Tuesday--Stonehenge & Salisbury Cathedral

What a day! A day when you see one of the greatest mysteries in the world and the cathedral with the tallest spire in England AND 1 of the 4 existing copies of the Magna Carta. I did it all on another London Walks tour (my third) to Stonehenge/Salisbury via public transport with guide Gillian.

Rather than give a blow-by-blow account I'll summarize by saying we took a 1.25 hour train ride from Waterloo station to Salisbury. Very comfortable and speedy; I had a nice chat with an English retiree the whole way on a wide range of topics.

We then strolled through a lovely park to get to the cathedral.

The cathedral was consecrated in 1258. It's one of the few that allows pictures. I won't put many in the blog, just a couple to give you a general idea of the interior space.

The cathedral has the world's oldest mechanical working clock (1386). It only keeps track of hours but has been in operation for over 600 years!

We viewed the Magna Carta in the Chapter House after exiting the cathedral proper (no pictures allowed in that room). It originated in 1216 and contains a number of the concepts our modern justice system is based upon, like "innocent until proven guilty".

We had an hour for lunch and I ate fish and chips (first meal of this English standard dish). Fish was cod and tasty. Chips (french fries) were so-so. Two women from the tour joined me, a Londoner and a young woman from South Africa who is in England on a one year work visa working in a nursery.

We then departed in a chartered coach for Stonehenge. After a big meal and an apple custard tart I bought in the open market the bus was warm and I took a nap so didn't hear Gillian's narration of the sites we passed on the way. I awoke just in time to pull into the car and bus parking lot.

It was a sunny day so our views were great. It was windy and chilly and the site is on top of a hill. I was dressed appropriately so was comfortable.

Gillian did her best on this pic to get the monument and me without lots of tourists in the picture--thus the awkward framing...you get the idea.

I'll have more on Stonehenge (including video) when I return and have time to put it together. I bought an excellent book published by the English Heritage group that tells me that Stonehenge was built anywhere from 3000-1600 BC. The book has tons of scholarly info on all the antiquarian sites in the neighborhood plus great pictures and other illustrations. I splurged at the gift shop and bought the book for 5 pounds and a fridge magnet for 3.50. This whole day (not including lunch) cost around $75. It was definitely money well spent!

We returned via train and arrived back in London around 6:15 PM. No such luck with a chatty seat companion on the return so I read Jane Austen on my iPod Kindle app. I went to the other Indian restaurant that was recommended by a gent in the pub, Curry Manjill. Ordered a couple of veggie dishes plus veggie samosas then went to The Washington pub for a pint while they prepared my order. This pub was not as friendly as Steele's so I won't be returning. The pint of cold London Meanhouse Ale hit the spot!

I found when I got the food back to the flat that it was fiery, but good. Had to have a slice of bread with margarine to bank the fire after I finished. It was getting late by that time so I did a preliminary edit of the pix on the camera then hit the sack and continued reading Lawrence Block's Tanner On Ice mystery.

As I write this Wednesday morning it's overcast but the forecast says it will clear up later. Tower of London walk plus trying to see some court action at the Old Bailey are on my agenda for today.

Cheers!