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Showing posts from July, 2016

UK Trip XIII: Stonehenge and Salisbury

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Stonehenge is a really big deal and we knew it would be packed, so we got there as soon as we could.  By fifteen minutes after opening time, the parking lot was about a quarter full and a giant bus was pulling in.  Now, if you have ever visited Stonehenge, but it was more than a couple of years ago, it's all very different now.  They've built a new visitor's center, and they re-routed one of the roads that ran by.  I must say it is excellent. The new visitor's center is a good mile away from Stonehenge itself, and is not visible from the monument.  You can hop onto a shuttle bus, or walk, or you can take the bus and get dropped off halfway.  We wanted to walk, but we also wanted to beat the crowd as much as possible, so we opted to get off halfway and walk on the path, across some fields and by some barrows, to get there.  It was really fun; we were tromping through fields with cows and barrows!  It wasn't possible to do this before, because the two roads made it

UK Trip XII: Wells

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On a drizzly, grey Sunday morning, we left Chippenham and drove quite a long way on scary country roads to Wells.  The cathedral is open on Sundays aside from services, so we figured we could attend one and also look around like tourists.  We got there just in time for the main service, which was lovely, with a really awfully loud organ, and quite long--well over an hour.  Then they served cookies biscuits and coffee, and it was almost time for the next service, and most of the cathedral was still roped off.  So we went out for a snack, and looked around a bit, and I put more money in the meter, and then the service was over and we were able to look around the cathedral more thoroughly.  But some things were still closed, like the library (agh!) and the tower, so I guess someday I'll just have to go back and do it properly. A well in Wells Gateway to cathedral complex The famous scissor arches Seats in the chapter house, labeled by job Stairs to