England

Our full day in Salisbury was our open agenda day. We had to see Stonehenge, of course, and our friend Terry had kindly offered to show us around. It was, in fact, to be our first occasion of riding in an English car or taxi. It had all been mass transportation or walking until Terry arrived.

The day was mild but overcast. It was great to have Terry explaining the historic importance of the Salisbury Plains and the current military presence there during our trip. As he noted, Stonehenge being in the middle of nowhere has helped maintain it. People really want to have to be there to make the trip. Partly for that reason, efforts to build nearby hotels and tourist stations have been rebuffed — no one residing in the area wants that.

The visitors are kept well back from the site by a simple barricade, but everyone there that day was well-behaved. Alas, the only thing you can really do, apart from look, or meditate, is to take photos — and my charger had failed. I picked up a “Fun Camera” at the gift shop and soldiered on. It was a bit sad to think how long it had been since I had shot with film, but at least I remembered how.

  

  

  

  

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Then we headed to the Badbury Rings, an interesting site new to me. And I could charge my camera via the mini notebook and Terry’s cigarette lighter.

Informational sign

After getting a mild scolding from Terry for reciting, “Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross … ” “It’s BADBURY!” we enjoyed the solitude and the view.

  

  
Views from the Badbury Rings

Then Terry decided to show us the coastline, nearer where he lives in Dorset. Just lovely country. The day was overcast; Terry said it can be truly breathtaking when you can see the horizon. I’ve read of how John Lennon purchased his Aunt Mimi a cottage there because he considered it one of the prettiest places he had ever seen. She must have agreed, as she remained there until her death.

We were now in the closing days of our trip, and this day was a perfect break in our routine of towns and cities.

  

  

  

  

Even Terry was surprised to find that new research has determined the area was populated and industrious as long as 12,500 years ago. Definitely worth a second look someday.

Then we repaired to Terry’s house to have a nice cup of tea and to indulge Mark’s request to see some of Terry’s guitars. (Thanks again, Terry.)

Afterward, our chauffeur for the day had to return us to Salisbury. I was hoping Terry could join us for supper, but it had been a long day for him as well, and he had work to take care of. So we said goodnight.

Upon getting back to our room, I logged into the Internet and found that Monday’s outbound flight had been canceled, thanks to the British Airways flight crew strike. The BA recommendation was to push the flight further away, but we found a flight leaving on Sunday. Much as I didn’t want to cut our vacation short, we all agreed that the probability of leaving on Sunday was better than the possibility of leaving on Tuesday or later.

We opted for Pizza Express for supper (nothing to write home about), and then Mark and I spent the evening down in the pub, listening to an Army man and rugby fan named Chris explain the nuances of the two versions of the sport. Chris was a solid Conservative with strong views about the latest election and it was interesting to hear his thoughts, but the night ran long and we eventually had to bow out and prepare for our return to London.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 12:35 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.