Thanks ChallengerGrey. Salisbury should be a little more relaxed then London!

Salisbury is Charming
London isn't charming, it's big, bustling, basking in it's Royal Splendor, but not charming. Salisbury is not charming in an Ireland Tidy Town way. No baskets of flowers hanging from the light posts, but wild flowers all around. It's clean and old and well cared for, but it still has room for two tattoo parlors. We took a walk this morning, only about two blocks from our apartment, we turned on to the Town Path which leads to Harnham, south of Salisbury. It's a delight, you walk through the Water Meadows, a man made water space, probably fed by the River Nadder. We walked past meadows of sheep up to Old MIll and down Harnham Rd to the back entrance to the Cathedral at Harnham Pl gate. Stopped at Salisbury Cathedral, under the tower, for a scone and coffee. Then on through the High St Gate and eventually down Fisherton Street to our apartment for a rest. Dinner was at Cote, a French restaurant, very reasonable and so ended a great first day in Salisbury.



C'mon is this a John Constable portrait or what?

A little lamb traffic jam

So many sheep, these appear to have been shorn, the ones on the opposite side of the path were still shaggy

The Old Mill Pub and Hotel

Entering the Cathedral Close through the Harnham Gate

We are in the Rectory Cafe, directly under the tower of Salibury Cathedral.

The Cathedral

Cathedral with Angel sculpture

Front shot of the Cathedral, this is where we entered for EvenSong tonite.

Walking out of the High St. Gate

Front of the High St. Gate. They close these doors every night at 8:00PM, been doing that for centuries.

Walking into town looking for Cote restaurant

Found it! Camembert appetizer with cranberry chutney

Rainy Day in Salisbury
The Weather Gods finally reared their head. We've has such good luck this trip, no rain for almost 10 days but today is the day for a good sprinkle. Not a solid rain just on and off. We, of course, are all wrapped up with our jacket hoods up while all around the locals are in regular clothes, a few parkas and umbrellas, one guy is even in shorts and a tshirt. Our first activity is a walk along the Avon river heading north, yesterday our walk was south. It's a nice walk but we were spoiled by yesterday's walk which was meadow, this walk is actually along a lot of house on the river. We only got so far because of a massive construction project building a new park in a flood plain. So back down to the Tuesday Market. There's been a Market here for hundreds of years, bought some of the sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted. Late breakfast at Reeve the Baker and then back to the apartment. I went out after a couple of hours and visited the Salisbury Museum, it's a very good museum in the house of the Abbot of Sherborne. Quiet night tonight watching the tellie.


In town getting ready to hit the walkway

Nice path, people to the right, bikes to the left

Crossing under a bridge with some apartment buildings in the back. No sheep on this trip today.

Lot's of nice houses on the river with landscaped backyards but I can't help but think it can get dicey in a really wet winter.

This is the Close, a large amount of land around the Cathedral. Eventually a wall was built around the Close because the Abbot got a little worried about the general populace. A lot of the rich people built houses inside the Close.

I believe this is the Rifles Museum. It has a restaurant and a big car park.

The Salisbury Museum. I really enjoyed it, they still are pulling artifacts from the past out of the land around Salisbury. In 1997 they found a Roman mosaic about 5 ft. wide.

Some house, I don't know who lives here, but I'm pretty sure they probably don't clean their own bathrooms.

This is Edward / Ted Heath's house Arundells. Heath was Prime Minister from 1970 -74. He lived here the last 20 years of his life. He will always be famous in my mind from the line in George Harrison's song Taxman, " Uh-Uh Mr. Wilson, Uh-Uh Mr. Heath"

Enjoying your progress.

Salisbury Cathedral
There are a number of reasons to visit Salisbury, maybe the number one is it's proximity to Stonehenge, but people also come to visit the Cathedral. For us it was a place to relax after our London stay and to prepare for our Rick Steves Tour starting in Bath. I'm so glad we stayed here, it's been a nice break, got some laundry done, walk around like we have nowhere to go, "Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside", (If you don't know Green Acres and can't see Eddie Albert saying this line, don't worry about this reference!). Today is our day to visit the Cathedral and it is really spectacular. Built in only 40 years! It boasts Britain's tallest spire and keeper of one of only 4 copies of the Magna Carta. The Cathedral has over 600 volunteers, our tour guide, Phil, is a former magistrate and has been giving tours for 10 years. After the tour of the Cathedral we had a bite of lunch at the Rifleman's Table Cafe on the Close. I posted a picture of the exterior the other day. This building was the home of the Duke of Edinburghs Regiment, or something like that. We have sun all day but winds at around 30MPH.


Establishing shot of the Cathedral with statue of Elisabeth Frink. Look at those blue skies.

Here is the nave from the back of the Cathedral. Given our recent visits to Mexico and Croatia and Slovenia, the English Cathedrals have very little color. Phil said it would have been filled with color but after the English Revolution, the Cromwell crowd removed all the paint.

All around the Cathedral are floor plaques. Susanna here died in 1673, because of the water table here, there aren't any remains in the floor, the are for commemoration.

This guy, James, First Earl of Malmesbury, is probably in an above ground tomb. This cat had so much money he actually had a giant marble sculpture of him, lying in his den. I think he's asking Mrs Malmesbury to give him the remote.

This is the oldest working mechanical clock in the world! It has no face, but it chimes on the hour. It would let the farmers know it was time for lunch.

This is the Cathedra's Baptismal Font. It's huge, big enough for a baby or an adult. Also fantastic for getting some reflecting shots from the catherdral

How about that reflection!

