Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Ginger at Stonehenge and a quick visit to Salisbury

We took a private coach to Stonehenge this morning, giving us all a chance to watch the English countryside go by.  I expected to see a lot of sheep on the way but apparently they were all having a conference around Stonehenge.  Knowing how sheep can be I let them graze off by themselves (antisocial buggers). 


My take on the mystery of Stonehenge?  It was definitely put together by aliens.  How in the world did people without cranes lift gigantic rocks and put them on top of other gigantic rocks?  Our tour guide Sean told us that ancient people carved the rocks with animal bones – impossible.  It had to be aliens.  There is a rope in a huge circle all around the stone circle and signs asking people not to cross over the rope.   It would be amazing to be able to stand in the middle of the circle and look around.  I’ll just have to be satisfied with a virtual look around the center.

That apparently was not enough for Ginger…










She is a very naughty chicken.


After walking around the rocks for a while, we headed off for Salisbury.  This cathedral is an architectural marvel sitting on supports that only go four feet down into the ground!  There was an art exhibition going on at the cathedral with scultures of realistic looking people.  Some of the sculptures were placed where holy statues would be and it created a rather jarring effect.  I was especially surprised when I turned a corner outside the cathedral and looked up to see a man in a suit holding a cup of coffee  on a ledge in the wall. 



The medieval town center of Salisbury is just so beautiful it knocks me over.  It doesn’t help that all the flowers are in bloom and cascading out of containers everywhere.  Lucky for us, the market happens on Tuesdays so we had a chance to browse around the stalls for some bargains.  I also discovered how tempting the clothing selections are at the charity shops.  I wish we had more time to explore the streets.  Tudor buildings are mixed in with gothic style structures.  Since Salisbury is a living city, all these incredibly historic places are used as shops, restaurants, and pubs.  The streets were full of people walking around talking, shopping, and eating.  My kind of place.



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