Day 30: Getting Rained on in St. Albans

Today we had a stressful day, but a pretty successful one.  Ethan had a meeting the the Dean of St. Albans Cathedral and Abbey and I was tagging along to see the church and explore the Roman city of Verulamium.  Sadly, we had issues finding the right train station to get to St. Albans and then more issues with tickets.  After spending far too much time on the tube, we got on the train on a very rainy day and headed to St. Albans.

We went to the cathedral-abbey first and explored a very amazing church.  With Norman and Saxon origins, the church grew into a massive abbey complex and then dwindled again after the Dissolution.  It was revived and is now the thriving cathedral of the diocese.  The church is named for St. Alban, a 3rd century martyr who was a Roman citizen in the local town.  He was martyred for converting to Christianity and sheltering a priest.  His cult probably began around the middle of the 5th century and there is a shrine that holds relics of the saint in the cathedral.

St. Alban is depicted in the new nave screen, which depicts seven martyrs.  Four are locals: St. Alban, St. Amphibalus, George Tankerfield, and Alban Roe.  They range in period from the 3rd century to the 17th.  The other three are St. Elizabeth Romano, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Oscar Romero.  All three come from the 20th century and are meant to remember the sacrifices still made for the church.  Together, they represent early Christianity, Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism, Russian Orthodoxy, and Lutheranism.

The cathedral has centuries of history, most of which I learned from Ethan after his talk with the dean.  The Lady Chapel, pictured below, was for a long period separated from the rest of the church.  There was quite literally a road running between the church and the chapel building.  The chapel was used as the local grammar school before being reincorporated to the cathedral.

The Wallingford Screen was built in the late 15th century but was devastated by the Dissolution.  Every statue in the screen was torn down and destroyed.  In the 19th century, the cathedral went through major restoration and renovation.  The two main benefactors disagreed on how the screen should look.  One felt that it should be restored into its original state and the other wanted to go more modern (and more egocentric) with just a silhouette of himself and Queen Victoria.  Apparently the conflict went all the way to the House of Lords, and luckily (in our opinion) the more traditional restoration won out.

The abbey greatly benefited in the 12th century when an Englishman was elected Pope.  Nicholas Breakspear, better known as Adrian IV, had been educated at the Abbey School of St. Albans and his selection as Pope increase interest in St. Albans as a pilgrimage.

After the church visit, I headed to the Verulamium Museum and site while Ethan met with the Dean.  I first headed to the theater at Verulamium.  Unlike the other theaters I've seen this trip, it is a true theater, not amphitheater.  The first theater at the site was built around 140 CE and was enlarged in 160 CE.  The theater could fit 7,000 people and featured columns 5.8 meters tall on the stage.  The theater eventually fell out of disuse, even before the Roman occupation ended.  It's unclear why it was no longer used.

Around the theater were the local shops and a few homes.  One third century villa contained an underground shrine, possibly suggesting that Christianity had forced pagan rituals into private settings.  Although, it may have just been a private shrine and that might be too much of an attachment.

Below is a pendant with a triskele, which is a design featured in cultures around the world.  It was particularly important in Celtic culture and art.  I'm curious how this was influenced by the Roman occupation and vice versa.

The gold ring below has a depiction of an ear of wheat.  The native Catavellauni tribe had a culture dominated by farming and it seems that the Romans continued the tradition.  Along with the ring, there were also depictions of Ceres, the goddess of the harvest and crops.

Below is a variation on the classic pennanular brooch.  The pair of silver brooches were connected by a thin chain.  I'm unsure if this would have been done to hold a cloak or just as a decorative statement.  Either way it seems like a fairly unique and beautiful piece.

There were many burials around Verulamium, fitting for a large Roman city.  They varied in their use of inhumation and cremation.  Some of the burials were in ornate lead coffins and others were in more simple stone ones.  One very interesting find was this Septimius Severus coin found in a child's grave.  The coin, shown with the child's teeth, was placed in the mouth of the child for burial and the copper in the coin turned the teeth a bluish-green color.  The coin probably dates the child's death to around 210 CE.

