Friday, March 18, 2005

Stonehenge & Salisbury

In the morning we rode out to Salisbury plain and the inspiring ruins of Stonehenge. We don’t know who put it there or why, but it’s older than the Celts and filled with mystery. Much has been written about Stonehenge, and I will leave it to you to read more if you wish. I have to agree with Bill Bryson that Stonehenge is a great place to visit, but after about 15 minutes of staring at the rocks and trying to imagine the men who put them there, your mind starts to wander and you wonder if you can get fish & chips near the gift shop. Now me, I opted for a brick of bread pudding. In the gift shop they sell the same rubbish that you’ll find in any gift shop anywhere in the world. Mugs, t-shirts, miniature Stonehenges. (All I could think of when I saw those was Spinal Tap’s Stonehenge model where they pulled a NASA and got their units of measure confused, with hilarious results). And oh yes, you can buy commemorative Stonehenge socks. No kidding.

There is also a city of Salisbury, and a Gothic cathedral wherein you can see the grave and effigy of a cousin of mine, William Longspee, who was a son of Henry II and died in 1226. The cathedral also houses one of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta. (And where was it signed? That’s right, Runnymede. Just seeing if you were paying attention.)

2 Comments:

At 6:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

After being strongly encouraged more than once by our tour director, John ended up buying a copy of the Magna Carta under duress (in Latin, mind you). We just knew our tour guide was going to ask him if he'd bought one after this tour stop and sure enough he did.

So now John's now the "proud" owner of a copy of the Magna Carta. Maybe next time I visit it will be framed and hanging proudly over his fireplace in his home, but I seriously doubt it. :-P

N

 
At 6:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

By the way, Stongehenge was impressive, but somehow I always imagined this structure a lot larger than it actually was. John told me that is exactly what he thought about the pyramids in Egypt.

Nora

 

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