Glastonbury

The Glastonbury Abbey is a dissolved abbey, meaning that it is in ruins. It was believed to have a piece of the original crucifixion cross. It is also believed to be the resting place of King Arther and his Queen Guinevere. When local monks were digging they came across a grave with a Maltese Cross on it.

There was a solid gold crucifix on the grave and it also contained what they believe to be the sheath of Excalibur. The monks suspected the couple buried there to be King Arther and his queen because after Arther was killed by Mordred Guinevere became a nun. The couple in the grave was a man of royal stature and a nun. What a story!

The abbey was dissolved because King Henry VIII took the entire treasury of the abbey and stripped the Abbey of all valuables that decorated the structure. In 1907 The Church of England purchased the Abbey and the surrounding area and started to repair it. In 1910, behind the alter the repairers found a hole. In the hole there were relics and bones that are believed to be King Arther's bones. It is believed that the monks knew of King Henry's desire to strip the Abbey and they hid the bones and relics that would identify the bones.

When they began to rebuild the abbey, there wasn't much stone on site to use to rebuild. This is because in 1700, they started taking stones from the site to rebuild local roadways.

Near the Abbey there is a Tor on the hill. This is the Glastonbury Tor and a church. The church has often been destroyed, by fire, people or other forces. People have tried to rebuild the church, however there are nearly 30 laylines converging at that one point. The Wicca's believe that because of the laylines, that is the reason the church can't be rebuilt. The Tor has an illustration of Mother Earth on it and that also is believed to have some influence on why the church will not stay up. The church and the Tor were once one building, but all that remains is the Tor.

The Wiccan belief is very prominent in Glastonbury and it kind of felt like I have fallen into an odd version of a Harry Potter story as we wandered in and out of stores that offered palm readings and potion supplies.

Overall it was a very fun day! In addtion to learning about the Abbey and the Tor, and seeing the Wiccan lifestyle, The Chalice well is also in Glastonbury and the water there is red because of the amount of iron in it, but people believe that the Holy Grail was thrown into the waters there and that Christ's blood bubbles there. Many believe that if they can have a sip of the water there they will be healed of whatever ails them.

It was a very fun day, and a silly plus was that we found out Bart, our bus driver, took naps on the bus when we went to a location he has been to already! It was pretty adorable!

Here is the official link for the Glastonbury Abbey: http://www.glastonburyabbey.com/
The Glastonbury Tor: http://www.glastonburytor.org.uk/
The Chalice Well: http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/
And a link for festivals that take place in Glastonbury: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

And if you were wondering, our lovely tour guide, Alyce, was dressed and acted the part of someone who would have lived during the time that the Abbey was functional!

The Stonehenge

One of the earth's biggest mysteries is the Stonehenge. Located just 8 miles outside of Salisbury, England lies the magnificent ring of stones. Each of the stones is roughly 45 tons, which is about 3 elephants!

There are many myths surrounding these ancient stones including but not limited to, Merlin placing the stones there by magic, giants building them, and the devil flying them there. It was also believed to be the burial site of King Uther Pendragon. The Druids have had a heavy history with the Stonehenge. It is believed to be a very sacred place in the Pagan religion and the Druids are included in that worship system.

During the solstices it is believed that the rocks have healing powers. Like the structures at New Grange and Knowth, they follow a linear pattern along rifts in the ground. The people of the past believed that there was a slaughter stone among the others. There is a stone there that does look like an alter and when it gets wet it looks like it is bleeding. This is what lead to the belief of  a slaughter stone. However the reason that the stone turns red is because of the type of lichen that grows on the stone. 

After your audio self tour is over, and you have taken all the pictures you wish to take you can visit the gift shop and buy prints of the stones, jewlery inspired by the Henge, books on the history of the structure and after you purchase your presents you can snack on some ice cream or scones with the spotted little birds, but beware those large ravens, they will try to snatch your goodies from you.

For me personally seeing the Stonehenge was a dream come true, but not only that, it was a very spiritual experience for me. As I walked around these ancient stones I was reminded of how much God cares for us. He created this gorgeous natural monument, or rather inspired our ancestors to do so, so that we could bask in its glory for years to come. The surrounding area was also very beautiful and very quite for the most part. We got there early in the morning so there weren't a lot of people there yet, the sun was just coming over the hills on the other side of the rive and I felt like I was in a myth or a painting. It is kind of difficult to explain just how beautiful it truly was, but to give you some idea here are some more photos. All of these photos have been left unedited.

