Dylan Thomas, John Wesley and more....

I packed my clothes in vacuum bags, and just have a few things to get ready. I am not sure about the weight yet, 50 pounds goes pretty fast I think. I moved the guide book to my backpack and may have to move some more things. But I do want to fit in the duffel bag for the rail trip. And it weighs 4 pounds. If that doesn't work, I may have to check it separately.

I have read a lot of the guidebook and will read more on the plane. In my reading and planning, I learned that we will be in Swansea, Wales, which is Dylan Thomas's hometown during the annual Dylan Thomas festival. In honor of that, I have just listened to 'Under Milkwood' and read 'A Child's Christmas in Wales'. I also learned that Richard Burton asked to be buried with an anthology of Thomas's work in his hands.

I looked up some more sites on the internet, and located a couple of Wesley sites, one is the Aldersgate Flame, at the site of John Wesley's 'warming of the heart' and Wesley's Chapel with a museum of Methodism. There is a lot to see, but if time permits these would be interesting places to see, especially the Wesley Chapel. I especially want to see Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral as well, along with the Cabinet War Rooms, which are highly recommended.

Here are a few interesting facts about Wesley's Chapel:

The site of Wesley's Chapel was purchased from the Corporation of London in 1776 and construction by a local preacher commenced in 1777. The Chapel was opened on 1st November 1778.

Wesley used the City Road Chapel (only later called "Wesley's Chapel") as his London base. Wesley's Chapel was the first Methodist church in London built for the celebration of communion and preaching. It is not the first Methodist church, however - that honor belongs to the New Room in Bristol.

In 1891, to mark the centenary of Wesley's death, the chapel was refurbished. The original oak masts that supported the gallery were replaced with marble pillars from around the world. As it was the Civil War era, the chapel received are two pillars from America: North and South. The stained glass windows were also added at this time.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher got married at Wesley's Chapel in 1951. A devout Methodist, she attended services here from time to time but the security arrangements eventually made it very difficult to do so.