Piles o' Rock: Christian and Pagan
So today was unexpectedly wonderful. I had been a very good boy in the UL Manuscripts Room all day yesterday, and I was thinking about going to Durham to look at another Chaucer MS. But, because of my own failure to contact the research librarian soon enough, I wasn’t sure of my welcome. Plan B–go to Salisbury. Plan Ba-go to Stonehenge from there.
I got a VERY early train to King’s Cross, then the Metro to Waterloo Station, then on to Salisbury. I expected all druid-creepy fens, but the city is actually quite jumping. . .at least by my standards. The cathedral is amazingly beautiful despite some “renovator’s” decision “to chap” the medieval glass because it was too dark. But the spire is breathtaking.
Unfortunately, I was forbidden to photograph all the stuff in the Chapter House that’s most interesting to me (an original Magna Carta, a frieze illustrating Genesis and Exodus, etc.).
A double-decker bus circles to and from Stonehenge hourly, probably more often in high season. It cost less than £6. What can you say about this pile of rocks? One simply must see the circle as it is situated in the plain.
If, despite all the hubbub, you can focus on the rocks, they are as impressive as advertised. But the site is also quite touristy, and you are simply not allowed to run naked among the stones anymore. Bother!
So I spent about four hours traveling each way, about three hours at Salisbury, one at Stonehenge, and I almost did myself in by ordering fish & chips for lunch.
Tricia told me I should have ordered steak instead.
I got a VERY early train to King’s Cross, then the Metro to Waterloo Station, then on to Salisbury. I expected all druid-creepy fens, but the city is actually quite jumping. . .at least by my standards. The cathedral is amazingly beautiful despite some “renovator’s” decision “to chap” the medieval glass because it was too dark. But the spire is breathtaking.
Unfortunately, I was forbidden to photograph all the stuff in the Chapter House that’s most interesting to me (an original Magna Carta, a frieze illustrating Genesis and Exodus, etc.).
A double-decker bus circles to and from Stonehenge hourly, probably more often in high season. It cost less than £6. What can you say about this pile of rocks? One simply must see the circle as it is situated in the plain.
If, despite all the hubbub, you can focus on the rocks, they are as impressive as advertised. But the site is also quite touristy, and you are simply not allowed to run naked among the stones anymore. Bother!
So I spent about four hours traveling each way, about three hours at Salisbury, one at Stonehenge, and I almost did myself in by ordering fish & chips for lunch.
Tricia told me I should have ordered steak instead.
posted by Bill Quinn | 1:47 PM
1 Comments:
I got to see Stonehenge before all the fencing went up. And on a day when it wasn't crawling with tourists. But that was a lonnnnng time ago.
Is that rock salmon? Yum.
Post a Comment
<< Home