Whale riding in horses...hehe

What a weekend! A trip that was totally worth it. The coach ride was interesting…it was crazy!! I mean, this driver was safe, but the ride was bumpy, and he didn’t believe in staying in any one lane for too long. And then when we got into the country…wow. These coach drivers can fit into places that normal cars would have problems with!!

Our first stop was at Chepstow castle. It’s right inside the Welsh border; an old ruined castle. It’s really neat, and you pretty much have free reign of whatever is left of the castle…except for a few dangerous spots. But it was so much fun to run around in and explore. We got to stand on a bridge with one foot in Wales and the other in England, which was fun. Next we went to Tintern Abbey, the oldest abbey in Wales. It was amazing. There is no roof on it, and the day was clear and the sky was blue…it was amazing. It was like a huge cathedral, with grass growing inside and open to the elements. I would love to see a service in there in the summer, or a concert. It makes you feel spiritual… And we also stopped at a haunted church up on top of a hill near the abbey. It’s rumored to be haunted because some witches burned themselves to death inside it (nice bedtime story there!), and people still sneak up there to have rituals and such… It was all covered with vines, and it had a very old graveyard in the front of it. That night we stayed at Baskerville Hall Hotel, which was an old converted manor house. And for you Sherlock Holmes fans out there, it is rumored to be the place where “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is set.

The next day, we were split up into 2 groups to ride. I was in the afternoon group. It was so much fun to be riding again! We rode around in the fields, and it was a dreary misty day in Wales… but so beautiful!!

We got home fine, and were exhausted! Monday we went to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”…it was so cool! They did it in modern dress with goth fairies. It was a good show, but they didn’t cut any of the speeches…it was the full length play. The Pyramus and Thisby scene was absolutely hilarious!!!

That’s all for this very long post…I have another long post right below this one because I haven’t gotten to a computer for a while. So the post below this one is what I’ve been doing in the meantime.

Lots of love to everyone!!