England begins.

Wells, a photo by h.Lo on Flickr.

This morning was a bit gloomy, sadly for more than one reason. I spent the afternoon yesterday on Skype with Shawn watching Lucy take her last breaths. Not a great way to start this tour, but I intend to keep moving forward. Shawn will do the same stateside.

I started off with a nice runny egg before we boarded the "coach" to Glastonbury. As soon as we entered the Glastonbury Abbey, the rain started. It was a gentle, Seattle-style rain, though, so we managed and continued with the tour. I did catch a lot of hell over my poncho, though. It is ugly, and was called a "kite". Ha!

An hour later, I was assisting in picking up a huge box of "Glastonbury Pasties". As all good anglophiles know, pasties come from Cornwall, not Glastonbury. Our guide asked the baker why they were called Glastonbury Pasties, and she replied, "Well, they've never been to Cornwall to start with". Our plan was to picnic with the entire group at the abbey, so the pasties were the main course. We also chose some traditional English cakes to accompany them, as well as cans of Scrumpy Jack (which I actually liked quite well).

The picnic was lovely. Glastonbury seems to be the Sedona of England...full of mystical shops selling crystals and so on. I spotted a hot pink pair of Hunter wellies that I wished I could fit in my luggage. They were apparently a special edition pair of wellies in honor of the recent Glastonbury festival. We passed the site of the festival on the way into town to find it was still covered in garbage several weeks later.

After leaving Glastonbury, we drove to Wells. On the way, our guide announced that this is where Hot Fuzz was filmed. Funzies! We first visited one of the most magical streets I've ever seen: Vicar's Close. It was *perfect*. So incredibly picturesque and complete with two sweet cats who rubbed legs as we stood in the middle of their street.

Leaving Vicar's Close, we toured the cathedral. We had a passionate volunteer show us around. He told us early on that the architect was named "Adam Lock". Hmmm. The Welsh/English side of my family may very well be from around these parts, so I'm going to have to do a bit of research, I think. That line of work would certainly fit in with the creative streak the Locke's have today.

The cathedral was actually filled with moments of humor that I quite enjoyed. This seemed very appropriate considering the town also inspired Hot Fuzz. The tops of columns featured funny faces pulling on their teeth, or showing their sore feet. Others showed scenes of what a farmer would do to anyone caught stealing grapes. There was also a great cuckoo-style clock that showed a man sitting on the toilet ringing the bell. Total eccentricities that I really enjoyed.

Afterwards, I walked onto the main street and Hot Fuzz came to life. Right on the square, just as it should be, the pub stands. I went in and ordered a Pimm's Cup in the hopes that the bar tenders would talk to me. I didn't stay long, but in the time I was there, the main bar tender showed me a photo of himself dressed like a cop alongside the cast and director Edgar Wright. They also have a framed, autographed police jacket on display. So, so cool. I love that it's possible to get excited about something so historical (the cathedral) and something so modern at the same time. I pretty much decided that Wells is a place I would like to revisit and actually stay in for a bit.

We drove back in the late afternoon and had a group dinner. The group is so, so wonderful. They have so much in common and are very respectful of one another. It's an absolute joy to be with them each day.

Leaving for the Cotswolds in the morning. I hope the rain holds off because I adore the Cotswolds and really want it to remain a good memory.