Salisbury and Stonehenge

 We had to go get our 8-day mandatory Covid test, then, catch a train to Salisbury, and be in Stonehenge by 3 pm. We left our bags at the hotel, got our mandatory test, picked up our bags and off to the train station for Salisbury.

We got to Salisbury and Google said that it was a 10-minute walk to the hotel, which was fine. And it was fine until the hotel wasn’t where it showed it to be on Google. We asked a passerby who said we had to turn right and walk a few blocks more. Then Google showed another 10 minutes. The walk wasn’t bad and we were early.

The hotel, “The Chapter House” is a very old building. One article dates it back 800 years. The building itself is not straight, stairs are all wonky, ceilings low, halls narrow, no AC and rooms small. But it is a wonderful building. It has a small courtyard on the side and it was pleasant to sit out with wine after dinner. We plan to stay at this hotel in December when we return.

http://thechapterhouseuk.com/

The narrow hall to our room

A door in the wall that leads to the courtyard for use after hours

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we walked back to the bus stop that goes to and from Stonehenge. We didn’t realize it but the bus is also a tour bus so that there is a commentary to and from Stonehenge. The commentary made the countryside very interesting. The bus ticket is a round trip ticket and it runs about every hour.

Once at Stonehenge, one can walk to the site or ride the visitor bus which is free. We opted to ride the bus. The bus stops and turns around just before the stones and busses run every few minutes.

As for Stonehenge, it is everything I hoped it would be and then more. To see stones, several tons each, that were moved into the site over 4,000 years ago, is so amazing. The stones are fenced off now because people were painting on them, touching them, climbing them and carving on them. But the fence is not far away from the circle so that they are easy to see. The fence is actually inside of the ditch that the people dug with antlers 5,000 years ago.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/history/

The ditch dug using antlers is in the foreground

We spent a couple of hours at the stones. As we were leaving a woman was standing at a signpost. She had a BBC jacket on. I said, loud enough for her to hear, “We love the BBC in California”. The woman turned around and quickly caught up with us. She asked if she could do a recorded interview and I said yes. So, there you have it!

After returning to our hotel, it was dinner, wine and dessert.

We would have loved to spend some time at the Salisbury Cathedral where the original Magna Carta is located. Actually, there are several places, in addition to the Cathedral that we will visit in December. But, for now, this was a trip with a 12-year-old girl, so another Cathedral would not have been perfect for us.