YORK

The morning was dedicated to exploring and experiencing the grandeur of York Minster (officially the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St. Peter in York), one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world. It was filled with top caliber stone, glass, and religious furnishings. We went on a tour with a very informative guide, who obviously enjoyed his job.



One of the most impressive pieces for me was the Five Sisters stained glass windows in the north transept. The grillsaise glass used in the windows gave them a somber and holy attitude that I felt drawn toward.



Beneath the main building of York Minster you can visit some of the Roman ruins upon which it is built, as well as the crypt and tomb of Saint William, who was twice Archbishop of York during the 12th century.



After much of the day spent in York Minster, we wandered in the rain at the front edge of incoming Storm Boelo. We visited the Museum Gardens since they were going to be closed the next day due to the storm. It was filled with wire mesh "ghosts" that were themed to the gardens, as well as the city of York and its history. I made friends with this plague doctor displayed near the ruins of the medieval St. Leonard's Hospital.



We eventually made our way to The Shambles, which has gained in popularity because of the Harry Potter books and films. It was the inspiration for Diagon Alley. It was essentially a tourist trap of shops and open-air market. But it was also filled with "snickleways," alleyways that only pedestrians can navigate due to their narrowness.



We walked in pouring rain to the National Railway Museum, which was filled with trains primarily associated with the British Royal Family. It was also filled with tiny ghost figurines that comprised a scavenger hunt, which was more difficult than I anticipated!



We eventually found our way to a shared seafood platter dinner, which our least favorite of our trip. Some of the food was good; some was not; the service could have been much better. But I got to enjoy a Black Sheep Blonde Ale, the third (of five) of the trip, with a plate of frickles (deep fried pickles)!



We ended the night on our trip back to our guest house with a visit to Topping's Books. Out of all the various book stores we stopped in, this was my favorite. It was a well-curated collection. I could have spent a lot more time here, as well as money!

YORK

The first half of the day was a travel day. Storm Austen hit southern England and Wales the day before, which disrupted train travel throughout England.



Our train was supposed to have eight cars, but only had four because they had to shuffle trains throughout the system. But they packed the same number of people onto half the number of cars. That meant that it was standing room only for much of the trip. For the first 45 minutes of the 2½ hour trip, I was trapped between cars due to the sheer volume of people on board. I got to dance with the accordion connector and feel every bump and sway of the train. It was a good thing I took Dramamine and was wearing my magical acupressure wrist bands.



Once we were settled into the room at our guest house, we headed out to find food for an early dinner. We stumbled upon Craft Burger York, which was the best of happy accidents. I had the Broski, which was a Classic smash burger with stir fried kebab meat on top. I cannot even begin to explain the heavenly nature of this burger. It was accompanied by excellent chips, Algerian dipping sauce, and a can of Ice Cola. 



The city of York is surrounded by Roman walls, most sections which are still extant, and other sections are being rebuilt/restored. Gatehouses and storehouses dot the entire perimeter of the walls.



We walked a lengthy section of the wall, peeking into ruins, looking through arrow slots, and peering down upon the current cityscape of York.



This is the beauty of York. The English lawn of Grays Court Hotel, with York Minster in the background, as seen from the top of the Roman city walls.



Who knew? Constantine was proclaimed emperor of the Roman Empire in York in 306 AD.



We walked around in the shadow of York Minster, basking in the beauty of it's Gothic architecture, as a prelude to tomorrow's journey into its interior.

THAMES and MORETON-in-MARSH

We started the morning with hot chocolates at The Paperboat Cafe on Folly Bridge. There is something different about British chocolate. I imagine it is purer, involving less preservatives and chemicals. In any case, it definitely has a slightly more bitter and chalky flavor that is to my liking.



We got up close and personal with Folly Bridge by getting on the water. Oxford River Cruises took us out on the Thames, which the locals call the Isis in this stretch.



The other people who were supposed to be on our cruise didn't show up, so we had a personal guide and boat. The weather was beautiful and sunny, the calm before Storm Austen would batter southern England and Wales.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) had its origin in a similar boat trip in this section of the river.



