Stonehenge

After Salisbury, we visited Stonehenge. Patsy really wanted to do this, so we all started looking into it.

Turns out that with forward progress and all, Stonehenge is now roped off, and you have to do your looking from a distance.

Patsy found some tour company that offered "inner stone circle" tours, but they wanted a skyhigh price. I think it was like $175 >per person<.

After digging some more, I discovered that they were merely repackaging an obscure but standard offering from the organization that actually manages Stonehenge: English Heritage Trust.

If you go to their website and take a look, you can find a link for the Inner Circle Access. This costs only slightly more than regular "roped off" access. You must apply ahead of time.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/plan-your-visit/

And bam! They let you go right into the middle of it.

Because these Inner Circle Access visits are outside regular hours, there are very few other people there. I think there were less than 20 couting the four of us.

Getting up close and personal with these megaliths made the visit. I think it would have almost been boring otherwise.

And I was surprised by the size of some of the stones! Far larger than I had ever imagined from merely looking at photos.

Odiham Castle (known locally as King John's Castle)

Near the Fox and Goose pub, the Basingstoke Canal winds its way across the landscape. And a short walk along the canal brings one to the ruins of a 13th century castle originally constructed by order of King John, signer of the Magna Carta.

As you can see, all that is left today are ruins. The stone facings long ago disappeared, leaving just the core of the walls.

Also note that the ruins are just setting out there in the middle of nowhere for anyone to come up to, with no sign of a ticket collector, nor a snack stand.

This place isn't all that big, nut it >is< really freaking old! Heck, even the Alamo doesn't come close to this bad boy's age!

The walk along Basingstoke Canal itself was quite picturesque.

A swan and her children we came upon.

Entrance to the Greywell Tunnel.

Did you notice the man lying upon his back? That's how they got the boats through the tunnel, since the tunnel had no side path.

Salisbury and Magna Carta

On to Salisbury!

Patsy severely wanted to see Stonehenge, so we planned a day trip.

Now, there is only so much time you can look at rocks until you get bored, so we included a side jaunt to nearby Salisbury to see "Magna Carta". Yes, just "Magna Carta", not >the< Magna Carta. (I have no idea why "the" is omitted. Perhaps it makes the document more endearing.)

I will not turn this into a history lesson, so if you aren't familiar with what Magna Carta is you must look elsewhere. The short story: King John had really aggrieved the barons and the church with excessive taxation and what not to the point he had to make a deal with them, the deal being recorded in Magna Carta. Mind you, he had no plan of actually observing the agreement, but at least it was finally recorded that a king would not himself be above the law.

This year is the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, and England is in quite a dither about it. Well, not so much on the street, but definitely where the various official copies of Magna Carta are stored. (As the Internet and even the printing press did not exist at the time of signing, the document was copied by scribes and the copies were officially attested. These copies were then circulated so everyone could know, well, at least so the rest of the barons and the church could know.)

According to Wikipedia, Salisbury Cathedral holds what is likely the best preserved of the remaining four official copies of the document. Interestingly, two more copies are held within a couple of blocks of our lodgings at he British Library.

Salisbury Cathedral itself is nigh on 800 years old, so we were treated to a double dose of antiquity.

The cathedral grounds are quite extensive. This is the north entrance gate.

Within the gates, approaching the cathedral.

It's a tall one, boyo!

Through the cloister to the chamber in which the document is held.

Inside the magnificent Chapter House, where the document is on display.

The little lady speaking with Jeff is one of the docents in attendance who provided an abundance of interesting but obscure facts.

The central pillar of the Chamber House.

Interesting detail carving at the bottom of the central pillar. Kind of hard to make out in the picture. It is a dog kissing a cat.

And now inside the cathedral proper. We happened to be there the day of a mass Baptism, which explains the number of young people in their finery.

A model of the building of the cathedral. This really reminds me of the scene from Zoolander: "What is this? A cathedral for ANTS?!?!?"

Fox and Goose

On Saturday, I rented a car from Avis and we took a day trip to Salisbury to see the Magna Carta and to Stonehenge to see the rocks. More on that in a later post.

During my trip research I discovered a well regarded country pub midway between London and Salisbury, and decided to stop there for lunch: the Fox and Goose in Greywell, about a mile off the motorway.

This place epitomizes everything I had heard of English pubs: friendly regular customers, a menu of stout food, a fine selection of draft beers, and the dry wit of the proprietor. I missed out on the beers as I was driving, but Jeff seemed to relish his!

The half-timbered interior wrapped us in cozy intimacy.

Wonderful antique glass.

Sherrie's steak and kidney pie.

Arrived Safe, Sound and Tired in London

Have had a whirlwind weekend, and I finally have time to catch up on the blog.

We eventually arrived Friday at the St. Pancras International rail station, and made our way to the nearby apartments where we would stay the weekend.

Harry Potter fans may recognize this as the exterior of Kings Cross station from where the Hogwarts students would depart on Platform 9 3/4. But it isn't Kings Cross at all.

Truth be told, the exterior of Kings Cross is rather boring, and the filmmakers chose to use the stunning St. Pancras exterior as a "body double" for Kings Cross.

After resting up, we took off on a trek through Bloomsbury, Soho, Chinatown, Leicester Square, and finally Piccadilly.

In Soho, we came upon a new form of plumbing. I don't expect to see one of these in Texas anytime soon, though you do have to admire the compact efficiency of these quadruple stall fixtures.

And here is rock in' cool half-timbered building we saw as we traversed the rest of Soho.

Here's a shot of the delightful glockenspiel given to the City of London by Switzerland and Lichtenstein in 1985. We were fortunate to have come upon it as it was sounding the hour.

We had dinner at the posh Criterion Restaurant at Picadilly Circus. The walls and especially the ceiling of this 19th century restaurant are covered with mosaic tiles. Quite spectacular! (Sorry — I have no photos of it. The dim lighting made point-and-shoot photography a near impossibility.)

By the time we finished dinner, a light rain had started. Under the conditions, and as exhausted as we were, we opted to take the underground back to our lodgings. Well, we weren't the only ones ducking out of the rain. The train was as crowded as I've seen a subway. We made it safely home though, intact, and with all of our valuables still in our own possession!

In Paris Waiting for Train to London

Arrived safely – but tired – in Paris.

Now at Gare du Nord waiting for our train to London.

On The Road!

We have started!

Left the Austin airport this morning and currently in the lounge in Chicago waiting for the flight to Paris.

Here's our party:

Sherrie and myself

Jeff and Patsy