Glastonbury, United Kingdom

The town of GLASTONBURY lies at the centre of the so-called Isle of Avalon, a region rich with mystical associations. It has for centuries been one of the main Arthurian sites of the West Country and is now England's most enthusiastic centre of New Age cults, the town centre full of alternative bookshops, outlets selling crystals and crafts, and vegetarian and organic food restaurants. Glastonbury is also famous worldwide for its music festival, which takes place most years over three days at the end of June outside the nearby village of Pilton.

At the heart of all the mysticism is the early Christian legend that the young Jesus once visited this site, a story that is not as far-fetched as it sounds. The Romans had a heavy presence in the area, mining lead in the Mendips, and one of these mines was owned by Joseph of Arimathea, a well-to-do merchant said to have been related to Mary. It's not completely impossible that Joseph of Arimathea took his kinsman on one of his many visits to his property, in a period of Christ's life of which nothing is recorded. It was this possibility to which William Blake referred in his Glastonbury Hymn, better known as Jerusalem: – "And did those feet in ancient times/Walk upon England's mountains green?"

Another legend relates how Joseph was imprisoned for twelve years after the Crucifixion, miraculously kept alive by the Holy Grail, the chalice of the Last Supper, in which the blood was gathered from the wound in Christ's side. The Grail, along with the spear which had caused the wound, were later taken by Joseph to Glastonbury, where he founded the abbey and commenced the conversion of Britain.

Frequent buses #375, #376 and #377 connect Glastonbury with Wells.