The depiction of Venus below, done in bronze, was originally depicted holding a golden apple.  The golden apple was won by Venus in the judgment of Paris, when she bribed him with the love of the most beautiful woman, Helen.  And we all know how that ended.  As a decline of Roman religion in Verulamium, the statue was found in what is believed to be a scrap pile in the workshop of a metalworker.

Verulamium had a unique triangular temple at a major intersection of roads.  The temple was dedicated to Cybele, an Anatolian goddess imported to Rome, and her consort, Attis.  The ceremonies dedicated to the gods involved the sacrifice of an ox, pine cones, palm leaves, and ceremonial pottery, all of which were found in the site of the temple.  The skull off an ox is shown below.

From the museum I went into Verulamium Park, which contains some more Roman artifacts.  Sadly, I was only able to peak at a large mosaic since the building had been closed for the day.  I did get to walk along portions of the city walls and see the foundation of a massive gateway.  The walls were a later addition, being added towards the end of the 3rd century.  Unlike most sites I have been to, the military presence in Verulamium was much smaller and the site was never really a fort.

I headed back towards the abbey through the park to meet Ethan in the rainy weather.  Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, as I arrived back at the abbey, Ethan headed to the museum to find me.

I took a few more minutes to walk around the abbey before Ethan and I reunited.  We eventually found each other and headed back to the train station.  By the time we were back to London, we were wet, hot, sweaty, and ready for a break.  Though the day was successful, the travel logistics were messy and the rain dampened both our hair and our moods.  But with a little rest, we were able to rally for dinner and a quiet evening.

Fun Fact #30: There were several breeds of Roman dogs at Verulamium, shown by the various dog skeletons found at the site.  Romans had three divisions for different types of dogs, villatici or house dogs, venatici or sporting dogs, and pastorales or shepherds' dogs.  The villatici could be small lap dogs and the sporting dogs were divided into further categories: fighting (pugnacious) and hunting (celeres, sagaces).

Day 29: Trying to Max Out the London Pass

Today was a long and busy day.  I will be filling this post out in the morning.  Until then, enjoy the photos!

Here is the update!

We had an early start to the day and went straight to the Tower of London.  With the London Pass, we were able to skip the ticket office all together and go straight into the Tower, which made our visit all the more enjoyable.  Since we arrived on the early side, the Tower was not packed and we could easily walk around.  First we learned about the history of the mint in the Tower.  One of my favorite facts was that in the late 18th century many countries used very similar coins, in both size and weight.  It was less expensive to reuse these coins than to make new ones, so the Royal Mint stamped portraits of the reigning ruler, George III at the time, to make the coins valid.  Below is an example of an American dollar coin from 1795 that has been stamped and could have circulated in England.

Tower of London has its own special guardians, commonly known as Beefeaters.  The groups actual name is Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeomen Guard Extraordinary, which is far too long.  The Beefeaters are all retired non-commissioned or petty officers from the armed forces and must have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct medal.  They now mainly act as tour guides (and tourist attractions), while the protection of the Crown Jewels falls to the same unit providing security and protection for Buckingham Palace.

The Tower of London was begun in the 11th century and reworked and expanded over the next three centuries.  The St. Thomas Tower was built between 1275 and 1279 and is made to look as it would during the reign of Edward I.  Edward was a very devout Christian king, personally going on the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land when he was heir to the throne and famously issuing the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, expelling the Jews from England.  This edict stayed on the books for over 350 years.  Below is a restoration of the small chapel in a turret of St. Thomas Tower.

The tower sits above the more famous Traitors' Gate, which was originally built as a water access to the fortress for Edward I, but later became known for bringing prisoners into the Tower.  The prisoners would have come along the Thames, passing under the heads of recently executed prisoners  displayed on London Bridge, and then being brought in through the gate and into their cells.  Two famous prisoners who came to the Tower this way were Anne Boleyn and Thomas More.

