Just a quick update following on Alex's post. Things here are good, and we are finally starting to get used to things here and into a bit of a routine. You'd hope so after 3 months! Wow....does time ever fly by.
We've finally had some nice weather here and it is feeling, dare I say, summer like. We managed to make it from Sunday - Wednesday with no rain, which shatters our previous record of two days set in early May. It rained a bit today, but now the sun is back out again. Fortunately, here in London, whilst I may complain about the soggy weather, it is nothing like what they have had just north east of here with the terrible flooding.
Last weekend we made a little trip down south east of here to Stonehenge and Salisbury. The ring of stones, and the gothic cathedral were both high up on Alex's list of things to see.
That said, while everything we'd ever heard about Salisbury Cathedral was glowing, Stonehenge had not received such favourable reviews. In our unofficial tour guide to this country, Bill Bryson's "Notes From a Small Island" he describes his trip to Stonehenge as follows:
Impressive as Stonehenge is, there comes a moment somewhere about eleven minutes after your arrival when you realize you've seen pretty well as much as you care to, and you spend another forty minutes walking around the perimeter rope looking at it out of a combination of politeness, embarrassment at being the first from your bus to leave and a keen desire to extract £2.80 worth of exposure from the experience.
This did have me a little concerned, and despite needing to see Stonehenge, (because it is one of those places that you are supposed to see) I didn't find myself overly anxious to go down there.
Well, as these things happen, on Saturday we didn't get out of the house until around 10:30 am, so were on the highway with all of the other weekend travellers. The 80 mile journey, which Mapquest had confidently proclaimed would take 1 hr 25 minutes, took us in excess of 3 hours. As Alex can attest, there is nothing I like more than motorway converted into a parking lot.
By early afternoon we'd finally arrived at the mightly henge. At first glance, I must say, it was not really what I'd expected. For some reason, given the mystique surrounding the site, I imagined it to be tucked away in a remote secluded site, far from the eyes people going about their everyday business. In fact, the site lies about 500 metres from the A303, a relatively significant higway in that part of the country (the very same one that had me so frustrated moments earlier). So, here you are, driving like mad on this motorway, and as you clear a little hilltop, there is that famous site of ringed stones, just off to the side of the road.
Stonehenge as viewed from the A303 Motorway
I must say, it is quite unexpected, and really amazing that one could just stumble across it as they drove along the highway.
Again, we had read all of these comments about Stonehenge concerning there really not being too much to see. Well, what you see can see from the road is what you get....so, we were a little reluctant to part with the £6.30 per person (it's gone up since Bill Bryson was last here) to walk around something for a couple of minutes that could be seen from the road. We may be in a foreign land here, but we're not that easily separated from our money.
Nonetheless, due to some savvy salemanship by the English Heritage people on the site, they managed not only to get the 13 £ out of us, but rather, convinced us to purchase an annual membership to English Heritage for a mere 69 £.
All in all I am pretty happy about this. English Heritage is a government agency that protects historic buildings, sites and monuments. Throughout the country, they apparently look after over 400 properties. Our membership now gets us into, free of charge, some 100 or so different properties. Now that we've paid in advance, we'll do our best to take advantage of it.
I actually think that this will be a very worthwhile membership, as many of the properties they manage (with a couple notable exceptions) are not what you would call Class A sites. Rather, many of them are secondary and terciary sites that wouldn't normally feature on people's tourism plans. But they now will on ours, and hopefully that will make for some unique visits throughout the country.
Back to Stonehenge.......Now, English Heritage card in hand, we were ushered to the front of the line (membership does have its privledges!) and equipped with our free audio tour guides (little Fisher-Price-like walkie talkie things) and we headed under a tunnel across to the site.
Whilst in the tunnel, our audio tour guide encouraged us to imagine we were entering another time, another world, etc...etc....which I personally found a little difficult to do in a concrete underpass stuffed with tourists, but anyways...
so, there we emerge to see the famous stones (from about 10 metres closer up that what we had seen from the road. Pleasantly though, there was no longer a chain link fence obscuring our views. From some placards we read, it seems that access to the site is all being re-designed so that the roads do not approach so closely. I gather one of the plans is to tunnel the A303 highway so that it can't be seen from the site.
Anyway, it truly is an impressive site, and contrary to Bill Bryson's 11 minutes of interest, we were able to spend our 45 minutes throroughly entertained by our audio guide.
Stonehenge (from inside the fence)
While I honestly expected the stones to be higher it is quite breathtaking. The audio tour was excellent, giving both the history of the site as well as pointing out some key things that you mighten'd have noticed otherwise.
