I went to church at Wells Cathedral. It was sumptuous. You must bring your sense of humor with you, of course. Their boys' choir is on summer vacation (just like me!). They had a very good visiting boys' choir. FROM DALLAS.

I picked up a yummy smoked salmon sandwich at the grocery and a salad and walked all the way to Boots because I knew they had the coldest Diet Cokes and had myself a very good Sunday lunch.

And then I drove the 7 miles to Glastonbury.

Glastonbury fits in any category you like. I, of course, suck up all the medieval history, the dissolution of the monasteries, etc. And yes, King Arthur was a real King and he and Queen Guinevere are buried amid the ruins of Glastonbury Cathedral. It was the richest and most enviable of the ancient monasteries. Brother Cadfael would have thought it too grand. Highly political. Which is why, when monasteries were broken up, Glastonbury went down big.

Remember that all these Cathedrals were born Catholic. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539, Cathedrals like Westminster changed to Church of England. Glastonbury was big and rich and a sparkling torch for Catholicism. It had to go. If you google "dissolution of the monasteries" you will be met with a picture of the grand, haunted ruin of Glastonbury.

Astonishing to me, it was all decked out for a conference the day I arrived. A pilgrimage. I said something in the gift shop about the Church of England and the shopgirl said, "Oh, these are Catholics. The Anglicans were here a couple of weeks ago."

Outside town, there is a natural Tor (it looks like an upside down ice cream cone). It is steep, and atop it stood another monastery. The head of that monastery was drawn and quartered, after being hung. And yes, I climbed the Tor, in blazing heat. Mad dogs, Englishmen, and ridiculous American tourists...

I loved the whole day.