A few of my....

At the final dinner of each trip, Dr. Henry Miller our (Wales) “tour director”, always asks everybody what was their “favorite thing or memory" of the trip..  That of course is highly subjective, but it is interesting to see what struck a chord with different folks. 

After a bit of reflection, I kind of surprised myself with my answer.  I thought most likely  food was not the appropriate candidate for the best memory (what was my worst memory?  Those damn sausages at Lamphey).   Anyway, as it turned out, it was not the castles

(Conwy Castle)

Nor was it the Abbeys laid waste by Henry VIII

(Tintern Abby)

Or lovely Welsh gardens

(Llancaiach Fawr Manor)

Not even the kitchens in several of the old manor houses we visited (but close!)

(Plas Mawr Manor, Conwy)

And strangely not the Cathedrals

(St. Davids)

Nor our descent down into the “Big Pit” coal mine

Well, maybe it’s because of my affinity for our little brick 1667 reconstructed chapel at St. Mary’s City (a child compared to what others we saw) but it turned out my favorite thing was also a chapel.

There is a outdoor museum at St. Fagans called the National History Museum, and features a:  “collection over forty original buildings from different historical periods which have been re-erected in the 100-acre parkland, among them houses, a farm, a school, a chapel and a splendid Workmen's Institute.  It is situated on the grounds of the magnificent St. Fagans Castle and gardens, a late 16th-century manor house donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth”.

It turned out that our visit to the museum was during the “term week” when all the little kiddies were between terms in school and hence were unleashed on the public.  Place was crawling with kids.  Anyway, we decided to go see the Chapel figuring maybe it wasn't so popular with kids who just wanted to see goats.  So, map in hand MFO and I trudged to the far reaches of the property (why are Chapels always at the far reaches of things?) and eventually we saw an attractive but unassuming little building.

Noted on the map as St Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Tal-y-bont, removed and reconstructed from its original location in south Wales.  Originally a 12^th century chapel and updated over the centuries, it was supposed to be restored to its original pre “reformation” condition, i.e., before Henry (not ours!) got involved in church business.  Okay, fine.  Let’s go in and see it.  We stuck our head inside and immediately said “Holy Smokes” (not the word i actually used but does start with the same letter).  It almost took ones breath away

Those walls were just incredible

Incredibly beautiful.  They sort of defied any pre-conception of what one (at least I)might think of as “medieval” art.

It was the familiar story that during the reconstruction as they removed some of the covering on the walls they uncovered (portions of) these beautiful paintings.  The current ones are as faithful as possible to the originals.  In some of the literature, it was noted that since most of the parishioners were illiterate, visual depictions of the life of Christ was how it was communicated.  

Astonishing.. and that is why it will remain my utmost memory of the trip (with those others not far behind!)

(Musing)

Which sort of got me thinking, and coming to a realization (which i should have known) but this experience brought it slamming home.  Being a engineer living in a technical world, it’s hard to shake my perception that comparing today’s technology to historical (automobiles instead of horse carts, electricity instead of fires, mobile phones instead of handwritten letters, etc.,) leads one to think “old” is crude and primitive.  In reality while this may be true of “things” it certainly does not apply to “art”.  As long as there have been humans, there were individuals with an eye to beauty and the ability to create. I know this is obvious to almost everybody but me but it is a good lesson for me.

Well, that’s almost a wrap for Wales, but i do think their breakfast deserves a nod of the head or roll of the tongue..

And I’ll bet those medieval folks even

DFD