9 February 2016 –
We picked an excellent time to leave Stonehenge – the wind was picking up and it was getting chillier by the minute. Plus, the darkening cloudy skies loomed overhead making us all wonder when the cold rain would start coming down. Beautiful and magical as Stonehenge is/was/will forever be….it's time for us to drive on.
So…where to next???
Salisbury Cathedral!!!!
Here's a tiny bit of back story for you regarding this cathedral and our family. Around 30-ish years ago Mark toured England with a university choir (and his mom). On that particular tour they sang in a variety of fantastic cathedrals – one of them being Salisbury Cathedral. And about 22 years ago I also visited this beautiful cathedral (this is the summer before I met Mark) and was blown away by its history.
What could be so amazing about this cathedral? Well, it's the only cathedral that was built in less than one century. In fact, it was completed in 38 years! That's super fast especially considering that it was built in a time when power tools, automobiles, and earth moving machinery didn't exist. Perhaps I should also state that the main body of the cathedral was completed in 38 years but the tall spire -that "pierces the Heavens"- was added later. Unlike many other cathedrals that were added on in later years the Salisbury spire is congruous and in harmony with the rest of the cathedral.
It's only a short, one-hour drive from Stonehenge to Salisbury ….as we're approaching the town we can already see the spire from quite far away.
Here's a view of the town as we're winding our way through what looks to be the old part of the town, making our way to the cathedral. I wish we'd had more time to explore the town too!
Notice the gothic style arches and Ava is standing in front of the relatively new baptismal font:
The impressive pipe organ (perhaps Mark's favorite part about the cathedral):
Stained glass windows:
Notice the words "lyeth" and "dyed":
Some people claim that this is the world's oldest functioning clock:
Serene and beautiful interior courtyard:
Let's learn a little more about the 1215 Magna Carta that is on display here at the cathedral. You can go HERE to read more about it!
Hee hee hee!!!!
The cafe at the cathedral has a beautiful view, don't you think? Check out that amazing blue sky!!!! We're getting something to eat here as we skipped lunch and who know where we'll be this evening. Hearty soup, fresh baked bread, and scones with clotted cream for us – heavenly.
I wish we had more time here but we're on a deadline. We need to be in Cardiff tomorrow morning and we're still several hours away. I wish we could go up the cathedral spire (there's a tour for that) or check out the town. Oh well, I'm thankful we got to stop and visit the cathedral!
Here's a rare treat for us:
A rainbow!
So…we had a few issues getting our GPS unit our rental car came with to work properly. We've decided to shoot for Newport – which is a town in Wales. That way we'll be very close to Cardiff tomorrow morning. On the drive we ended up sitting, stalled out on a small road where no one was moving. After barely moving for the better part of an hour Mark was able to carefully maneuver the car and turn us around. Best decision! I think we'd still be sitting there, waiting. As we drove off in the opposite direction we noticed that police cars were blocking the road – we still have no clue what had happened but I think we made a wise decision.
After calling around to different hotels in Newport we found one that had rooms available for us – The Holiday Inn Express.
We're checked in …we've got two rooms. Next door to the hotel is this lovely pub, The Dragonfly:
Naturally Mark and I got a nice drink to end our day! (mine's a cider while Mark got an ale)
Tomorrow we're off to Cardiff to check yet another thing off the girls' wish lists!
You'll just have to wait and see what that is!!!!