Travel to Salisbury, Stonehenge & Bath

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Friday, July 4--Happy 4th of July to you all!

Today was filled with new impressions and spectacular scenery. We took a bus tour that included Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. We were rushed at every stop, of course, but we enjoyed our "taste" of each. Our guide was very informative and witty, but she didn't compare with the experience we had with passionate Bill in Scotland--the difference in their approaches was kind of reflective of the stereotyped national temperments of the two countries...

Salisbury Cathedral was gorgeous and dramatic, a soaring gothic masterpiece. After reading The Pilars of the Earth, Dave, Chris and I had deeper insight into the construction, politics, and culture of the day from which such an amazing building emerged.

We opted out of the tour group's pub lunch and found a Rick Steves' recommended place for lunch in the charming town, on the corner of Butcher's Row and Fish Place! There we enjoyed our first Cornish-style pasties from the huge selection of savory pastries at this bakery.

We all got to check off "visit Stonehenge" from our 'bucket lists"--and apparently so did the hundreds of others visiting the site along with us... It was impressive, but both Dave and I thought it would be bigger--he thought the stones would be taller; I thought they were spread out over a larger area... It was fascinating nonetheless, and appealed to my archaeologist side. After a quick half-hour visit and probably 100 photos between the 4 of us, we were reluctant to get back on the bus.

But onward to Bath we had to go. Our visit there centered on the Roman Baths. We'd been well-prepped by our guide and spent a bit more than an hour there viewing the ruins of the temple and bath complex from the Roman age, which were interspersed with some great exhibits. This turned out to be more impressive and larger than we expected. After a quick stop to see the incredible fan vaulting of the Bath Abbey cieling next door, we were back on the bus for our almost 3 hour trip back to London through beautiful countryside and some horrible traffic jams.

We celebrated the 4th by eating at an Indian restaurant--our first family experience eating Indian food--and with help from a patient waiter, we ended up between us with four different variations of curry--all of them big hits.

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Photos

Salisbury Cathedral Spire
...the tallest in all of England

Salisbury--Room where Handel wrote The Messiah
as indicated by window above archway.

A Close Encouner with History
One of the living history volunteers at the Roman baths

Interior of Bath Abbey
Note "fan" vaulting on ceiling