A BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG day! We hopped on the bus at 9 and headed out to Stonehenge. The drive was pretty, through picturesque English countryside inhabited by lots of cows, sheep, and pigs. There are lots of little light yellow primroses blooming in the shady ditches that I just love, and a tallish shrubby dark green foliaged plant with little bright yellow flowers that looks interesting. Stonehenge was just as amazing as it was the first time I visited. It's just so impressive. I love how it's in the middle of nowhere, just rising out of a field. All over the plain, little burial mounds dot the view. Inside each are the remains of one or more ancients. Only some have been excavated. I learned (or was reminded) that there was originally a tall mound of soil in a circle around the stones, so entering the space would have been even more dramatic. I remember that last time I was there, there were lots of sheep grazing right next to the the circle, but this time they were a little farther off. Just as we started taking pictures, a sprinkler system turned on. How silly is that?! Can't they do that at night, when there aren't people trying to get a dramatic picture of Stonehenge? Thankfully, the weather held up even though it was supposed to rain. It was windy, but pretty warm. There were a bunch of "crows" (by which I mean big black birds of some sort. I'm not entirely sure what they call them here) building nests in the cracks between the stones, which was funny to watch. They were all flying around with sticks and competing for the best ones. Spring is in the air!
Silly sprinkler
Crow with a stick
After Stonehenge, we drove over to see a site that I hadn't even known existed. "Old Sarum" was a fortified city with a castle, built on a hill over modern Salisbury. Turns out, Salisbury's original name was "New Sarum," and it was built to replace the old city when they decided to move. The main castle and moat and such were built in 1069 after the Norman conquest for William the Conqueror, and Henry I added a more elaborate palace complex in the early 1100s. It was pretty amazing to think of the place as a whole town, since the whole area was only about twice the size of my yard at home. The complex was built to be impregnable, and the elaborate defense system is still pretty darn impressive. It's built on top of several layers of man-made hills, which rise out of the mostly flat countryside. The walls are worn down to just a few feet in most areas, and were built of flint stuck into mortar. Standing on top of the hill, we had a lovely view of the city of Salisbury in the valley below.
Moat around Old Sarum
The view from one of the sides
Behind me is the outline of the ruins of the old cathedral
View of Salisbury Cathedral
Friends up on the wall: Sarah, Ariel, me and Pa
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
After touring Old Sarum, we made our way down to New Sarum, now called Salisbury. We were released for lunch, and given some suggestions by the guide. A few friends and I made our way to a pub called The Red Lion, which has been in operation since the 1200s. They think it's the oldest hotel/pub in the country, built 800 years ago to house the workers who had to build the cathedral. I ordered an egg and cress sandwich, which was very good. After, we made our way back to the cathedral to meet the guide. She took us around, pointing out the famous dead people buried there and the really amazing bits of art and architecture. I really love that cathedral. It's just pretty. It wasn't originally built to include a tall spire (which was added in 1320, 100 years after the main part was built), so inside you can see where some of the columns directly under the spire are literally bowed inwards from the extra weight. In the courtyard of the cathedral are two Cedars of Lebanon, which were planted there in 1837 to mark Queen Victoria's coronation. I vividly remember wondering what kinds of trees they were when I visited Salisbury the first time.
The entire outside of the church is covered in saints and
do-gooders. Here are St. Nicholas and St. George
Cedars of Lebanon
The Nave
Really pretty stained glass in a chapel
I think this was the North Transept
I asked a friend to take a picture of me with the cathedral
and the spire...well, at least you can see me and the lovely gray stone!
The drive home was a long one, and our driver did a pretty good job at making the majority of us at least slightly car sick. I had chicken and rice for supper, then settled down to read and rest. I'm mostly better, but my nose is all stuffy now and that has gives me weird sinus headaches from time to time. I'm kind of impressed at how fast this cold went though. Yay!
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