A Day in Swansea

Our journey through Wales began with a train ride to Swansea but from there we've traveled mostly by bus. The one pictured here has the red dragon emblem of Wales.

In Swansea the highlight of our day was a visit to the Dylan Thomas Centre. I was fascinated with the word play poetry of Dylan Thomas when I was a school girl, and I learned in Swansea that this poet has affected many people profoundly. One guy by the name of Robert Zimmerman changed his last name to Dylan. Using the nickname Bob, he became Bob Dylan... The famous Welsh actor Richard Burton requested that he be buried with a book of poetry by Dylan Thomas.

Another person who apparently has been affected by the words of Dylan Thomas is the sometimes-poet and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. I surmise this because a plaque at the Dylan Thomas Centre says that the building was dedicated in 1995 by Jimmy Carter.

The spirit of Swansea is illustrated in a sign that we saw in what they call a car park.

It seems appropriate to end with a bit of poetry from Dylan Thomas, a few stanzas from a poem said to be written as his father was facing death.

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

A Day in the Cotswolds

In the Cotswolds we went on a "secret cottage tour."  The thatched cottage pictured here belongs to Becky, our guide for the day.  Her stone house was built in 1580 as lodging for workers in the manor. I can tell you that they don't make 'em like that any more. The cottage was originally a triplex for three families. It now houses one. Becky added a kitchen, and it was there that we had coffee as we started out, and had lunch later on. We toured picturesque villages in a comfortable Mercedes mini-van, and then came back at the end of the day for cream tea with scones and assorted sweets. Thanks to the Internet, and in particular, TripAdvisor, Becky's tour is not a secret.   She started it only a year ago, figuring that tourists would like to see how locals live. She now entertains travel journalists from around the world, and I predict that Becky's business will grow to where she herself will not be spending six hours a day driving strangers around.

In addition to touring Cotswold villages with thatched roof houses we visited a falconry. We saw two demonstrations -- it would be an overstatement to call them shows. The birds were actually being trained to fly away. The handler said that in general birds don't really like to fly. It's a lot of work. They fly to get food. Birds that are fed by handlers are perfectly content to sit around until the next meal time. At the place we visited the handler threw into the air disgusting parts of chicken for birds to swoop around and catch. As they soar and ride air thermals they sometimes spot prey on the ground, and take a detour.  One bird, a lass named Maggie, stayed away from home for several weeks. The falconry knew where she was because she was tagged. They also knew that she would come back home when she wanted an easy meal. Maggie was happy to demonstrate for us her ability to snatch disgusting chicken parts thrown into the air. 

First Day in England

On our first day in England we traveled to the Cotswolds, spending the night in Moreton-in Marsh. The next day we had a tour which took us through small villages and past grand manors such as this one, Chastleton House. We learned it is Jacobean in style, built by a Welshman named Walter Jones in 1607.  The same family owned the house for 400 years. It is now in public trust and has been a movie site, most recently for the BBC series "Wolf Hall."

Although this a beautiful and  tranquil rural area with sheep farms, the sheep herders once had a particularly vicious sport called shin kicking.  Two contestants would grab onto each other by the collar and thrash about with heavy boots. The referee was called the stickler, and presumably when we say someone is a stickler for details we are harkening back to this old sport.  When the pummeling got too tough for a contestant to bear, he could end the fight with a cry, "Sufficient!"  British understatement, I'd say!