Yns Witrin (Glastonbury) and Bath (Bath)

Friday 6 October

I ended up catching the bus from Bristol to Glastonbury, not the train to Castle Cary and a cab to Glastonbury. This saved me about £40.00.

I arrived in the middle of a torrential down pour and when I got off the bus, tried to phone a local taxi firm to take me to Hillside where I am staying but the number didn't connect.

Luckily, Anna my wonderful host at Hillside told me to call her if I got stuck and I duly did!

Hillside is about fifteen minutes' walk from the High Street and just up the road from Melrose B&B where I used to stay on past visits. It consists of a main house and a small flat, attached to the house, and I am staying in the flat. The house is lovely and the flat is gorgeous. Anna and Simon wanted to make it as they would like it, if they were guests there. It's warm and cosy and the bed is comfy (and I don't hang off the end like I did at the Arches Hotel in Bristol). There is a lovely view over the 'Vale of Avalon' and the birds chirp and the squirrels frolick. Idyllic really.

By the time I'd settled in, the rain had stopped and so I walked into town. I had a wee cry as I was so overwhelmed at being here again (Glastonbury, you might have gathered is a very spiritual place for me).

I had a coffee and gathered my thoughts in the Blue Note Cafe and just spent the rest of the day wandering around and checking out what's changed in the last ten years. It certainly is more commercial here now with shops catering for Wiccans to Goddesses to Christians. Only some gave me a sense that the person behind the counter is genuine though I'm afraid...

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion overtook me and I went back to the flat for a lie down. Unfortuately, I haven't bought any supplies so I walked all the way back into town and bought some dinner and breakfast provisions.

By the time I got back to the flat I was shattered. The last week has just caught up with me, tapped me on the shoulder and demanded my first-born too. I cooked some pasta and vegetables and settled on the sofa. I know I should be out and about but I am so tired.

I watch a great doco however. A couple of gardeners from Kew Gardens are touring Britain and featuring trees and tree experts along the way. This episode they were in Somerset (of course!) and followed a professional hedgerow layer as he competed in the annual competition on Prince Charles's land (HRH being one of the judges). The guys and Nigel (the hedgerow layer, not to be confused with Roger the Shrubber from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) take a hot air balloon ride over the Mendips in Somerset and talk about how in the 18th century the English landscape began to change because of the use of hawthorne hedges in defining pasture and land ownership. The hedgerow layers have a wee dog who runs in and out of the completed rows to check if they are stock-proof. If the dog can't get through then the layer knows the hedgerow is complete.

I burn a lavendar incense and drift off, trying to ignore how sore my feet are...

Saturday 7 October

Today it is time to see Wells Cathedral (with enough camera memory) and go back to Bath.

I caught the bus to Wells - a short trip from Glastonbury. On the way, we passed through a new housing development called Chalice Fields. I wonder if this is a reference to the Grail?

My first port of call in Wells are the public conveniences. When I used them the week before, I noticed a sign saying to be patient because of the 'ancient plumbing'. This time someone had scrawled underneath 'Isn't it time to replace it then?'. Very funny!

I visited the Cathedral and bought my photographic permit and duly took loads of photos! The nice ladies in the gift shop were discussing the upcoming visit to NZ that one is making next year so I made myself known to them as a Kiwi. They were very excited and asked me lots of questions. I had to break free from their clutches or miss the hourly bus to Bath!

The bus journey from Wells to Bath takes about one and a quarter hours but takes you through some gorgeous countryside. The bus drivers navigate very narrow country lanes and the bus practically scrapes the sides of the houses as it passes by. The speed limit is higher in the UK so it motors through villages with names like Binegar, Old Down and Chilcompton.

Ahhh...Bath. Beautiful Bath. I have fallen in love with you! I can't believe I lived in Bristol for six months and never explored Bath.

I head straight for the Roman Baths. Far from the serene and quiet place of contemplation I was expecting, it is crowded and boisterous. I take the audio guide telephone gadget and listen to someone sounding a lot like Zoe Wanamaker telling me all about the various parts of the place. The gadget is soon unused as I prefer to find things out on my own and not be 'processed' through the place.

After a while there, I go to the next place on my hitlist: Sally Lunn's Tea House! Here I have a 'world-famous' Sally Lunn cream tea. The bun itself is ultra-light and rather huge but I cope admirably with what will be the first of many cream teas here in England. I wash it all down with copious quantities of good tea.

I waddle over to the Museum of Costume which is housed in the Bath Assembly Rooms. The clothes on display range from 16th century to a copy of the green plunging dress worn by Jennifer Lopez in 2000. There was an exhibition of Nureyev's costumes worn by him for some of his most famous performances. There is also a selection of reproduction corsets women and girls can try on. I don't as I have no one with me to 'hook me up'. After my cream tea, I should have perhaps given it a go... Another exhibition featured is one about the pockets (purses) ladies used to carry with them. The embroidery on some of them is extraordinary.

Outside in the street again, crowds were gathering and following the ITV crew filming a new TV production of Persuasion. Very cool!

I get from Bath at about 6.00pm. It's over an hour by bus - first to Wells then to Glastonbury. I am exhausted so grab some dinner and head to the flat. I watch a series of specials on the BBC about Monty Python (another one of my great loves) and I feel very blessed that they are screening during my time in Glastonbury!

And what does Yns Witrin mean I hear you ask? Isle of glass - an old name for Glastonbury.