Saturday, May 12, 2007

glastonbury, england

i was in some state after leaving girona. i mean... after not having slept at ALL within 24 hours, i was thrilled to catch the right plane, and then be on the right bus, at the right time, heading from bristol into glastonbury.
i was a little worried, though, as i had no idea when to get off the bus, or where, or how to get to the hostel i had booked. however, i met a woman on the bus- simone- who actually was in the same room as i was in the hostel.

you know, in glastonbury, i met the most inspiring, beautiful women: simone and landi. both of them are from south africa originally but moved to london at different points. we all met there in glastonbury.

the first night was just simone and i. we got there late, so we just had time to have some wine and conversation before passing out. of all the deep sleeps in my life, this one was definitely in the top 10.
that next day, simone and i wandered the town shopping (i got loads of gifts for people back home) and went to the glastonbury abbey. i stole some rosemary for my sandwich.

a picture of some of the ruins at the abbey.
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because this abbey wasn't agreeing with the church of england, it was destroyed by the king. these two arches mark what was left of the building in which the site of king arthur's grave is said to have been located at one point.
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a picture simone took of me walking up to the site of the original high alter
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the site at which arthur was said to have been buried..
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after seeing the abbey, we went back to the hostel where we met landi.
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we packed up some dinner and games on my part and started walking towards the tor. here's pictures, as we get closer... this can be seen for miles in every direction, it's a beacon of spirituality.
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getting closer...
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you can see the people, now :)
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and finally, our victory pose, at the top!
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this is where i had probably the best sandwich of my life. with stolen rosemary, and yummy bits. i had a serious happy belly and SUCH a feeling of this is exactly where i was supposed to have been at that point, you know?
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mmmm. yesh. so then we opened our bottles of wine and sat, talking, contemplating life, and meeting new people who where at the top for one reason or another. some pilgrims like ourselves, and some there to access the spiritual lay lines which converge at the top.
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the tower in the sunset
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me, at the top.. a hike, and a perfect evening
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photographers, landi and simone ;)
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the tower, as the sun as set. it was so beautiful. the simple agedness of structures in europe is outstanding to those of us who are from cocky baby countries. not that i need to get into anything political. but this history seems so much... more.
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me, just... sitting.
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what a night, though! we met this guy, matthew, who seemed to have an answer for everything, and then another woman, she was older and kind of kooky, who seemed to make up an answer for everything. i guess she hikes up there every night or so.

during the walk home, we stopped at a pub for some more wine, and then we went back to the crown hotel pub where we polished off even more wino for ourselves. we met this family, ros and mark and their son, and his band.. they invited us over for sunday roast the next day and i was like, sure!
the following morning i woke up around 12:30 to find directions and a number and time written on my arm.. so we called, and over we went! it was wonderful! and so great of them to share with us... it reminded me of my family at home, with people coming out all the time-- i missed it. and i pretty much laughed so hard with the banter between.. goofballs. it was spectacular.

we went home that night, and passed out after some embarrassing makeshift karaoke. i don't want to talk about it. simone had to head back to london on the sunday, so it was just landi and i. we woke on monday and walked up to the chalice well gardens. when we woke, it was pouring out, but by the time we got there, it had faded, leaving this mist over the whole garden and looking up at the tor. i could understand, then, the mists of avalon, and the relevance the area had.

the view from the garden swing bench
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an arch within... this must be so nice in summer when it is at full growth.
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the chalice well itself.
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i picked some of the healing waters for pops, but don't tell him till i get home ;) i also waded in them, as the blisters and various other feet pains (like my broken toe in barcelona) needed some healing. :-D

after that, i hit the train and headed to strawberry hill in london to see kimmi and mike!
our train from town
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kim and i shopped around and wandered, and had a grand old time. then, we met up with mike later for...
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possibly the best production ever. it was brilliant.

kim and i out front
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the next day, i had to head to the plane to fly home to cork...
as much as i loved traveling, it was such a relief to be home. and get rid of the backpack. and relax. and unpack.

the view of ireland from the plane
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it was time.


i learned so much! and i finally got it all up on here updated, huh ;) i do what i can.
to those i've met, email me for the craic!
to those i know, i wanna hear: wow, chris, nice travel blog. that must have taken some kind of effort to get up. it looks great!

love you all.
chris.

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