Last Day of Winter Trip Part One!

As we sailed up the Solent Strait past Napoleonic forts to dock in Portsmouth we were excited but also a little sad this part of my trip is coming to an end. Elva did the included tour of Portsmouth which is a naval town and the only island-city in the U.K.  Henry VIII’s Mary Rose and Nelson’s HMS Victory are both on view here.   It has always been an important import export port.  It is probably most known to you as the embarkation point for the D-Day landings while Eisenhower had his headquarters here.  The city was shrouded in fog and she related that the tour was pretty basic but was interesting in many ways.  The Spinnaker Tower is a burj-like sail inspired structure that was built to mark the redevelopment of the port.  A national lottery funded the landmark and local citizens voted on the design. 

We had to change our clocks back to begin the day and then had an assigned time to meet ‘face to face’ with immigration.  All of this before we set out for our tours.

Carol and I set out for a tour to Winchester Cathedral.   Can you read that and not have the tune instantly pop into your head?  Our guide had lived her whole life in the town of Winchester.  The drive out to Winchester took about an hour and the scenery was limited to dull green hillsides because of the grey skies and foggy mist.  My excitement to see this iconic church pushed the gloom aside and soon we reached the quaint village.

I thought it looked charming and thought to myself that I cannot wait until I can spend an extended visit to England. 

Looks good to me!

We walked past the ‘Prior’s Hall’ and through the “Abbey Garden.”  The city was developed as the capital of ancient Wessex and from where Anglo Saxon Kings ruled until the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror’s first English castle was built here.   

Prior's Hall seen from the Abbey Garden.

Remarkably, Winchester Cathedral was undamaged in the WWII blitzes.  Hitler was specific about what not to damage in each of the places he invaded or tried to conquer.  He had plans for Winchester, this seat of kings, was to be his own center of rule in Britain.  He coveted it.

Winchester Cathedral approached from the back side.  The Eastern wall is to the left as seen here.

The enormous stained glass window was dismantled and stored for safe keeping.  This happened in most of the places of worship in England in hopes of surviving the war and the onslaught of German attack.  This window is unique.  The window is all original glass but it was removed in haste.  No one, after the war, was sure what pieces went where.  Is that Jesus’ head on John the Baptist?  Why does that robe have so many colors?  As a whole it is a beautiful, sparkling glory of stained glass art.  Original but not original! 

Entry facade.

One of the largest leaded stained glass windows I have ever seen!  Thousands of tiny pieces of glass.

There is a memorial to one William Walker tucked at the back of the nave.  In the early 1900’s the east wall was beginning to fail.  It has sunk noticeably.  Noticeable as you approach from the back as we did, it is definitely visible from inside as the floor suddenly dips down and slopes to the eastern wall.  Mr. Walker was a deep sea diver who donned his dive suit in 1906 and spent six hours a day for five years to lay cement sacks beneath the wobbling wall!  He had to work alone beneath the water as diving was not a common practice or hobby at the time.  

The 'choir' is intricately carved and quite long to accommodate all the monks who once dwelled here.  Each seat, or stall, was carved with a different symbol of a saint, animal, or flower or tree.

The ceilings and floors deserved special notice as well. 

 Fox's Boxes

The tile floor changes in such ways that it almost appears to have carpets laid on the tile.

The organ pipes are behind the choir stalls.

High raised pulpit.

 
If you keep in mind that to be a cathedral a church must have a bishop then you will not be surprised to find tombs of noted clergy and also of kings.  This church has a beautiful catacomb beneath to sanctuary.  The rooms are small but with beautiful carvings and ground level windows.   Every detail is unique and remarkable to be so old and yet feels a little modern.  One tomb in particular gets a lot of attention.   It is not in the catacombs or even a raised vault with a beautiful statue resting upon it.  It is rather an inscribed marker to one side of the lengthy nave.  On the wall is another.  These are the markers of the final resting place of Jane Austen.  She never lived in Winchester but was staying with friends in order to be in the care of a doctor who was treating her final illness.  The friends were able to arrange for this special attention.  She is the only ‘ordinary person’ buried within the church itself.  Her grave is the reason many visitors even come here.

We then walked back through the ‘business district’ which is a straight street of shopping intended for both the locals and the tourists. On the opposite end from the cathedral is the Great Hall.  It was first completed in 1235 and is fully visitable even today.   Mounted on one wall is the Great Round Table of King Arthur … or is it?  In reality it wasn’t created until the 13^th century once carbon dating was done on it.  The very recognizable image of Henry VIII is painted on it and the center image is the iconic Tudor Rose.   You can read a lot about Winchester but to see it in person was a bit overwhelming and emotional. The Cathedral itself is well preserved.  There has been a church, at first Catholic, since 648.  In 1097 this still existing church was built as part of a Benedictine monastery.  Until in the 16^th century there were many changes made both to enlarge and modify the interior of the cathedral.  Since then it has been pretty much unchanged except for maintenance and safety.  

The original Great Hall is on the left and the new offices to the right in this photo.

New renovations mimic the exterior of the Great Hall while provide civil office space.

You can see the proportionate size of  'King Arthur's Round table"

In reality Henry tried to latch on to the Arthurian legend for his own benefit.

Queen Victoria knew the importance of placing her own stamp on this historical site.

The day ended with us having time on our own to walk back through this market town through the only remaining city gate which houses the Westgate Museum.  Entertainers were playing in the street and children were dancing as they always do for street musicians.  The town itself is beautiful in a quaint English way.  Cathy has always lived here and loves it like we all do our hometowns.  But Winchester is a town we could all love!

 

Good marketing to the American tourists!

Back on the ship we all seemed to suffer the same condition.  Happy to go home but sad to leave the warm cocoon of the Viking family!  For some reason we began our sailing at 1:30 in the afternoon.  Seems we always sailed too early.  I would have liked to also get an included tour of the city itself.  But there was nowhere to walk to in this busy commercial port anyway.  

Lunch on the deck and then we enjoyed Dr. Malloy’s round-table discussion.  The whole theater was filled for a discussion of the British Museum, Culture and Controversy.   Opinions differed on whether or not ancient treasures should be returned to the places from which they were stolen in previous centuries.  And who do you return things to if, in the case of Greece for example, the country didn’t even exist when they were taken.   The 5:00 talk by Bishop Tim Stevens clearly explained the House of Lords and how and why it exists and what the future might bring.  Tim is a retired member based on his position as a Bishop of the Church of England.   Great insight.

Knowing that people are packing and organizing and based on the fact that our Assistant CD had been quite ill there was no evening entertainment in the theater.  There is always lots of music on the ship in the various venues and tonight was no different.  We enjoyed our dinner and tucked in pretty early as Elva is leaving for her flight at 6:15 a.m.   My transfer is at 8:15 and Carol is in between at 7:15. 

It has been a great way to spend January and see the Southern Med and Iberian Peninsula.