Caudwell's Castle was built by Joseph Caudwell in the mid-1800s. He adorned his brick fortress with Greek- and Roman-inspired statues and a couple of cannons. Our boat guide told us some wild tales of Caudwell, who eventually ended up exiled to Australia.



We wandered around Oxford for the late morning and early afternoon, as we awaited our departure time for parts west. The British love their brick and straight lines in their architecture. And they love narrow stories. I described it as "brickish and upright."



We visited the History of Science Museum in Oxford. They have a blackboard Einstein used in a lecture on cosmology while visiting the University of Oxford in 1931.



We stayed in a 300-year-old cottage in Moreton-in-Marsh, in the Cotswold District, wandering about the town and taking in the sights. The main floor of the cottage was a Thai restaurant.



Dinner was in the aforementioned Thai restaurant. I ordered Crazy Tiger, which was sirloin steak and vegetables (including some mouth-numbing peppers) in an excellent nuea-yang style sauce. A Schweppes Lemonade helped cut the heat a bit. Scrumptious!

BATH

We traveled from Oxford to Bath via train. Our first visit was to the Roman Baths, where the local goddess Sulis Minerva (a Celtic-Roman hybrid) was worshipped at one point. This is a gilt bronze head from the statue that once stood above the temple of the bath complex.



The water in the baths continues to be heated by geothermal forces even today. We had an opportunity to taste the water and I don't recommend it. It was warmer than lukewarm and filled with all kinds of minerals, giving it a chalky characteristic. Supposedly, it has healing properties, but I'll pass.



Next, we visited the Bath Abbey (more properly known as the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The original structure was built on top of a Roman temple that was part of the bath complex by the Normans. Over the centuries, it has been partially destroyed and rebuilt many times. It is filled with elaborate and exquisite stained glass. 



We had the opportunity to climb a narrow circling staircase to the roof and the ceiling, which provided us stunning views of the city of Bath. It was also extremely windy on top!



We were able to sit within the clockface of the Abbey. We were also able to sit with the ten bells in the bell tower, including Great Ethel, the "troublesome tenor" bell that is a cousin to London's Big Ben.



After the Abbey, we wandered around Bath on foot, taking in the sites of the city. Pictured above is Pulteney Bridge and a weir to control water flow in the River Avon.



The grandeur of The Circus cannot be captured in ground-level photographs. It's a ring of stone townhouses constructed in the mid-1700s. It was stunning to stand in the circular park in the center of the structures and take it all in.



A train ride back to Oxford found us eating dinner at The Castle. I had the Roasted Potato Lamb Hotpot with steamed broccoli and garden peas. The hotpot was like a lamb stew but with less liquid. It was quite filling and paired well with the second beer of my trip.

Hooked Norton Best Bitter was my beer of choice for the evening. When I ordered it, the bartender warned me that it was bitter. "I hope so!" was my reply. It was and pulled flavors of the potatoes and lamb forward on each quaff. Yes!

OXFORD

Our first full day in Oxford was indeed full. Bursting even.



We started with a visit to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, which is filled with art and artifacts from Europe and Asia, from ancient times to the 19th century.



The campus of Oxford University and the city of Oxford overlap and merge in places, so much so that sometimes it's difficult to tell what you are looking at or experiencing. Is this Mr. Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis? Or perhaps an inspiration for him? (See the lamppost in the background?)



We visited St. Mary's Church, an Anglican church, that was filled with beautiful stained glass and religious furnishings. It also had tower that afforded us view of the Radcliffe Camera (pictured).



The Norrington Room in Blackwell's Bookshop is the largest bookselling room in the world, and was awesome to stand in. I also bought a book there!



We visited the Oxford Castle Prison, which was in use from 1009 to 1996 in incarcerating individuals, as well as made our way to the top of the Castle Mound.



