Question Responce!

[starsandsea]

ilovetobefree asked me for a list of places I would recommend to visit in the UK!

I'm afraid that I've changed this answer, a little, because I'm embarrassingly little traveled, so it's more of a wish list of places I would like to visit. :)



The City of Bath.

I live fairly close to Bath, so I go there often enough that I, well, take it for granted. But every now and then I really look and see how special it is. You have the roman baths, of course. But the main draw is always going to be the Georgian architecture. There are so many beautiful buildings there, and so many unchanged from when they were first built - at least on the outside. When I read Jane Austin, and the novels she set in Bath, I can see exactly where the characters are, because I've walked those same streets myself, I know exactly what they... feel like. I really should explore the city properly one day, and be a tourist, and not just go there for the shopping!

The many castles of Wales

My favorite castle in Wales is Harlech. I've only been there once, but it was during a week when we visited... another 4, I think. But there was just something about Harlech... I don't know if it was just that there weren't many people there, or... But it just seemed to be very... elemental, is the only way I can describe it. Almost between the sea and sky. It was raining, a little, and quite windy when you stepped outside the castle's walls, and it just felt... right. It's very rare that I go somewhere and feel that I could happily live there. I felt like that in Harlech, and in Beddgelert, which we drove through. I would very much like to visit them again, but I am almost reluctant to do so, in case I don't feel the same way, if that makes any sense at all!

Glastonbury Tor

I really love Glastonbury, though I haven't been there for several years now. Glastonbury is, of course, called the Isle of Avalon, and seeing how it rises out of the Somerset Levels you really see how it can be thought of as Avalon - especially right now, when the Somerset Levels are severely flooded! My most favorite memories of seeing it are on foggy and misty mornings, when it looks as if it's truly rising up out of mystic waters... And the view from the tor is stunning! As is the view from Cadbury Castle, which is nearby, said to be Camelot - I can very clearly remembering visiting there, and looking out across the Levels and seeing Glastonbury, the only high piece of land... You can really tell why people believe that it is Avalon!

So, that's my very short list of recommended places! Onto my wish list...

I would very much like to visit Cornwall, Tintagel especially. I have heard - and seen - lovely things about the Lake District. Nottingham, and the castle there, and the forest, of course. Scotland! All of Scotland I would like to visit, most especially the Hebrides, and the Isle of Iona. The Isle of Man! Western Wales, and the mountains there. Northern Ireland. I've read so much about Ireland, and have visited it a couple of times, but I love all the myths - the Celtic myths. A lot of the places where I wish I could visit are places that have myths and legends associated with them, where you can still recognize landmarks within the story today, and wonder "Do we walk in legends or in the green earth in sunlight?" (With thanks to Tolkien!)

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

Ha, Bath sounds delightful and also like New Yorkers who live in the city and have never visited the Statue of Liberty! ;)

About the Wales castles: I get what you mean about the elemental feeling of the place, and how you're reluctant to return. Some places are best left without a second visit because the first time is just so perfect. :)

Cool about Glastonbury! I read The Mists Of Avalon and always had a definite picture in my head of the mist-shrouded island. :)

That would be quite a sense of place to visit Cadbury Castle and imagine King Arthur, his Queen, and Lancelot there, along with the Knights of the Round Table.

Heh, I can't help but think of the Cadbury Easter Bunny! ;)

[starsandsea.livejournal.com]

About the Wales castles: I get what you mean about the elemental feeling of the place, and how you're reluctant to return. Some places are best left without a second visit because the first time is just so perfect. :)

Yeah, I'm really torn in wanting to go back there because I liked it so much, but not wanting the memory to be ruined if it isn't the same again...

That would be quite a sense of place to visit Cadbury Castle and imagine King Arthur, his Queen, and Lancelot there, along with the Knights of the Round Table.

It was really cool going there, and imagining Camelot! There are lots of places that claim to be Camelot, of course, but there's definitely something special about Cadbury and Glastonbury... Even if it makes me think of chocolate too! :P