Gloucester

Yesterday was Gloucester-mostly for the cathedral, but the town held some interest as well.  It takes about 1.5 hrs to get there via train, and there are some direct trains.  I caught one of those in the morning.  There was a lovely tourist map for one pound in the train station, so I soon set off for town.  The clouds were big and black, so I found my Marmot. 

The cathedral is not hard to find.  A restaurant other than fast food was not readily apparent, and I didn't want much for lunch, so the cathedral cafe provided a nice egg salad sandwich and juice.  Then I was on with my tour.  No luck finding any ancestors, but lots of other interesting things.  Gloucester was put on the map when King Edward II was murdered and buried in the cathedral.  The cathedral became a shrine for pilgrims and the funds generated by these pilgrims financed the building of this magnificent structure. 

Also interred here is is the founder of the original Saxon Abbey and a Knight Prince or two here and there.  Like many modern European cathedrals, there are plenty of contemporary art pieces scattered around.  I particularly liked a small stained glass window that you will see in the photo blog.

My next stop was to be the Folk Museum as the ancestors last lived here in the 16th century, and it would have been nice to see how they lived.  However, going to a town on Sunday or Monday pretty much assures that there will be no museum visits.  So, I wandered around town and caught a few more of the city sites.  The Blackfriars, the harbour, the Greyfriars and St Mary's Cemetery where I was delighted with a whimsical bench of Green Men and their sidekicks.  I managed to hobble back to the rail station and watch the police at work cuffing a young suspect.  I had to change trains in Swindon, but got home via the Indian Restaurant in Reading and had a lovely Lamb Madrass dinner. 

I was sorry to miss the syncronized diving on tv, but caught up on some of the olympics before going to bed.

Today has been a rest day for me.  The legs are almost back.  I had a little outing to Sainsbury's for provisions, and Mark has called to say that he is bringing home fish and chips for dinner.  Stay tuned for photos and more adventures tomorrow.  I'm looking at Cheltenham.

KG