Travel is Awesome! - Walking in the Chalice Well Garden, Glastonbury, England

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Spend an Afternoon in Avalon - Walking in the Chalice Well Garden, Glastonbury

The thing that struck me most about this Garden is the quiet. Driving in from London the contrast to the city's noise and excitement is striking. Chalice Well Garden is instead about quiet and excitement; that may seem an odd combination, but when you're there it feels perfectly reasonable.

There is a deep silence that permeates the garden. Birds and insects make the wee noises that only highlight the hush. People speak in whispers and stroll slowly, or they sit alone and isolated, wrapped thick in the magic of the place. The trickle of the spring water as it meanders its way through the length of the garden is relaxing and soothing to nerve, heart, and mind. Breezes rustle the leaves of trees and shrubs and the smell of green living things enhances it all.

Still, I felt an underlying sense of excitement being deep in the heart of Avalon. Can any of us hear that word and not get swept away with images of romance, valor, hope, and magic?

As you stand in the meadow looking up at the Tor you can't help but wonder, "Did King Arthur walk here, did he look up at that very same hill and decide to climb it only for the view?" You sit under a tree and enjoy its deep shade and wonder if he rested here too all those centuries ago; did Merlin sit at his side and speak of destiny and battles to be won or of choosing a wife? What kings have strode with purpose over this land; what small unknown lives have been nurtured here?

I've been in grander gardens, in those with more flowers, more formal and rich, or those much larger, but I can't think of any place more filled with possibilities.

I do not know if magic exists in ways the faithful wish it to, but I do know there is power here. Whether it is an elemental power born in the mists of time or power given only because we chose to believe and give it life, magic lives in Avalon.

Chalice Well Garden by Travel_Is_Awesome

The last rose of autumn in the Chalice Well Garden, Glastonbury, England On the brightest sunlit day there is still a feeling of unseen forces just beyond the edge of vision; in the hush of a garden you find hope and encouragement to believe in better things to come.

Relax in the shade, warm yourself in the sun, doze off in the gentle peace of the place, then awake to a frisson of... something. Something bigger than we usually find in our day to day lives, something finer. In this garden it's easy to put away highways and emails and bad television and spend an afternoon with history and heroes and the gods of this green and wondrous vale. Bring a lunch, picnic in The Meadow, let your gaze wander up Glastonbury Tor, eat, relax, drink from the Red Spring that has offered it's pure bounty to all comers for centuries, and remember to believe!

Chalice Well Garden by Travel_Is_Awesome
More Chalice well Bags

You can visit the Travel is Awesome Zazzle shop for souvenirs if you missed getting yours while visiting the Garden yourself. If you've not been to the Chalice Well Garden yet I hope our wee creations inspire you to change that soon!