Anywho... An early start to the day. I actually got up later than I wanted for the first time in quite a while... how inconvenient. That said, it was no big issue. I got up, dressed and took the quick hop over to the train station. There I purchased a return ticket to Salisbury and still had time to pick up some breakfast. So, I grabbed a coffee and an onion and cheese pastry. I believe it also had potato in it and it was much like a breakfast minced meat pie.
So, with food in hand I boarded my train and headed to Salisbury. About an hour, and 1 transfer later, I arrived.
I feel now will be an appropriate time to mention some luck and appreciation. I have jokingly complained about the english weather nearly every day. Yet, my day out to see outdoor sites is relatively warm and blue skies, without a cloud to be seen.
Anyway, from the train station I took a turn to head towards the information center, Before reaching it I found my goal though. There was a double-decker site-seeing bus that I was looking for. Outside the bus they were selling tickets, that included round trip bus fair to Stonehenge and Old Sarum, as well as admission to both. I bought my ticket and boarded the bus.
We headed north on the bus out of Salisbury, with an audio recording as a guide to point out notable features along the way. One of my favorite comments in route was when being told about the military encampments on the plains. Apparently, the town of Salisbury was never bombed in WWII. Turns out bombers were on strict orders to avoid it as the spire was used for navigation, and bombers would fly to Salisbury and then follow roads to targets of interest. We also passed Old Serum, which we will return to later, and sadly the pictures from the road are a bit underwhelming. But, about 30 minutes later, we arrived at Stonehenge.
There I stood, as many have before, and many more still will, in the midst of the Salisbury Plain. The sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky, and the air was crisp and cool. It is very much the 'mystical' place its made out to be. You look in every direction and see gently rolling green hills. There are small ancient burial grounds littleing the hills in every direction. And, being the morning, as you look towards the sun you see it shining down over these huge rock structures, when there is nothing else standing for miles. Its a pretty good scene.
With the tour ticked I'd purchased earlier I was able to just head in through the entrance and collect an audio guide. The route from there took a short tunnel under the road, and up a ramp too where the stones stood. The tunnel and ramp were painted in an manner to estimate the ancient landscape, show workers hauling these multi-ton stones, and show a view of what Stonehenge may have looked like when it was complete. The path the continued to, and looped around Stonehenge itself.
Now, among other things I learned was the fact that this is in fact the 3rd henge. The others to stand here were neigh stone nor completed nor of the same design. But, being the 3rd and final henge makes Eddie Izzard's joke about it all the more entertaining. Walking around the stones the path followed the ditch that looped them, dug at the time with animal bones as picks and shovels. Being close to the stones simply makes them all the more impressive. Standing nearly 3 meters tall, and with another stone crossing them, it is impossible to not wonder how it was done. Though, I also enjoyed learning that they were assembled with the aid of a type of tongue and groove, or ball and socket joint. All in all, regardless of what I learned or what is yet still a mystery, Stonehenge is really, really, cool.
After leaving the stones I returned to the bus, or rather another bus that took me to Old Sarum. Now, from the road Old Serum is quite unremarkable. It stands as a mound, which is clearly very large and steep for a hill over the plains around it. That said, the close I got, the cooler it got. The route I took led me up a slope until I reached a steep decline into a 'moat' followed by a very steep climb returning up even higher. The ridge I was on was a path that looped around the entirety of this inner hill. But, on the far side there was a small path that led up onto the top. Before continuing, one interesting fact is that the whole path was this white, quasi-muddy goop. I inquired later and learned that is was chalk. Apparently the entire hillside could be seen for miles due to its white color.
When atop of the mound there were 2 first things to notice. First, the view was amazing! Partly because I was so high and partly because everything else was relatively flat. The second thing to notice was that there was another even taller mount atop where we were. That is where the ruins of the castle of Old Sarum are. But, in the meantime I had an entire mound level to explore. Aside from the views there weren't many things to see. The list was comprised of 1 thing in particular. That is, the ruins of the Cathedral of Old Sarum. It looks a bit like a giant stamp inprinted the ground where the cathedral used to stand. There were a few remnants of walls, and many of the gravel/stone walking areas could still be seen in the grass. Many of these paths still exist, though the pavings have worn down substantially. It was very cool to see the literal outline of the cathedral in the ground while nothing else was present there.
From the cathedral ruins I climbed to the upper mound, which also had an odd moat-like ditch. There were the remains of the Old Sarum Castle. This was really cool because enough of the stonework was still present to incision what stood where. There were towers and gates, a chapel, a well in the courtyard. Some of the less identifiable features included the toilets and the like. But you could walk among the ruins and touch all the stones. It was a lot of fun. I thought the walls and stonework themselves were interesting and I wonder if its related to the chalky area. But, the mortal seemed normal, but many the stones seemed abnormally smooth. Secondly, there was one confer I found with a stone that had been engraved with the date, "1910". Why? I've no idea... The castle also provided even better views than before and a great overhead view of the cathedral's layout.
After Old Sarum I returned to the bus station to grab the bus back into the city center. From there I followed the massive spire that rose above all the little rooftops. This quickly led me through the cute town of Salisbury to the foot of the Salisbury Cathedral. I will say that the cathedrals I've seen have improved how I considered them. This one too uniquely beautiful. The first and primary reason I noticed was its visibility. So many cathedrals are in the midsts of cities, with buildings on all sides. It makes it difficult to get full views. Here, the church stood alone inside a giant walled in yard. That way, one could always stand far enough away to have an unobstructed view of the entirety of the cathedral. The second thing I noticed as I got closer was the carvings on the outside of the cathedral. Climbing to the tops of the short spires above doors, and the buildings corners, and spanning across the tops of arches above doors were ornate carvings of people. They were everywhere on the building. The sheer number of carvings were impressive, even not accounting for how well they were done.
Inside, I felt it slightly less unique. I did however greatly enjoy the cloister. Perhaps it was a result of being brightly lit from the sun, but I thought this cloister, and the yard it surrounded was absolutely stunning. One corner was tucked in under the cathedral's massive tower, while the tower was a wonderful view from everywhere else. I thought the arches that framed the windows between the yard and cloister were ornate enough to be beautiful, but simple enough to not stand out. I think the combination made the grassy square all the more appealing.
After the Salisbury Cathedral I returned to the train station, where I headed back to Oxford. on the return I added an extra train hop to save some time. So, 2 stops and another 2 hours later I was back in Oxford. The next hour or two were pretty simple. Shower and rest a bit, just take a load off. Then, I headed to Jesus College to meet her and have dinner.
For dinner we met up with Jenny, Rob, and Teresa again. It was a fun group for dinner. The food was yet again delicious. We started with a roll and potato-leak soup. The main course then was a flank of duck over lentils and ... something reminiscent of a leak... That was followed by dessert of a chocolate tort of a sort with cherries. For some reason we decided that was not yet enough, so we headed up to D&G's for some local Oxford ice cream. It was really good. I had 1 scoop of chocolate with 1 scoop of Baileys (made with its namesake). By far the best ice cream I have had in a few months.
After ice cream I bid farewell to Em's friends and went with her back to her place. There, we sent some emails, looked at some pictures, backed up some pictures on her computer... good stuff like that. Eventually we had tea and some snacks, followed by chatting... which was awesome. We chatted for a very long time and eventually, as we were both seemingly on the verge of passing out, bid each other farewell. A sad moment indeed as I know nobody who I can banter with quite so well. But, it was sadly time for bed, and to call it a night.
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