st albans

Shane and Joyce and I took a short day trip to the market town of St Albans on Saturday, Jan. 24. At one end of the market is a clock tower, which also marks the site at which the funeral procession of Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I, rested on its sojourn to London in 1290. At each spot where the funeral procession rested, Edward raised a cross (one of these is the site of Charing Cross in London). The cross at St Albans no longer exists, but the clock tower is handsome in its own right, no?

A group of American Indians were dancing and singing at its base. Why not?

Word has it that St Albans boasts one of the highest concentrations of pubs of any village in England. That was enough motivation for Shane and Joyce and I to find ourselves in one. I ordered sausages and mash, and the pub people misforgot my order. So they gave me my lunch for free. Score!

After our lunch and ales, we sought out St Albans Cathedral. Here are Shane and Joyce playing "find the cathedral."


The cathedral is an interesting blend of styles dating from before the eleventh century to the late nineteenth.


See?

The interior was particularly beautiful, and, while inside, we joined a guided tour which informed us about various of the cathedral's features.




I can't quite remember what the tour guide said, but these pictures should give you some sense of what's in there.

After enjoying another beer, we headed back to London. That night, I took this picture from the window of my room in Vincent House.