At the center of the Tower of London is the White Tower.  Originally the site of William the Conqueror's keep, but the building was subsequently changed over the centuries.  The Tower, after it fell out of use as a seat of royal power, held many famous prisoners.  Probably the most famous were known as the Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, sons of the King of England.  When Edward IV died in 1483, his elder son was named king, although not crowned.  His uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), was named Lord Protector as Edward V was only twelve.  The Princes were imprisoned in the White Tower and were never seen by any one in the public after the summer of 1483.  In June of 1674, during construction on the White Tower, two skeletons of children were found in a chest under a staircase.  Believed to be the bodies of the two princes, the skeletons were interred at Westminster Abbey, although their story will always remain a mystery.

Sadly, pictures are not allowed in the White Tower which houses a great armory.  Pictures are also not allowed in the Jewel House, which contains the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.  I love jewelry and precious gems and stones, so the Crown Jewels made me exceptionally giddy.  For those who have not been before, you pass the main portion of the jewels (e.g. the crowns, scepters, and orbs) on a moving walkway.  There is one on each side and I made Ethan go on both of them with me so we could see all the jewels from both angles.  Needless to say I was amazed and very happy.

The Crown Jewels also contain other items, such as pieces used in royal baptisms, banquets, and religious festivals.  The highlight of this collection was a massive punch bowl made for George IV.  The bowl is 8,000 ounces, plated in gold, and can hold 144 bottles of wine.  What a great way to start a party!

As we were heading towards the exit of the Tower, we spotted a couple of re-enactors in period costume.  I think they were meant to portray Henry VIII and the ill-fated Anne Boleyn who was beheaded at the Tower of London.

After leaving the Tower of London, we headed to the Tower Bridge, one of the most iconic sights in London.  With our passes we were able to climb all the ay to the top of the bridge and cross the walkways between the two towers.  Below is a view of the Union Jack atop the Tower Bridge seen from the walkways.

The view of east London and the Thames from the walkway of Tower Bridge.

After climbing back down from the top of the bridge, we were able to explore the Victorian engine room that used to raise and lower the drawbridge.  It was done through hydraulic power and steam power, using massive machinery.  Now the drawbridge is operated by a more modern electro-hydraulic drive system.

We walked along the bank of the Thames, which gave wonderful views back to the Tower of London.  The White Tower rises above the walls of the fortress and in the bottom left of the picture, the curve of Traitors' Gate is just visible.

We made our way to the Globe Theatre, but were sadly told that we could only see the interior in the morning, and as we had spent a long time at the Tower of London, we were too late.  Disappointed, we took the tube towards Buckingham Palace to see the Royal Mews and the Queen's Gallery.

After lunch, we headed into the Mews to see how British royalty travel in style.  Below is the Irish State Coach, built for the Royal Family in 1851 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin.  It was damaged by fire in 1911 and completely restored in 1989.  It is used during state occasions, and like most of the royal carriages, is used during the State Opening of Parliament.

The current Royal Mews were built in 1850 and, with modifications, now contain stables for thirty horses, garages for state cars that carry the Royal Family, and the collection of carriages.  The Mews also contain housing for those involved with transporting the Royal family, including chauffeurs, coachmen, grooms, etc.  The royal carriages are pulled by Windsor Greys or Cleveland Bays and the Queen personally names the horses.  Two of the horses are named Concord and Lexington, which I appreciated. 

The gem of the Royal Mews is the Gold State Coach, an eight-horse drawn carriage built in 1762 that has been used in the coronation ceremonies of seven British monarchs.  The coach is four tons, twenty-four feet long, and twelve feet wide.  It is decorated with symbols of the United Kingdom, focusing on the unity of Scotland, England, and Ireland and the victory over France in the Seven Years' War.  The sculptures on the carriage depict tritons, announcing and accompanying the arrival of Neptune.  The two at the front of the coach blow conch shells, sounding the arrival.

