Day trip to St Albans

When I got up at 0530, yes that is the right time the sky was relatively clear with just a few high clouds. Goody I thought it will be a nice day for an outing. So I had a quick chat with my son on Skype, watched the sun come up and a bit later went and woke up The Man.

But by the time we had showered and breakfasted the clouds had closed in and it looked as though it might rain.

A little damp has never deterred us before and it didn’t today.

Just as well because by the time we were ready to walk down to the station the sun was out again.

And where were we off to?

Why to St Albans of course. And at just 20 minutes out of London by train it was a nice quick trip.

It was market day and we had a good wander around the stalls, vegies, fish meat and the usual clothing and household items. No we didn’t buy anything either. 

There was also a nice arty farty exhibition inside the town hall, and again we didn’t buy anything.

From there it was very short walk to the information centre to find a local map.

Then off to the cathedral.

Alban a roman, who converted to the forbidden Christianity, was the very first English martyr.  He was beheaded for his faith and for illegally harbouring a priest. Hence the name St Albans.

St Albans is a pretty town with Tudor buildings, and at only a short 20 minute train ride form London we were not at all surprised to see house prices almost on a par with properties close in to the city.

In the cathedral which is built on what is believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Alban (c. 250) was begun around 1077. We were in for a treat because an orchestra, choir and singer were practicing’. The acoustics in the church are excellent and when the choir sang unaccompanied it gave us an idea of how the church might have sounded in its heyday.  

Next stop on the map was the Verulanium Museum. It houses archaeological collections from the Roman city of Verulamium and the medieval town of St Albans including mosaics, pottery, metalwork, glassware and bone. It has recreated Roman rooms, and is regularly invaded by soldiers from the Roman Imperial Army. We were lucky enough to be the in time for the real life Roman soldier to do his thing

We were lucky to strike it on a day that one of the soldiers was there as they only do their talk on alternate weekends.

He told us about the life of a roman soldier, cleverly engaging the children in the audience in his presentation. By the time he had finished his presentation the weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse.

We were lucky in our bus connections too because by the time we came out of the museum it was ringing. Caught a local bus to the station and after just a few minutes wait along came the train back to Victoria and from there via the Northern Line to Crystal Palace.

I'm a bit tired after that early  start so I will post this and dd some pictures tomorrow

Good night.