Salisbury

Forget weather forecasts – supposed to be rainy all weekend. We contemplated staying home; thankfully we took the chance and decided to book a hotel room in Salisbury.

Interesting choice as far as my colleagues were concerned. Again, now that they know we are planning a trip every weekend, they want to know when, where and WHY. To most people around the office, Salisbury is a “nice place to visit.” To me, it was always on the agenda – an absolute. Really it’s all about my father-in-law and a book called Sarum.

About 2 years ago I was given this book by Ashley’s father which traces the history of the southern part of England from prehistoric times through today. It’s a fictional history based on fact (as far as the facts can be discerned). It was one of his favorites, if not his favorite book. Now, I’m not saying it was an easy read, the longest book I’ve ever read, 1344 pages – I think even he would agree it isn’t an “easy read.” Although, nothing worth having is ever easy.

I finished the book before ever knowing we would have the opportunity to come to England – I made it about halfway through before her father passed away and got motivated to finish the book when we went on vacation with Ashley’s family in Topsail North Carolina in July 2008. I ultimately finished it around the beginning of September. In November I found out we had the opportunity to come to the UK.

Immediately, my first thought centered around visiting Old Sarum and walking the grounds this book covered. When explaining to everyone at work where we planned to visit, it was interesting to see that none of them had even heard of “Old Sarum” ! They were like “old what????” They’ve long given into the idea that I’ll know their country better than them (scary thought); sadly, just as most foreigners could pass a test granting them citizenship to the US that 80% of American’s couldn’t get through.

Anyway, getting off on a tangent – but this was easily one of my favorite trips so far. I reserved seats at one of “britain’s most sought after restaurants” for dinner. We played it safe though - steaks and mashed potatoes for our main and deep fried goat cheese with cranberry for an appetizer. Absolutely delicious ! We stayed away from the Kidney pudding and the Wild Boar and Venison Sausages.

Okay okay, enough talk, I know, let’s see some pics… before dinner we visited Salisbury Cathedral. I managed to get us into the single tour they offer, limited to 12 people for the “tower tour.” Here’s some pics from this amazing experience:


Our approach to the cathedral:

A shot from the restaurant at the cathedral...

A level up, a view of this medieval Cathedral:

Yup, this is how you work your way up the spire... The local boy scouts built a new spiral staircase for us to climb. I'm sure it's safe:

Here's the inner workings of the spiral. Remember, this is the tallest spire in all of England - this is what holds it all together:

A view of the Cathedral at night.. quite breathtaking:

Before the cathedral, we arrived and spent our day at the market. Just follow the signs to some areas you may have heard of:

Ahhhh... feel so at home. Just follow the sign:

The Salisbury Cathedral is also home to one of the 4 remaining copies of the Magna Carta. They house one of the most well preserved copies from 1215. This is the basis of most of the Constitution of the United States of America. Obviously no pictures were allowed here, so unfortunately I can’t share them with you.

I would describe most of this trip as a “spiritual” experience. Truly, you are placing yourself into the hands of what created modern history as we know it. To be within inches of an original document that gave birth to the US Constitution is quite an experience.

Prior to Salisbury, there was a city among itself that King’s visited frequently and traces back to ancient times, Old Sarum. Here are some pics from our visit:

Me, trying to absorb whatever I can from the site:

The old Cathedral foundation. They were very environmentally conscious.. once they decided to move the town 5 miles south, they used all available resources. Including the stones from the old cathedral and castle in Old Sarum to create the new town of Salisbury:

Okay.. it's hard to resist, stones are sticking out of the wall:

Um, yeah..

Finally, Stonehenge. You come to England, you have to visit the tourist sites. We gave in and visited one of the most visited areas in the world and listened to the speculation of the site. Interestingly, the most powerful feeling is when you come over a hill on a highway and Stonehenge comes into view. It’s one of those things that hits the center of your belly in a way you never would have thought. That feeling supersedes anything you experience once you actually stand before it, so here’s some pics of us once we were within feet of the monument:

The obligatory holding of the stones, Ashley was too afraid to make a fool of herself. Me - not so much:

A shot of the henge... what was the purpose?

We also had a chance to catch a play while in Salisbury. I got some front seat tix to “A Convicts Opera”. The story centered around Britain sending their convicts to Australia and a group of convicts were tasked with putting on a play for the Captain. Of course I was pulled out of the audience and brought on stage to be harassed. I had some horrible smelling shaving cream put all over my face and shaved with a dull straight razor in front of the crowd. Entertaining for Ashley as I played along with the actors on their trip to Australia.. again no pics allowed, sorry kids.

Oh! Yes, have to share some British with you. So many choices, my life is filled with terms that are entertaining to hear as an American.

British word of the week: Dodgy.

Used in a sentence: We did not encounter any dodgy characters on our trip, although some of the construction we encountered in the cathedral tour was quite dodgy and held together by the grace of God. You have the pics, what do you think?