The panels around the carriage were painted by Giovanni Cipriano and depict the gods in Britain.  One, although not depicted below, shows the arrival of Neptune and his queen, Amphitrite, on the shores of Britain in a magnificent triumphal ceremony, much like the ones the carriage is involved in.

The two tritons on the rear of the carriage are shown holding fasces, a symbol of power since Roman times.  Here they show the imperial power of the British monarch.

Four of the horses used to pull the royal carriages were in stables that the public could view.  Pearl is one of the Cleveland Bays, an English breed of horses that almost went extinct.  In 1962, there were only four purebred stallions left in the United Kingdom.  Queen Elizabeth II helped to save the breed by purchasing a purebred stallion and helping the breed grow again in size.  Pearl has been one of the Queen's horses since 1999.

The Royal Mews also has a riding school, used to exercise and train the horses.  Training the horses takes a great deal of time, first being broken into a saddle and then harnesses.  They also have to be trained to deal with the busy streets of London, loud sounds of crowds and the city, and the weight of the carriages before they can be used for public ceremonies.  However, their handwork is rewarded and after the busy summer season, they get six weeks out in pastures in the English countryside.

We decided to not go to the Queen's Gallery as we would have had to wait about an hour to get in and the current exhibit is on artistic depictions of gardens which we did not find all that appealing.  We headed to our last stop on our London Pass, the Beefeater Gin Distillery.  Once again we were disappointed because they were all booked and we could not go on a tour of the distillery.  Though the London Pass was fantastic in a lot of ways, it does not allow you to book sights ahead of time nor does it mention certain issues like the Globe closing after the morning and needing to book ahead at certain places.

However, with our two day pass, we saw a lot of the great sights of London and had a wonderful time being super tourists in the city.

Day 20: Singing a Goodbye to Wales

I made a tough decision this morning.  I had been planning to go visit Caerwent today, but when I woke up, it felt like too much.  I would have to take a train back to Newport, catch a bus, visit Caerwent, and then wait for the next bus, and then back to the train.  It would have taken the whole day and I just didn't feel up to it.  I was bothered by my lack of motivation and it felt a bit like I was going out on a fizzle.

But I decided to head a bit out of Cardiff to see Llandaff Cathedral, which was supposed to be beautiful.  I walked down Cathedral Road and came to Llandaff Fields.  The park is full of open, grassy areas, a playground, and cricket pitches.

As I walked through the fields, the day turned from gray and slightly rainy to a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

At the other end of the park, I came into the village of Llandaff, which has been incorporated into the city of Cardiff.  It's a very picturesque little place to live.  The town seems mostly dominated by The Cathedral School, an co-educational independent school for ages 3 to 16.  There is a short High Street (the British equivalent of Main Street), leading to the town center.

Just off the town green, are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace.  The building was probably built in the mid-13th century, but was abandoned after it was attacked by Owain Glyndŵr.  Now it houses some beautiful rhododendrons.

In case you didn't know, rhododendron comes from two ancient Greek words, ῥόδον, meaning rose, and δένδρον, meaning tree.  One of the trees had beautiful, large, white blossoms, living up to its Greek roots.

I then headed to the ruins of the old cathedral bell tower.  The ruins are now memorial to those who died in World War I and have been designated to always be a protected, open space.  The stones sit on a rise over the current cathedral.

The contraction of the first cathedral in Llandaff began in 1120, under the bishop Urban.  The church has been renovated and rebuilt multiple times over the centuries.  The church was expanded and refurbished throughout the Middle Ages and then again in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Llandaff Cathedral was the second most damaged cathedral in the British Isles, after Canterbury Cathedral.  On January 2nd, 1942, a parachuted mine detonated near the cathedral, destroying the roof and damaging the spire, among other portions of the building.  The building was extensively repaired and reopened by 1958.

The poor luck continued in 2007, when a lightning strike damaged the cathedral again, ruining the electronics of the organ.  The organ was replaced in 2010 and the new one looks fantastic.

