more photos

We've added more photos to our Picasa album which you can find at: http://picasaweb.google.com/revemw/SabbaticalPix

We spent Saturday in Chester doing some shopping and sightseeing. We happened to arrive during the Midsummer festival and saw a charming parade. People make elaborate costumes and wear them year to year. We also attended choral evensong at the cathedral, one of our favorite services. The choir (twelve girls and six men) did a fantastic job, though few were in attendance. We also enjoyed the Roman amphitheater and a walk on the walls of the city. After supper we went back to the cathedral for a concert by the Chester Philharmonic.

On Sunday we led the service at St. Mary's Church in Brymbo, a lovely 19th century church on a hill overlooking the valley. After a lovely roast beef dinner we were off to St. Asaph for the diocesan conference. The girls went with a family from church to an indoor activity center and had a great time.

Monday we were off to Llangollen, a nearby village that hosts the annual Internation Eisteddfod, a musical competition that brings choirs and musicians from all over the world. We rode on the Llangollen steam railroad and walked over the nearby Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, an engineering marvel constructed by Thomas Telford. Completed in 1805 it carries the Llangollen canal 126 feet over the River Dee. You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontcysyllte_Aqueduct.

Introduction

This blog is intended as an ongoing online postcard from our sabbatical. We'll be in Wales, England and France and will update this blog roughly once a week starting in mid June. We'll post pictures and link to interesting sites. We may even post short audio and video clips. The purpose of our sabbatical is to trace our Celtic roots, both in terms tracking down our family origins and also spiritually as we learn about and walk in the footsteps of the great Welsh and Anglo-Saxon saints.