DAY 10 THURS. JUNE 9 ABERYSTWYTH - ST. DAVID'S

Another lovely day: it gave us a sense that, maybe, just maybe, we might have touble on this leg. But our drive was almost flawless: note that I wrote "almost" : we got slightly lost in Fishgard, but quickly found our route to St. David's, the spiritual home of Wales.

We took a detour at Castell Henllys , a reconstructed Iron Age fort. I love it, because it brought the truly elemental aspect of the British, pre-Roman character to life. I've often thought that, if Arthur truly existed, he would have lived almost like this. Certainly Arthur's forefathers lived this way, and, if Arthur was a Celtic war chief in the years after Rome's withdrawl from Britain, he would have drawn on the traditions of the people who lived in this fort. It was quite tribal, almost like our First Nations, and I enjoyed it.

Then, to St. David's, a lovely town on the extreme southwestern tip of Wales. No Welsh is spoken here, sadly, even though we're only 2 hours or less south of Aberystwyth. The people are still Welsh, but not like their Gaelic-speaking brothers to the north.

St. David's Cathedral is a gem, but is in the midst of both restoration and a TV movie. The activities of the set crew absolutely took away from the magic of this romanesque treasure. Still, the roof and the heavy round arches were wonderful to see, and I touched the chest containing the bones of St. David. Lou lit a candle for her mom in the quiet sanctuary and I shed a tear. Light in the darkness: such is the purpose of these cathedrals, and I love them all.