Nerd Quest, Part I
by mikka
Glastonbury Tor, backlit. Not pictured: King Arthur
I am nursing a nasty cold, so these last two days have been in spent in London (after a last-minute trip to Paris with my dad (!), which is another post). At any rate, I had an amazing end-of-last week chasing down obscure Arthurian tourist attractions; on Wednesday I went out to Glastonbury, a small town about an hour out of Bristol which is traditionally associated with Avalon, where Arthur sleeps until England needs him again, and where Marion Zimmer Bradley set the crack-like retelling of the legend as a Druids vs. Christians soap opera from Morgan Le Fay's point of view that totally took over my life when I was fourteen:
Glastonbury correspondingly itself feels like a town I might have fantasized about when I was fourteen, replete with Avalon-goddess-allusions, crystal jewelry shops, tarot cards and a statue of the Wise Woman of Wookey Hole (elsewhere referred to as the Witch of Wookey Hole, whose remains are the star attraction of a nearby museum).
At any rate, I spent a few hours at the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey before catching the last bus to the Tor and picking my way back down the hill through a cow pasture (the cows seemed unconcerned about this, so I'm assuming that this was okay).
Glastonbury correspondingly itself feels like a town I might have fantasized about when I was fourteen, replete with Avalon-goddess-allusions, crystal jewelry shops, tarot cards and a statue of the Wise Woman of Wookey Hole (elsewhere referred to as the Witch of Wookey Hole, whose remains are the star attraction of a nearby museum).At any rate, I spent a few hours at the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey before catching the last bus to the Tor and picking my way back down the hill through a cow pasture (the cows seemed unconcerned about this, so I'm assuming that this was okay).
Glastounbury Abbey also houses Arthur andGuinevere's tomb, which was built after monks claimed to have unearthed their remains on the premises sometime during the 1100's.
More of the Abbey.
The orchard at Glastonbury Abbey.
View from the Tor.
(left: inside the ruins of the church to St. Michaels on top of the tor; right: cows!)
If you're still there on Halloween than you MUST scope out any druid action and blog it.
ReplyDeleteoh man, i wish, i bet that place has the best halloween ever.
ReplyDeleteoh and i made the ratatouille for my dad! it didn't come out as good as yours (no squash & he mysteriously has no salt or pepper in his bachelor's apartment) but i think it came out edible :)