Today I went to Wales for a class trip with my class, professor, and the man, the myth, and the legend himself, Andrew Butterworth. We left Bath at 9am and arrived at our first destination, Chepstow Castle, dating back to 1067 AD.
After Chepstow Castle, we went to Offa's Dyke, running 177 miles long, up the boarder of Wales. It was used as a ridge/defense. It was muddy and very, very steep, but we digressed and made it to the top....only a tiny tiny fraction of the entire trail.
My friend Liz using a walking stick....muddy hikes without hiking boots were not in the itinerary.
After our laborious hike up Offa's Dyke, we went to Tintern Abbey, dating back to 1131. It has been unoccupied since the 1500's.
Our final destination was Hereford Cathedral, home of the Mappa Mundi, only lasting map of the world from the medieval times. It was created in 1260, and the original is kept in the Hereford Cathedral.
Since no cameras were allowed in that section of the cathedral, this is a picture offline but I wish it captured the colors and magnificence of the original copy.
the outside of the cathedral
Our day was chilly, snowy, misty, and rainy, but as Andrew said, it set the tone for the times. The mist added an element to the trip that I don't think would have been there if it was sunny and warm. This trip truly was a history major's dream. It is so hard to wrap my head around the ages of the places we were actually in. A millenium old.
Tomorrow: More history with our trip to Canterbury!
Keep Calm and Follow the Moon
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