 Into the Life of Things |
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8:35 am
I made it through the night by the grace of Xanax. We fled the hostel of flies for the train station and picked up an omelet, cheese, and ketchup sandwich for the ride. Now we're headed to Chepstow, riding the train toward Cardiff Centre and changing trains at Newport. I am riding in fear that my one ton bag might hurl itself off of the luggage rack in a trajectory towards someone's unsuspecting face. As we waited at the station for our train and I dug in my bag for my Britrail pass, the ticket guy said both politely and urgently, "Excuse me, miss, would you mind please carrying on over there so you don't get trampled?" And sure enough shortly thereafter there was a flood of people spilling out of the arriving train that surely would have lain me down flat! And not one but two guys offered to carry my suitcase up the tower of stairs and I decided to take the second one up on the offer and I thought to myself, "Praise Minerva, we are not in Paris anymore!" 7:25 pm Oh, what a glorious day! We arrived in Chepstow in South Wales and were assisted by kindly locals from the moment we stepped off the train. First a dad-like construction worker noticed that we had no idea where to go and pointed us toward the tourist information office. Then we met a granddad-like gentleman who insisted that we take the inside of the sidewalk as we walked there.  Then the tourist information people were so nice and had approximately ten thousand big fat juicy brochures for the free taking. They helped us to figure out the train schedule for our upcoming travels and were basically adorable. The castle was nearby but we didn't have time to visit it. Then we schlepped to our B&B, the Coach and Horses Inn, and were led to our SAFARI-THEMED room over the bar. The room is palatial compared to last night's and we could not be more overjoyed to be here even though it's costing us £50. It's clean and glorious. Ian and Connie were both very nice and welcoming. 
We walked around in the cute town and grabbed sandwiches and chocolate for lunch and decided that Rick Steves has been dropping bad acid if he thinks that Smarties are better than M&Ms. We caught the bus to Tintern Abbey, which is only about twenty minutes away, and the ride through the hills was like driving to camp which made us very happy. So lovely! We arrived at the Abbey and bought our £3 tickets and £1 audio tour (which was great, complete with monks chanting) and walked through the ruins. We met a very nice Welsh man who lives just down the road but had never been there. He was anti-Bush and said that he and Blair only went to Iraq for oil. He was so nice. He first spoke to me as we both tried to frame a picture that people kept walking into and he whispered to me conspiratorially, "It'd be nice if we could get them to move out of our picture, eh?" I met his wife and ninety-year-old mother-in-law who said we must go to Buckingham Palace. The mother-in-law said that it would be something I'd never forget and that she used to work near Windsor Castle and see Queen Mary shopping regularly at a jeweler nearby and nobody then would make a fuss and haven't things surely changed. I asked them if I could take their picture and she said, "But love, I'll break your camera!" Lovely people!  It was wonderful to walk through the Abbey and hear about its history and the monks who lived there. The grounds and surrounding area were so lush and beautiful. 
We walked up the hillside along a part dirt, part cobblestone path to St. Mary's Church where we had a great view of the Abbey and the river. And don't you know that we read the poem and I got VERY TEARY.
We walked down after exploring the old cemetery and bought some shortbread cookies and caramel fudge and toffee nut ice cream and I bought a postcard to send to the professor in whose class I first read the poem even though I've never even spoken to him because I am a BIG DORK. 
Then we took the bus back to Chepstow and headed to the library with free internet service! My sister decided at the last minute to go to Swansea but I decided to stay here and chill. I walked around and bought some more chocolate and called my parents on their nickel for a chat and now I'm having dinner at the pub. I actually ordered beef chip curry because it was the special and came with a pint! Note: Neither before nor after I ordered did I have the slightest clue what a "popadom" is supposed to be. It looks like a fried hat for my plate and tastes like much the same. 
© Copyright 2004 elb |
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