If it's 11:47, This Must be Wales

Like all of our mornings, we get up and ready for the day but go out and tke a walk in the city and watch it wake up. This morning was sunny and bright and when we arrived it was rainy and dark, so we got to see a whole new side of Hereford.

This place is quite beautiful and all the school kids walking all over town lend it charm and the sheep dotting the hills around town give it a buccolic atmosphere.

The cathedral towers over it all.

But, time to go. The train station is near by and we walk and hop on the correct train for the second day in a row. The countryside is indeed full of sheep and the green hills have white dots of sheep all over them. After a short while I note that the train stations have names that seem like "Gwynyeraggeyater" or like "Pytoyer-eyy-mayggeryut" and yet the station names in English are like "Whidley"...and it occurs to me that we are in Wales.

From what I can tell, if you get down around Hereford and Gloucester and take the train it is difficult to NOT loop into Wales for a few stops...and we do. It seems like a fine little country. It was not on my bucket list but I've made a mental note that it would be fun to take the train all through it. It's got hills and seashores. No doubt, lots of sheep. And they have cornered the market on the use of the letters "y" and "g" in the spelling of every word in Welsh.

Gloucester

My daughters are always finiding a Tea Room in order to experience local culture and it is quite nice. Today we needed a breather between the train ride and trying to read Welsh Train Depot signs and ended up here.

And just through the stone wall to my right was this.

The Gloucester Cathedral was on the "Hereford" plan, that is, it looked simialr to the Hereford Cathedral which we saw yesterday and in the morning. This too was a large cathedral but definitely not the Mega-Size cathedrals of Lincoln and York.

Gloucester Cathedral was pretty quiet. Not a lot of tourists and the upkeep on the place seemed daunting. 6000 British Pounds a day upkeep which I am calling $10,000, in American dollars.  

And yet...

 King Edward the II was buried here,  a ceremonial staff owned by the cathedral was used and proundly displayed because it was used in the procession of the Coronatination of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.

I even found my namesake: Robert, Duke of Normandy, alas his fate was not so heroic, though he did get a nice burial effigy and plaque in the cathedral.

Robert Duke of Normandy. I imagine that Robert was the only titled brother who was ever swindled or beheaded or imprisoned because of that title. I can't imagine there was much competition or jealousy over the right to inherit a Kingdon.

Besides relics of body parts which cathedrals used as Pilgrimage-draws....and are my favorites, my next favorite thing to see in cathedrals are the cloisters. They are the best and frankly, in my book, Gloucester Cloisters are the best of the best.

The ceiling detail is absolutely stunning. Words cannot describe.

But, here is what one guide book said: "The 14th-century cloisters are a major highlight of Gloucester Cathedral. The fan-vaulted roof is the finest in Europe, and the cloisters enclose a peaceful garden. This was used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for some Hogwarts School scenes."

I was in the gardens too. I met a homeless guy who showed me the bird nesting in the tree above his head, offered me a beer, said that he was waiting to get into some shelter on the other side of town, and then suddenly his cell phone rang and he dismissed me with, 

"Sorry Gov-ner, I have to take this call!"

And he ambled over to his bench under the birds nest and conducted his business.

So besies impressing me, Robert (named after the distinguished and rightful heir to the Throne, though having been done in by his ne'er-do-well brother King Henry.) these cloisters impressed the Harry Potter people too and I can certainly see why. I must view the films to see how these cloisters were used.

Part of the journey is making your own discovery of something that is an "Ah-Ha! Moment" even if hundreds or thousands have discovered it before you. But experiencing it for yourself is the gift of the journey.

Peace,  Bob