In the 1950s, an aluminum sculpture, titled "Christ in Majesty," by Jacob Epstein was installed in the church on a concrete arch, designed by George Pace.  George Pace also designed a free-standing bell tower for the Chester Cathedral.  The sculpture is suspended over the nave of the cathedral, with Christ looking towards the entrance.

Behind the sculpture and the high altar, there is a lovely chapel.  The Lady Chapel features a beautifully painted ceiling, a stained glass window depicting the story of Jesse, and a reredos with flowers labeled in Welsh.  The original, Victorian reredos of the cathedral, that would have been behind the high altar, was painted by famed pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  It was moved both to protect the paintings and to make a more open view from one end of the cathedral to the other.

In this view, looking from the Lady Chapel back towards the entrance, you can see the rear of "Christ in Majesty," sitting on its arch, and parts of the newly installed organ.

The exterior of the cathedral is just as beautiful as the interior.  The spire is covered with statues, depicting saints and monks, and gargoyles, both demonic-looking and angelic.  This small statue of an angel crowns the chapter house of the cathedral.  If you look closely (and watch Game of Thrones), he bears quite a striking resemblance to Joffrey Baratheon.

In the evening, I went into Cardiff center for my final dinner in Wales.  I had heard from my tour guide yesterday that there was an all male choir that had open rehearsals very close by.  I ate quickly, trying to make sure I could go (and not walk in late).  When I sat down to the side, with some other observers, I was immediately approached by one of the choir members.  He asked me if I sang, and when I told him I did, he asked me what part I sang.  Next thing I knew, I was placed in the choir with the rest of the Tenor 1s.

For the next hour and a half, I sang with the Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir.  I would say that we ran through fifteen to twenty songs, both in Welsh and English.  I recognized maybe three of them.  I'm still not sure which was more challenging, sight reading the music or sight reading the Welsh.  It is really impossible for me to express how wonderful this experience was.  The music was beautiful, the people were lovely, and I was struck by just how similar the experience was to so many I've had in singing groups I've participated in.  It was truly an amazing, spontaneous experience.

As we finished singing, the man I had been sitting next to gave me a pin from the choir.  It is something I will treasure forever.

What a wonderful way to say goodbye to Wales.

Fun Fact #20: The Welsh National anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (Land of Our Fathers), became the de facto national anthem because it was so popular at rugby games.  The national anthem had been "God Bless the Prince of Wales" and was meant to be sung before rugby matches.  To accommodate the popularity of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadua," for a time both songs were sung before the start of the match, but eventually it was just reduced to "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadua."  Though the anthem has never been legally made the national anthem, it has been accepted by all and is used in government ceremonies.  And on a sidetone, it's far easier to sing than "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Day 6: Clambering Around Castles

Today I had a bit of a break day, which my feet definitely approved of.  I checked out of my B&B in Holyhead and headed to the train station.  Since there was not much to do, I got on the first train leaving, and one stop later, I was in Bangor.  Here I was to grab a bus to Caernarfon.  I realized that if I took the first bust that came along I would make it into Caernarfon over three hours before I could check into my new B&B.  I decided to wait.  I plopped down on a bench in the train station and read for about an hour and a half and it was truly a pleasure.

I'm currently reading "The City and the Pillar" by Gore Vidal.  The story follows a young man, Jim Willard, as he chases his best friend from high school (and lover for one night) around the world.  It's beautifully, if not starkly, written and a very engaging story.  It's particularly striking because it was first published in 1948 (although the ending was apparently reworked by Vidal in 1965), yet it tells a very frank and open story of a young man questioning his sexuality and entering a world very different from that of heteronormative society.  I've been devouring the book and will quite likely finish it tonight.

Eventually I decided to catch a bus and made it into Caernarfon still too early to check in.  So I abandoned my suitcase and decided there was no time like the present to explore the castle!  It was a gray day, with light rain/mist, so obviously the ideal conditions to climb lots of steep, stone staircases.

