Good Morning, England

So, after hours on planes and trains, here I am in grey and damp England, sitting in a Starbuck's in East Croydon, sipping gingerbread latte (yummy) and playing online while Christopher calls his friend Kala and makes plans to meet up with her (since she's our transportation, apart from the trains and the Underground).

The flight was long, but not too bad. I didn't end up sleeping as much as I'd hoped, which I'm sure will catch up with me in a few hours. Right now a couple hours sleep and delicious latte are staving off fatigue, but that won't last forever. We zipped through customs and immigration ("... and the reason for your visit?" "Attending Witchfest International and visiting pagan sacred sites." "Very good, then, enjoy your stay.") and manage to recall how to navigate the trains well enough, although we arrived during the morning commute, so they were crowded.

(Wait a sec... had to switch tables so the ladies who came in with kids could have the bigger one. Since Christopher headed back to the hotel, I don't need the big table.)

So now it's just waiting for our hotel room to be ready and for Christopher to get in touch with Kala. Can't complain too much about the hotel, since Witchfest is taking care of it, but it's the same place we stayed last year, and their rooms are like large closets. Gods willing, we'll get something just a little larger this year, but I'm not getting my hopes up. When Christopher gets back we'll see what's on-tap for today. Might as well check e-mail and see if I can't get something useful done.

More news as time and WiFi connections allow. Cheerio!

The Stones at Night

Once Christopher’s friend Kala and her brother David arrived at our hotel yesterday, we set out from Croydon westward toward Avebury, Bath, and Glastonbury.

The M4 (the main highway running in a circuit around London) is huge. I was struck, as last year, by how sprawling the city of London and its environs are. While cities like New York may be greater in terms of population, they have nothing on London in apparent size, being so much more contained. London just seems to go on forever. It must have taken the better part of an hour just to get out of the city.

It rained on and off, and I dozed on and off in the car, trying to catch up on sleep and adjust to the jet lag. It was the sort of day you might expect from England: cold, grey, windy, and blustery. The countryside was vividly green, a contrast to the urban environment.

It wasn’t until after sunset that we stopped off in Avebury, Britain’s largest stone circle. We parked by the Red Lion pub, located near the center of town (and the center of the circle). Although the area is fenced off, the gates are unlocked and we could just walk around as we liked. Just as we arrived, the rain stopped and the blustery wind began to clear the clouds.

It was truly magical: the night sky filled with a ragged mix of clouds and stars, the damp grey monoliths looming overhead. The air seemed filled with electricity. The stones exert a kind of magnetic charge you can feel just by approaching them. They’re so massive it’s like they have their own gravity. They’re surprisingly welcoming: solid in a comforting, familial kind of way. Looking at them standing silently in the dark of the night, overlooking the road and the town, there’s a sense of quiet majesty to them, like sentinels on watch.

We walked around the inner part of the circle, before making our way to the Red Lion for something warm to drink. It’s a charming English pub with a genuine thatched roof (and, like many of its sort, about as old as our entire country).

Then it was off to Bath, where we found a hotel and some very nice Thai food. I slept like a proverbial stone last night and today I feel like I’ve largely adjusted to the jet lag and the time difference. After breakfast at the hotel this morning, we’re off to Glastonbury.