October 14th, 2011 - Stonhenge and Salisbury

Today was a great day out. We took a two hour bus ride up to Stonehenge. Sadly, there is a boundary around the stones now - because in the last 150 years they have faced more damage than in the history of the stones existence - from people camping on the green to people chipping slivers of the rock off to take home.

My favorite part of the trip was being able to take pictures at a tourist location and being able to have zero people in the photos despite the amount people there! What's cool is Stonehenge is still used by practicing Druids for ceremonies and events.

There are many myths surrounding the importance of Stonehenge, especially since there are at least   two other rock clusters in that part of England.

There's me loving Stonehenge. I have loved so much since coming to the U.K.

There were tons of people there, but only Stonehenge is in the photo. I am actually really pleased with the composition of this photo.

This actually turned out looking really cool. I like it with the sun behind it.

This is blue stone, which was shipped down to Stonehenge . In recent years they attempted to do the same shipping a blue stone but it failed and the stone they were using was lost.

After the captivating stones, we went to the ruins of the palace and the original town of Salisbury. It was interesting to see how time can wear away structures. The original town moved to the valley because the well higher up dried up, and there was only one well for an entire town.

When Salisbury was first founded this was the well that provided water for the town on the hill. After appealing to the king of the time the Monks moved the town into the valley where it stays today.

This is where (down there where you can see the outline of a building - where the king's quarters would have been. It's  either that or the welcoming hall.

One of the better panoramas I've taken of the grounds.

After that, I went into the gift shop and did a wine tasting. I really wanted a bottle of Devon Gin but it was too expensive. But it was the best Gin I ever tasted. 

Then we explored Salisbury going to a beautiful little pub near a hotel. It was called the Lion's Head. 

The entrance to the outdoor seating. The ivy was beautiful.

My last stop before heading back to the city was the chapel. Beautiful building with wonderful stain glass.

The entrance to the area where the chapel is. There is a family crest of the reigning royals above the archway.

Salisbury Chapel. This is the side view.

The reflection was sort of bad but here is blue stain glass which is very rare today. The sun shined through the windows when I took the picture so the images are hard to make out.

The town was very beautiful and I really wish I could go back. Alas, I will forever regret not getting the gin - which had a sweet and wonderful after taste. I also tried Dandelion Wine. It was interesting but the aftertatste isn't my cup of tea.

Cheers,

~ H.C.