Believe me when I say that I know it is cliche to say that time passed too quickly on this trip. The order of events was a blur on the trip, and they are an even greater blur now.
Our one night's stay in St. Briavel's was long enough, and I was more than happy to leave the next morning to hike through the Forest of Dean. (For all the Harry Potter fans, yes, that is the Forest of Dean). I think there may be a tie in my heart between the Forest of Dean and the Brecon Beacon forest in Wales. They are both beyond lovely. But, however much I may have loved the woods, that day's destination was what I most looked forward to. In fact this was one of my reasons for going on the trip: Tintern Abbey. Ever since Mrs. Burgoyne had us read Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" my senior year in high school, I have been in love with Tintern Abbey. I always thought that it must be the most wonderful place in the world, and indeed it was. So we all sat along a decaying wall among the shadows and sunlight of this magnificent structure and Dan read us "Tintern Abbey". Another life's dream fulfilled.
During this trip, I had been engaged in reading Thomas Hardy's book Tess of the D'Urbervilles and it was incredibly fortuitous that I finished the novel a mere ten minutes before we arrived at Thomas Hardy's house. I loved his house, but what I really loved was the cottage where he grew up. We sat around the fireplace while this older woman sat in a rocking chair telling us stories about Hardy. I could have stayed there all day, and I hope that one day I am an old lady sitting in a famous author's home chatting idly with tourists.
Then we were off to Lulworth Cove and the majesty of the ocean. We spent an unusually sun-filled day on the beach, and I count myself as one of the truly fortunate for not getting sunburned (thank you, SPF 100+).
After a few wonderful days at Lulworth, we hiked the coastal path between Lulworth and Weymouth and it could not have been a more glorious hike. We were at our own leisure to hike and stop along the way to write, or whatever pleased us. Oh, wondrous day! Our hostel for the night was an awful lot like the Weasley's Burrow, for it was never-ending in its flights of stairs and number of tiny rooms. Weymouth will always hold a special place in my heart, for it was the first place that we got to do a fireside and I loved those members so much. They were the kindest and most down-to-earth sort of people. I felt as though I had known all of them my whole life. Also, we found out that the proper way to say "Weymouth" is actually "Waymuff", because why wouldn't a "th" make an "f" sound?
Have you told Ms. Burgoyne you went? You need to! :)
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