The history is really interesting. Work began around 5000 years ago, when it was first staked out as a ceremonial site. Its use seemed to have lasted for a relatively short period of time, and then it was abandoned for around 1000 years. Then in 2150 BC the interesting work started to take place. While the development of the site in 3100 BC consisted of digging a ditch and some holes (and perhaps a wood building), 1000 years later, someone came up with the bright idea of importing a bunch of big rocks (bluestones) from Wales, nearly 250 miles away.
Each of the stones (which are the smaller ones you can see in the center of the site) weigh about 4 tonnes each. Historians / Archeologists posit that these stones were transported on some sort of rollers, from the quarry to the sea, where they then travelled by raft down the coast and onto inland rivers. They then would have had to lug them up a hill for the last 1 mile 1/2 or so.
This done, the designer (or more aptly....his great, great, great, great....etc...grandson...these things took a while to get done) , not entirely satisifed with the effect that had been created, moved onto a more ambitious phase, in which the tall standing stones that currently ring the site were brought in. These
sarsen stones, each measuring about 4 metres by 2 metres weighed about 25 tonnes. These were arranged in a circle, each about 1 metre apart. As part of the grand plan, each stone was moulded with a point on the top, on which would sit the top stones (
lintels) which are the ones you can see lying across the top. These
lintels (each around 3 x 1 metres) were fashioned with an indentation (which accomodated the point on the
saracen) and with tongue and groove joints so that each
lintel could be attached to one another. In all, with the lintels on top, the stones stand about 5 metres tall.
Finally, almost happy with the design, they decided to throw in some even bigger stones into the middle of it all, and so added five additionalpairs of giant
sarsen stones (with
lintels on top) in a horesehoe shape. Only one pair of these actually remain, and they stand almost 7 meters above ground, with another 2 1/2 meters buried in the earth.
They then spent the next 1000 years or so periodically re-arranging things, and then around 1600 BC stopped.
No one is quite sure who, how and why Stonehenge was built. There are lots on interesting theories, it more than likely seems to have been a ceremonial site with astrological significance built by some folks along time ago, who were really motivated to move heavy rocks around the countryside.
Who really knows, but in context it is a remarkable achievement.
Furthermore, it is amazing that it still stands (at least a good set of remains) today.
When the townspeople nearby realized 100 years ago that they could cash in on the site with tourism, they would actually rent out chisels so that visitors could take with them their own piece of the famous henge as a souvenir. Moreover, it seems that it is only in the last 20 - 30 years that they actually cordened the site-off. Now you can only get to within around 30 yards of the stones, but apparently up until relatively recently you could walk right in amonst the stones, and sadly, as one would expect, clandestinely etch out your name on the rocks.
Some reviews I've read complain about the rope, but I think that it is a good thing. Sure, getting up close and personal with the monoliths would be great, but something tells me that seeing a heart-eveloped "Tim and Lucy forever, 1958" might diminish the site's mystique.
Here's some photos from the visit
SALISBURY
After the visit to the henge, we made the drive over to neighbouring Salisbury, to take in its famed 13th century, spired cathedral, which is really a site to see.
While in the 13th century, common sense may have had the sun going around a flat earth, and advanced medical treatment may have been limited to remedies involving herbs, leetches and sawing, and the thinking on sanitation may have been that a bucket, the window, and the street consitituted a perfectely acceptable system, these things aside, folks sure did know how to make a nice church.
With all of our modern sophistication, we'd be hard pressed to make something as timeless and beautiful as Salisbury Cathedral.
Now, I know very little about architectural periods and such matters, but this cathedral is unique in that "....only taking 38 years to construct, it is almost entirely in one architectural style, English Early Gothic."
Now, I'm not sure if this line strikes a chord with you or not, but in my little mind, I think, cool...all one style...very nice......but wow...ONLY 38 years to build. Things clearly moved at a different speed back then. Can you imagine a construction firm today sitting down and planning out a 38 year building project. Well, yes..if all goes as planned, we should be able to complete it by 2045.
Can you imagine what the cost would be to do something like that today? But imagine what we could build if we patiently focused our efforts for that much time. Clearly these were very different times.
Well, hopefully the pictures speak for themselves. It is one of the most beautiful churches / cathedrals I have ever seen.
As an added bonus, Salisbury Cathedral also has one of only four surviving copies (and apparently the most legible one) of the Magna Carta. A little background for those in the same boat I was in until last weekend: the Magna Carta is a pretty important document, in fact, considered one of the most significant legal documents in history.
It was written in the 13th century in response to serious disagreements between the Pope, King John, and the Barons (who I assume not to be a football team, or squadron of flying aces....but rather, weathy landowners running their own little fiefdoms within the kingdom). It seems that everybody at the time was a little unclear on what their rights were, and everybody seemed to think that King was taking far too many liberties with his power. On the verge of civil war, they came to an agreement, which is outlined in the Magna Carta.