The castle has so much history that I cannot try to capture it in this post, nor do I think I fully understand it.  The present structure that stands today was built in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, as an English statement of power in Wales.  The first non-native Prince of Wales, and future king of England, Edward II, was born here, according to legend.  The castle was believed to be set up as possible royal seat for the English monarch when in Wales, but was probably not used for this purpose.  In its later history, the castle became the battleground for during multiple Welsh rebellions and the English Civil War.  In 1911, it was first used as the sight of the Prince of Wales's investiture and again in 1969, for the current Prince of Wales.

The castle is large, consisting of a fairly well preserved outer wall, dotted with towers.  The inner structures of the castle are destroyed, but the passages and rooms inside the towers and wall are there for the exploring.  I first made my way up the Granary Tower.  I followed the spiral staircase with a rope bannister (the design for all the tower staircases) up all the way to the top of the tower (the highest bit towards the left of the photo below).  Luckily, I was alone in the Granary Tower because I looked quite foolish.  The stairs were not pleasant to climb and then atop the tower I did a bizarre dance of trying to take pictures while simultaneously clinging to something that wasn't too close to the edge.  There was nothing of the sort so I sort of ran between the edge of the tower to take a picture, then towards the staircase, which was equally unpleasant, and back towards the edge.  After maybe a minute or so up there, I had had more than enough and retreated back down the tower.

I walked along the walls of the castle, which after the tower seemed barely off the ground, and explored the old rooms.  In one part of the castle, a thoroughly amusing and informative movie about the history of the castle played.  It isn't possible to walk the walls all the way around the castle, and wanting to see everything I could, I was constantly climbing down from the walls to read a sign, or climbing back up the walls to get to the next tower.  Above the main entrance to the castle, the unfinished King's Gate, I explored the Well Tower, which contains a 50' well within the walls, and the small chapel, directly above the entrance.  The chapel had a lovely window that would have looked over the medieval walled town and small inset with two basins in the stone for holy water.  I'm unsure if the chapel was finished, as it was towards the unfinished areas of the Gate.

Perhaps the most striking, and best intact, part of the castle is Eagle Tower (below).  The tower is thought to have been the main residential part of the castle, designed for royalty (although probably inhabited by the King's representative in Wales).  The interior has been restored to some degree to show what the rooms might have looked like with wooden floors and plastered ceilings.  The bedchamber was massive, with two lovely windows, completed with staircases up to them and window seats designed to look out over the water.  Continuing up to the top of the tower, the views were equally stunning.  The tower looks out of the Menai Strait, which separates Anglesey from the rest of Wales.  It was possible to climb up one of the two towers added on to Eagle Tower, but I didn't feel any need to do that again.

As I was leaving the castle, it seemed like an acting troupe was setting up in the castle grounds.  They had a small stage setup in what seemed to be Juliet's balcony and rack of period costumes.  It certainly would make a striking scene!

As I wandered out of the castle, having successfully killed enough time to finally check into my B&B, I was struck by the colors playing in the arches of King's Gate.  It seems that from any angle, Caernarfon Castle is a beauty.

Fun Fact #6: The Romans are impossible to escape (not that I would ever want to!).  In Welsh mythology, Caernarfon was home to a Roman emperor named Macsen Wledig.  Clearly not a Roman name, but he was actually Magnus Maximus, a Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388 CE.  The legend says that Magnus Maximus had a dream of a castle and a beautiful maiden.  He sent his men to find this place and this woman, and eventually they found both at Caernarfon.  He travelled there and married the woman, named Elen or Helen, immediately.  Accounts vary, some saying that he left and his power was encroached, forcing him to return and never leave, or that Elen refused to live in Rome so he ruled the Empire from Wales.  In reality, Magnus Maximus usurped power from the emperor Gratian and was given control of Britain and Gaul.  He ruled from Trier (in Gaul) before deciding to try his luck at taking Italy under his power as well.  His co-emperors did not approve, and Theodosius I defeated Magnus Maximus at the Battle of the Save and exiled him to the Italian Alps.  It seems pretty unlikely that Macsen Wledig and Elen had their happily ever after in Wales.