We participated in an evensong choral service at University Chapel (Worcester College Chapel). Although "participated" may lead one to believe we had an active part in worship. We did not. The congregation's role was limited to a couple of spoken responses, so it was quite different from the way I'm use to worshipping. Let's say we experienced worship. It was lovely, just not what I'm used to.



The day ended with dinner at Banana Tree, an Asian-fusion restaurant. I had Teriyaki Soba Noodles with Steak. It reminded me of Nuea Yang and was excellent. I also had a Korean Drug Egg, which was not quite what I expected—it was less hot than I imagined, a bit sweet, quite a bit umami, and enjoyable. Schweppes Lemonade provided just the right amount of "beverage support."

THE HOLLY BUSH

After we settled into our room in the guest house we would call home while in Oxford, we grabbed dinner at a local pub, The Holly Bush. "Did you know? The Holly Bush was home to one of Radiohead's 1st gigs! Could you be the next Thom Yorke?"



The Toni pepperoni pizza was some excellent comfort food after a day full of travel. The dough was bready and cooked perfectly.



After 33 months of sobriety, I had my first beer. I told myself if I ever made it to England, that I intended to raise a proper pint. In fact, during our travels I raised five. (And have since returned to my vow of no alcohol.)

I had an Anchorman Fresh Cask IPA, 4.1% abv. "A modern, fresh and fruity cask beer brewed using contemporary English ingredients with American late-hopping. Anchorman begins with gentle malt sweetness, before a lingering, bitter finish."

In British pubs, you order at drinks and food at the bar. Since the beer was a cask beer, the bartender had to pump the handle to fill the glass. The whole experience was a great welcome to the United Kingdom.

TRIP

The Wife and I went and did a thing. We traveled to England, which was my first time off of the North American continent.

I'm prone to nausea due to sever motion sickness, so I had to prepare myself. That included Dramamine, which made me extremely drowsy; wearing accupressure bracelets (they worked!); and a neck pillow so my head didn't bob around because of the aforementioned drowsiness.

Light rail to the airport became an international flight via Boeing 787 Dreamliner to London's Heathrow Aiport became a bus ride to Oxford. I survived it all without vomiting! I even ate two meals on the plane!

ONE LONG LISTENING

Tacoma Buddhist Temple holds an annual Spring Seminar and an annual Fall Seminar, featuring contemporary speakers from the world of Buddhism. This Fall Seminar featured former nun, Buddhist chaplain, and author Chenxing Han. It was both privilege and pleasure to hear her speak, primarily about her 2024 book One Long Listening.

From the start of her presentation, she was challenging us: "Who made it possible for you to be here today? In this moment?"

Some of my key takeaways from the day:

• Karma is relational.
• The importance of gratitude, listening, and the nembutsu. The latter played well with the members of the temple, who are Jodo Shinshu, and this is their primary practice. But it also spoke to me as I've recently taken up a variation on the nembutsu, via Kosho Uchiyama Roshi—Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu.
• "College had not prepared me to quit things."
• The impermanence of who we are in the face of change: "Who am I becoming in the absence of this person?"
• Chaplaincy as a "third place" of clerical/clergy roles. (Most Catholic chaplains are female, since they cannot serve as priests. Buddhist chaplaincy is a way for lay people to be involved.)
• The need for all of us to ask more open and generative questions.

Just prior to the seminar, I picked up her first book, Be the Refuge, at King's Books. I'm quite interested in the subject matter, especially on the backside of taking an online course in Interfaith Engagement.

Chenxing signed my book: "To Troy— With gratitude for the refuges you are building in this world."



I've read One Long Listening, Chenxing's second book, more than once. It was my favorite Buddhist read of 2024. As I wrote about it then: "It was intimate and vulnerable, exploratory and experimental, and provided a beautiful peek into both chaplaincy and friendship."

Part of my joy in the day was hearing what she selected to highlight from the book.

Chenxing signed my book: "To Troy— With delight in the karmic connections that have led to this moment & in spiritual friendship."

RAKUSU

The

Folding cloth. Sewing basting stitches to hold the folds in place. Laying out the pieces for the field.