I really needed a break. Two lectures a day, four days a week is too much for me. So Monday I was naughty, skipped lectures and took the trains to Salisbury Cathedral.
I took the Tower Tour and highly recommend it. In addition to climbing part way up the tallest medieval spire ever built, you see a lot of the innards of the cathedral.
Looking at those innards, I was amazed at the workmanship of the 13th Century builders. Most of their beams remain, and many of their wooden pegs. (They didn’t use metal nails.)
When you consider how quickly the cathedral was built by medieval standards and how huge the tower is . . . like I said, it’s amazing. And Salisbury hasn’t had near the problems with towers collapsing and foundations sinking like Winchester and other cathedrals.
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By the way, one of the nice things about England is you can use public transport to get almost anywhere. The downside: it may take forever. Even with trains on time, it’s two hours between Oxford and Salisbury. Late next week, I plan to go to Cambridge. That will be three hours by bus. So I understand British complaints about their transport.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteHow are the lectures going, and are you learning a lot? Do they make you want to go further at Oxford?
It is great that you are doing this--what a blessing.
Will (from Prydain)
Overall the lectures are good, but I'd rather be in the libraries.
ReplyDeleteAnd I want to be home too much already to want to do much more at Oxford. I'm glad I'm here, but I already miss home sometimes.
wannabe