virginia, Spain, China...etc.  It is a long drive to Wales so the coach makes a stop in the city of Gloucester, England.  This stop is about 2 and half hours west northwest of London.  It is a similar drive that our group as a whole did when we went to Stonehenge.  The drive is a lot of rolling hills much like you would expect rural England to look like.  So, therefore, having already seen it, I decided to try and sleep on the coach.  It is about as comfy, if not more, then the beds they give us here. We were woken up about 10 minutes out of Gloucester and told a little but about the history of the city.  It was inhabited by the Romans first because of the unique locations right on the River Severn.  This allowed for easy transportation and access to the river system.  Also in Gloucester, there is a Cathedral.  It seems to be a re-occurring theme: ancient cities=large Cathedrals.  This Cathedral was a lot like all of the other ones we have seen with great detail and time put into making it, but the architecture was a little different on the inside.  It was fun to see and compare with all the other ones we have seen since being here.  We went down and saw the supposedly "historic docks" that the city has to offer right on the water.  However, there wasn't much left of these "historic docks" but a present day marina and a couple of big warehouses.

This is a view of the Cathedral.  The tower is a little different architecture than other Cathedrals we have seen.  Still a lot detail seen throughout both exterior and interior.

A view from the back of the Cathedral towards the front.  What appears to be an altar in this picture is actually called a "rood screen".  I have mentioned earlier that it separates the common folk from the clergy.  It is common in all Cathedrals we have seen.

This a picture of the support beams in this Cathedral.  Usually they run along the outside of the structure, but these were different.  Made the inside look a lot smaller than it actually was.

This is the altar.  About as beautiful as I have seen.  So much detail and color it was very interesting.  It had a full size stain glass window behind it and it looked great.  

The "historic docks" we saw.  Pretty sweet right??

After seeing the city of Gloucester we headed back on the coach and made our way to Tintern, Wales. The drive was picturesque.  The farther west you get the more of a forest you entered.  On top of that, there is a plateau you have to climb in order to enter Wales by the ground.  So, we drove up the plateau over looking the rolling hills of open England.   It was supposed to be about an hour drive the way the tour usually goes.  However, on the usual route, we reached a bridge under construction and we were over the weight limit.  We had to turn around and take another route to Tintern.  After detouring we finally reached the small city of Tintern.  This city or village for a better word, is about the size of the city of Mendota.  However, it has a famous ancient ruin of a Cathedral in it.  It was very interesting that such a small village had this enormous ruined Cathedral in it.  

Climbing the plateau we start to over look some valleys.

Trying to show the height of the hills we drove through.

Picture of roaming sheep.  They are everywhere as you enter Wales.

Picture of the ruined Cathedral from the parking lot.  

View of what would have been the front of the Cathedral.  As you can see, it lacks a roof.

View of the inside of the Cathedral.  Looking from what would be the rood screen to the Altar I believe.

View of what would have been walls to the Cathedral. In 1536, Henry VIII abolished the religion of the Cathedral.  At this point, people starting coming and using the stone from the foundation for other tasks.  

View from what would have been the altar I think.  

The front wall of the Cathedral.  

Back wall. 

We ate lunch at the local pub right next to the ruin.  It was a fun little place right on the river that runs in front of the ruin.  It is called The Anchor.  Technology hasn't really hit this village yet.  The woman that was taking orders didn't, for the life of her, know how to use a credit card machine.  She continued to swipe the card with the barcode or magnetic strip up and complaining to the other employee about how it wouldn't work.  It was humorous and frustrating at the same time.  We headed back to the coach and journeyed to Cheapstow, Wales.  It was another small village with a historic Castle in it.  This castle was also a ruin but its foundation, for the most part, was still there.  This village borders England and Wales, so we decided we would go put one foot in each country.  We spent a while walking around this small village.  The people of Wales have really really heavy accents.  From here we hoped back on the coach and made the 3 hour journey back to London.  It was now dark out so it wasn't much of a scenic route home.
When we got home, the rest of the group was ready to go out.  After a nap on the way home, I was too!  We headed to the historic pub called "Ye Old Cheshire Cheese".  It is a fun place to see.  It was originally built in the 12th century and was used my monks.  A pub was built somewhere around 1500 but was destroyed in the great fire of London.  It was rebuilt in 1667 and is the same to this day.  The pub starts at ground level and has 3 floors up and 3 floors down.  The ceilings in the pub are around 5 feet in some points and it is a fun place to see.  On top of that, the pints there are about 2 pounds which is incredibly cheap.  Headed home at 11, not by choice but because the pub closed, and hung out in the flat.

Today we got up and headed to the grocery store because we were completely out of food.  After that I have been doing laundry all day.  There is only 2 machines for the whole flat, I would guess 150 kids.  It has been a long weekend.  Tonight we have church.

Hope you enjoyed

Cheers

Jimmy