Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and Blandford Forum

This morning Ann invited me to accompany her on a little road trip as she planned to go visit an elderly friend in a village about two hours away. She said we would be able to see Stonehenge along the way and maybe stop at Salisbury Cathedral. Even if there was nothing particularly special to see, I would have loved to go along just to see the countryside! We ended up seeing both Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral and I wandered around Blandford Forum while she visited her friend. She also pulled off on a few little side roads to show me adorable little villages with thatched roof cottages. In one village I caught a glimpse of a "Stately Home" through the trees... otherwise known as "a crazy-huge house that looks like one of the mansions from a Jane Austen movie". The tiny villages used to be where the farm workers lived so they're often gathered in the shadow of these huge homes.

We were driving along a relatively busy road and Ann said, "There's your first glimpse of Stonehenge, right straight ahead and a little to the right." I peered through the mist and rain and couldn't see much, and when we rounded the corner - there it was! I had no idea it would be so close to the road and I was slightly shocked to see such an iconic image right smack in front of me. Ann pulled off into a parking area and we walked along the outer fence (I'll come back on a nicer day for proper photos) so I could get a good view of the site. The wind was howling and the rain was coming down, but I didn't care. It was one of the rare moments I've had so far in England where I feel like I'm really here.

Stonehenge. For real.

A row of shops in Blandford Forum.

The old church in Blandford Forum.

There's something I love about wandering on the grounds of old churches... the overgrown grass, illegible gravestones, and ancient buildings... I love it.

There were quite a few blue doors and window frames that caught my eye in the town and this one was in the back wall of the church garden.

There were a variety of stones with designs carved into them inserted at random intervals in the wall surrounding Salisbury Cathedral.

I bought a point-and-shoot digital camera for this trip and it's rather painful to go from a professional quality DSLR to a camera I can easily control with one hand, but I knew I would need something I could just throw in my pocket and take anywhere with me. I decided on a Fujifilm Finepix F100fd as it has a decent zoom (5x), 12 megapixels, and the reviews were good so it should capture some decent shots. I'm still figuring out the capabilities of this little gadget and I have been pleasantly surprised by the shots so far. Nobody panic - I brought my DSLR to the UK and will take it out for days when I want to do serious shooting, but for the everyday tourist shots, the point-and-shoot will work fine... I keep telling myself that because I don't want to break my back lugging around my DSLR.

Salisbury Cathedral.

Ann and I wandered around the town of Salisbury and walked around the outside of the church. We decided to skip the fee to see inside as I know I'll see plenty of beautiful churches while I'm over here. Ann pronounces Salisbury like "Sawlsbury" with only a minimal "u" sound and no "i". As we were driving over I asked her if everyone pronounces it with the "i" left out and she said, "Pass." (I've discovered that this is their version of saying, "I don't know.") While we were walking around admiring the exterior of the church I saw a little boy reading a pamphlet and he pronounced it as a phonetical "Salisbury" and his grandpa interrupted with a firm and slightly snobbish, "It's 'Sawlsbury' ", and I had to laugh.




It was a beautiful day... well, the weather was mucky for the most part with howling winds and frequent rain... what I mean is that it was one of those beautiful days that surprises you with experiences and sights. When I woke up I didn't have any major plans... maybe go into town and figure out a cell phone purchase and do some clothes shopping since I couldn't bring much with me... and instead I got to visit with Ann for a few hours and see Stonehenge, burial mounds, ancient towns, thatched roofs, rolling fields, pheasants, catch a glimpse of a stately home, eat lunch in front of ivy covered trees, and just live in the moment. I love it when God surprises me with days like today.