Here is the link to the official website for the Stonehenge:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/

English Study Abroad

Over the first have of my Fall 2013-14 semester at Brigham Young University- Idaho, I attended what they call the English Study Abroad or the ESA. We had several meetings on campus and through skype before we left to plan and perpare for our trip.

We met in the Salt Lake City airport at 7 in the morning on September 11th, and we flew to Chicago. After a few hours of waiting in Chicago we flew to Dublin, Ireland. When we arrived our wonderful bus driver Bart drove us to a little town called Ennis that we stayed at for two days. While we were staying in Ennis, we had the opportunity to visit Malahide Castle which is one of the most haunted castles in Europe, The Cliffs of Moher which are better known as the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride, we took a ferry to Inis-Mor and the Aran Islands and we took a bike ride around the island.  On the island there is an old fortress of some sort; it is called Dun Aengus. They don't know if it was a living space or a watch tower, or a battle spot, but the cliffs there are right on the ocean and when the waves beat on the walls it sounds like thunder. It was absolutely breath taking. 

We then moved onto Dublin, Ireland. While we were there we got to attended church, (we are all LDS or Mormon.) we also went to the Bru Na Boyne valley and saw the "Mound Tombs" Knoweth and New Grange.

After all of this excietment, Bart drove us to the Ferry. We all boarded and we were off to England!
We arrived on the coast of Wales and Bart drove us in his Coach (bus) through Wales. We stopped in Chester, Wales and explored a bit of the town. There my friend Shelley bought two first edition Harry Potter novels for 8 pounds!!! What a steal! Then we were back on the bus and we arrived in Bradford, England. We stayed there for three nights. While we were in Bradford we got to see the home of the Bronte sisters, The moors that inspired Jane Eyre, and the Chatsworth house.

Chatsworth is where they filmed Pemberley for the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film. The house itself is absolutely gorgeous and the grounds are amazing! We also got to visit York. While we were there we got to explore the York Minster and the town. York is one of the most haunted cities in Britain, and there are a lot of haunted tours. Unfortunately I didn't get to go on one. While we were there we attended Evensong, which is a worship service where they sing songs and prayers and give a sermon. It was very interesting and very beautiful.

We then moved onto Salisbury, England. We saw the Cahterdral there and we visited Jane Austen's home. While we were there we also saw Stonehenge. I really want to go in depth about what I learned there but I will save that for another post! But my goodness it was such a sight to see. Those huge stones that came from miles away and no one really knows what they were used for or why they are there. It was a very interesting experience. We also saw the Glastonbury city and Abbey.

We then moved onto LONDON!!! We actually stayed in Hounslow, which was about a 30 minute tube ride out of London. While we were there we did so many amazing things. We went to church in London and then explored the city a bit. The next day we went to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers London Studio.

Let me tell you, that was a dream come true. I LOVE Harry Potter. It was so amazing! As we were leaving we saw part of the pirate ship they were using to film the newest (they really should stop) Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We saw Windsor Castle, which is the official residence of the Queen of England. I saw The Phantom of the Opera, A Doll's House play, and Les Miserables. I saw The London Tour, The National Gallery, The Cartoon Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey (I have a funny story I will post about this), I saw the London Eye, but never got to ride on it (I'm still bitter about this), We went to Camden Market which is a huge flea market! We attended The Globe Theater and got to see MacBeth performed there. ( I will post about this separately as well).

We then traveled to Stratford-upon-Avon. Upon our arrival we saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Hamlet. That was such an amazing experience. We then moved into our B&B and it was so nice to be in a home setting rather than a hostel. We attended church in Oxford, England. While we were there we got a tour of the Universities that are there and the city. We also saw Einstein's chalkboard. We went back to Stratford and saw Anne Hathaway's Cottage (she is Shakespeare's wife), the River Avon trail, The birth place of William Shakespeare, his burial site and his and Anne's eldest daughter's home, Holscroft.

After this we took the coach back through Wales, then boarded the ferry back to Dublin. We stayed there for two more nights. While we were there we got to see the Book of Kells which is in Trinity College. The library there is my absolute favorite library of all time and I got to be in it! It is just so amazing, I was there and I still can't believe it's real! We then got to explore Dublin a little bit more and then we were back on the plane to Chicago and then to Salt Lake.

I learned so much about myself and my love for the Emerald Isles was strengthened and I love the people so much. I love the culture there and I am so grateful that I had this opportunity!

- Sydney

At long last!

Alright! Get ready for an adventure! I fly out to Ireland and England on the 11th! :)