Tintern, Wales

When I procrastinate, I make an effort. In the deepest depths of my exam period, I emerged from my room-cocoon and went on a day trip to Wales with the International Students House Travel Club. 

Having driven through parts of the Cotswolds, our first stop on the way to Wales was Gloucester. Prior to the trip, my impressions of Gloucester were largely shaped by the town’s annual cheese-rolling event, during which participants chase a giant round of cheese down a hill, the winner being the one who ‘catches’ the cheese, the prize being the cheese itself.

All of which slightly departs from the topic at hand. The most exciting thing about Gloucester cathedral is the fact that it played home to the corridor leading to the Gryffindor common room in the Harry Potter movies. Jealous, Mel?

Next up was a lookout somewhere within the Forest of Dean (a forest you might recall from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I swear, every single teensy bit of England was used as a location in those films). The lookout point was great, all sweeping green, white cliffs, and a twisting river.

We knew we’d reached Wales as soon as the road signs stopped making sense. I love the look of the Welsh language, all swirly bits and upside-down-looking letters. I remained happily oblivious to the meaning of the passing road signs until some smart cookie pointed out that the English translations were right beneath the Welsh.

Tintern Abbey was immediately spectacular. The ruins of the cathedral were incredible up close, almost as striking as the ruins of the St Andrews cathedral in Scotland. (St Andrews wins out mostly because of its location on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.) 

I had icecream for lunch and became very sunburnt by the time we got back onto the bus and headed to a nearby Welsh town, Stockport. Here we posed at the line dividing England from Wales and narrowly avoided being run down by passing cars.

There was also a nice sort of castle with a very nice sort of shade. A few of us lay down on the grassy slope and enjoyed a brief respite from enhanced sunburn.

Afterwards, we drove back to London, which seemed much greyer than normal after all that blinding green. And then I despondently returned to my exam revision, just a little bit redder than when I’d closed my books the night before.