Stones & Houses

We visited Stonehenge this Sunday. It's a 3 hour ride, and we booked bus seats since Rob didn't feel like driving. We got there before noon and had to take a short shuttle to the stones themselves. You could also walk for 20 minutes, but who wants to do that? :P

It was a quiet, almost spiritual experience. Staring at the monument eventually made all my thoughts drift away, and for a moment, I was simply existing in the world.

Salisbury

Later, we drove 10 miles to the neighboring city of Salisbury, where we had lunch at a Giggling Squid (their salt & pepper squid is excellent) and continued our sightseeing.

First stop was the Salisbury Cathedral, which boasts Britain's tallest spire and best preserved Magna Carta (which there are 4 copies total).

Next was a walk around Arundells, the former home of Sir Edward Heath, who was a British politician and served as PM from 1970 to 1974. I loved this house. Most of the decor remained just as it was when Sir Edward took residence, so it really gave an impression of his character. Every room was charming and well-lived. My favorites were his personal art collection and maritime memorabilia (he was a sailor, too).

Our last stop was the Mompesson House, a quintessential Queen Anne townhouse. Unfortunately, at this point we only had about 10 minutes to spare (!!!) before we HAD to be back at the bus, so our "tour" was a cursory walk through each room and out again.

I did get some postcards before leaving, though! 😊 And Rob got a bottle of honey mead.

[caption id="attachment_753" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Left to right: "Salisbury Cathedral Under Scaffold" and "The Lamplighter Passing Mompesson House"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_754" align="alignnone" width="1024"] "The Drawing Room at Mompesson House"[/caption]

I wanted to travel somewhere since we’ve been going "through the motions" lately, aka doing the same damn thing every day while we wait for our house to be ready. I'm so glad we did. It was a wonderful time, and a welcome break.