The document bascially set out that even the King would be bound by law, and that all people should be entitled certain basic rights such as Habeas Corpus, etc....A number of important contemporary documents: "the American Constitution", the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms, Canada's Charter of Rights, etc...etc... can be linked back in some way to this original document.
There were numerous copies made and distributed throughout the kingdom, but, as one might expect to happen over the course of 800 years, most were lost, and now only 4 remain. The one under glass at Salisbury is in remarkably well-preserved condition, and if I had better eyesight (very, very tiny writing) and understood Latin, I could have read the whole thing.
On to Old Wardour Castle
With the purchase of our English Heritage membership, they gave us this nice little guidebook of all their sites in England. Wanting to make the most of the couple of hours remaining daylight, (as well as to start further justifying our 69£ purchase), we picked out another nearby site and rushed over. The place is called "Old Wardour Castle" and probably doesn't feature on too many tourist maps, which is a shame.......but good for us Heritage members, who basically had the place to ourselves (well...with the exception of the wedding that had rented out part of the place).
Old Wardour is the remains of a late 14th castle built by some apparently quite weathy guy in those times. Seems he was a Lord of something or somewhere.
This was his fortified house, which makes it different from say a military fortress. So, this was just some rich guy that wanted to protect what he had, and more importantly, to impress the neighbours. Nowadays one might build an electric fence with a sophisticated security systems, CCTV and perhaps a couple of Rottweilers, but back in the day, state of the art security meant thick, thick walls, and perhaps a moat. Apparently, Old Wardour was more about the looks than the actual defenses, and it was not that much of a stronghold.
It was in operation for a few generations until the great grandson of the original owner picked the losing side in the War of the Roses, and susequently had all the family property confiscated. It passed through the hands of a couple of different families, and then in 1643, the castle was severely damaged during the Civil War. It was decided not to bother fixing things up, and instead a new Wardour Castle was built just down the hill, and this old one became a nice romantic fixture to have up in the backyard. Really, who wouldn't want to have a castle in their backyard?
Anyway, it is a very beautiful spot. You may not recognize it from my photos, but back in the 90's it received international exposure, standing in as Kevin Costner's ancestral home as he returns from the Crusades in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.
As in Stonehenge, they equipped us with Fisher Price walkie talkies, and we embarked ont he audio tour. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to complete the whole audio tour, but it was great. They take you through each room and re-create how it would have been, with the sounds of the time as well as 'interviews' with employees of the time. It may sound a little bit cheesy, but it does an impressive job of helping you picture how things might have been.
Here's a few miscellaneous photos.
There was a couple using part of it for their wedding. Sure beats the local Legion hall.
All said, not a bad way to spend a Satuday afternoon.
On Sunday, we were fortunate to have the sun shining, so we went out for a bike ride. Where we live is really close something called The Grand Union Canal, which is part of the country-wide canal system. We ended up cycling up to a town called Rickmansworth (where we stayed temporarily when we first arrived in the UK). It was a very, very pleasant afternoon, and by the end of it, we had cycled around 30 kms. Off course, one does need sustanance on a ride like this, so fortunately, the canal is dotted with pubs, were one can enjoy a cool pint.
Something interesting about the canal is that it is full of these long narrow barges. Some are clearly people's vacation spots, whereas others are people's homes. Of the latter, some seem to be really nice homes (albeit on a barge...), well painted, lots of flowers, etc....whereas others are merely affordable housing for someone who might otherwise be living in the street. An interesting coexistance, this variety of barges all moored alongside one another on the canal.
swans, swans everywhere....no longer the exotic bird I once thought
along the canal..you can see some of the barges.
a set of locks..note the thatched roof in the background. some scenes couldn't be more quiant
Our backyard in all its glory on Sunday evening.
The Sunday night harvest from our apple tree and blackberry bushes
the golf course out our back gate.
Well, that's about it. The weekend is here, and we're off to look at some more castles, churches and perhaps a stately home or two.
Take care all.
Utrecht is the fourth largest city in The Netherlands, a beautiful city with a very organized canal system and many nice streets. It is host to the largest university of the Netherlands and because of that the city has a young and fresh atmosphere. Lots of students riding their bikes and lots of bikes parked around the canals. The city's greatest landmark is the Dom tower of Utrecht, which was part of a large cathedral that was destroyed by a tornado. Unfortunately we could not get in and climb the many steps up the tower, were we were tall you could see even as far as Amsterdam and Rotterdam on a clear day.
Utrecht
St Paul's Cathedral, London 
Demolition in progress at 122 Leadenhall Street 
