St Albans

Yesterday I went on a day trip to St Albans, just north of London. Sadly all the pictures I took have disappeared from my phone and I am very sad. You will have to imagine it all instead!

St Albans has a huge cathedral. I enjoyed its beautiful floor tiles, which have raised, embossed patterns. I loved the massive rose window (see the Cathedral's photo page for a nice shot) and the ornate carvings around the lower window casings. I visited the shrine of St Alban--he was a Roman who harboured a fugitive priest, and converted under his influence. Then when executioners came knocking for the priest Alban said that he was the priest and the priest escaped. Alban was the first British martyr. Walking around the cathedral I used a guide called a prayer trail, which was really interesting, if a little pluralist for me.

I had lunch sitting on the grass of the park behind the cathedral. I am still reading The Idiot and am now on page 400 (of 660). I have a bit of a cold so I had quite a long rest and then ambled over the park to the Roman museum. St Albans was built on the site of an important Roman town called Verulamium. The museum was excellent and the history fascinating. I traipsed over to the ruins of a Roman theatre, the only one in Britain.

I saw a bench at the theatre dedicated to someone that had the epithet, "A person who also lives in the past lives doubly" (or something thereabouts). This reminded me of what we have been talking about at our house group, that looking at life from an eternal perspective changes everything. "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal." CS Lewis said.

St Albans was an excellent day out. It is so close to London (just half an hour from St Pancras). If I would have had more energy I would have also climbed the clock tower.