This is where the choir sings. 13th Century Quire Stalls. We came here for Evensong and you sit behind the singers. Quite an experience

Another more colorful tomb. The man, in the back is slightly higher than the woman. So in this case, he was of more importance than the woman. We did see a number of tombs, however, where the woman was higher. I guess it came down to who was bigger royalty wise

This is the Cope Chest. I found it interesting, the priests, wore these large semicircular vestments and they were stored in this chest. Cope is ole timey language for Cape.

Trinity Chapel, which was actually the first chapel that was built. The glass was beautiful but not old.

This is inside the Chapter House. It's octagonal building where the Abbot would have meetings from his "managers" all around the country, had about 60 seats. Above the seats were stories in sculpture from the bible. This is Noah.

Enough church already, let's finish with some lunch

I am so glad you did the water meadow walk. As a kid that was my favorite.

The infinity font is relatively new (20 years,) and is extraordinary which you have captured.

Thank you bilboburgler for your kind words. Did you used to live in Salisbury or visit? We really enjoyed it, had some great meals and the town is very walkable, didn't even scratch the surface of different streets to explore

I used to live in Poole, worked in Salisbury and my mother guarded the Close for a year in WW2, weird or what

I heard a story here that the spire, tallest in England, has a light to warn airplanes of the spire, and the Nazis didn't bomb Salisbury because they used the Cathedral as a landmark when bombing England.,

Stonehenge
We opted to pay the extra money to take the English Heritage Stonehedge tour at 8AM which allows you to get into the "Stones". In 1977, due to over-tourism, Stonehenge was roped off, but there are about 50 people each morning who get to walk through the hedge before general admission. I don't remember what it cost, $50 - $70 range per person, but it's a once in a lifetime activity. It was definitely worth it. There's not a lot of ancient history that can be conveyed because we just don't know, it does have the Solstice thing going on so that's something. We had to stay around until around noon to catch the local bus back to Salisbury, by that time we watched bus loads of people head out there, so we were glad we got to see it early. Also no rain! I would love to say that I felt an inner electricity, but I didn't. It was a visit to an iconic site, mark it off the list.


English Heritage meets you at the Visitor Center and shuttles you out to the henge.

Here we are starting to walk in

Nice shot of one outer wall. There was an outer wall and what were called Blue Stones that were shorter. There was one big rock that was believed to be an altar.

Walking around. When you are inside, the overall site seems a lot smaller than I thought. You can see a point on the top of the tall stone in the middle. The cross beams had rounded holes to fit over the nipple.

Some nice stacking going on here. At the visitor center there is an example of how they might have done that. The stone is from 15 miles away

Better shot of the outer wall and blue stones

More outer wall

If you look at the stone on the right you can see some concrete that was added in, it's a darker color. They've had to add some cement under ground to shore some rock that were leaning

Closer to the shot we usually see. It looks bigger further away if that makes sense.

Playhenge
I had to add this in. This is called Playhenge and it's right outside of the visitors center. Every hour, I think like 50 kids get to go into the ring and pound stuff. Ok, mostly nails. The staff has created some rudimentary frames for a number of "buildings" and the kids just pound on wood where they want. Some kids were working on little detail things, nailing a small board to another small board, others are carrying around long 2 x 4's. I don't know what it has to do with Stonehenge, but it was great watching these kids go to town. Maybe if we got to bang on stuff when we were young we might have gotten it out of our system so we don't have to bang on everyone as adults.


Sign and entry way into the enclosure.

Someone is handing out tools, a hammer here, a saw there or a screwdriver.

And start hammering

This was a pretty big structure, you could walk up on top of it

A smaller cabin kind of thing. One of the volunteers told me this had been built almost 100% by kids. A small frame in the middle started it all

I doubt they lit the spire during the war. The Nazis used anything just like we did as no GPS and very poor or no radar. I live now next door to the largest secret bomber factory in the UK from that period . They built a fake one up on the moor and got Gerry to bomb that instead. Still not safe to visit that moor

Arriving in Bath
After the local bus back to Salisbury we picked up our luggage and caught our train to Bath. It's so nice riding a train between towns. I use the metro a lot in Los Angeles, used the Tube a lot in London, but a longer trip on a train is so...well civilized. I don't have to dirty my hands on the wheel of a car! LOL. Just over an hour to Bath, got a taxi at the station and off to our new lodgings. We are staying in the Bear Flat area, not sure if it's technically an "area" but it has a number of shops, a deli and a few restaurants. Our flat is fantastic. It's on the bottom floor of two joined buildings. Kind of a row house. We found it on Booking and the owners, Rob and Zoe have a really nice property. Unpack and then on to Bath. Took the bus back into town to the Main Station, and cross the street, Dorchester I believe and we are in for a little shock. Where are the carriages? What no bonnets? Young lady in the mini skirt with your breasts showing to the world, is this suitable attire for the land of the Bridgertons? Is this the Paseo in Pasadena? The Grove in Los Angeles, Westport in Kansas City? It felt like it could have been any of those places because it is indeed, The Mall at Southgate. I'm to learn later this area has been developed in the last 15 - 20 years. The "real" bath lays further down Southgate / Stall street. We do find Bath and more on that later. Dinner was at the Green Park Brasserie in old Green Park Railway station. Great pizza, good music by a young man named Tom Martin and a bus back to "home". We have arrived in Bath


We are staying in the bottom flat and it's really nice, big kitchen/living room, big bedroom. Very well appointed

This is the view from our stoop. As we will find out Bath is very hilly, you can see a lot of houses in the back right.

This building was a former brewery, bombed by the Germans, bloody Huns, and then turned into a pub after the war. It's a restaurant now and the bus stops right here!

Walking down Newark or maybe stall street. Urban Outfitters, get out of town, Zara around the corner and a big Marks and Spensers.

A little playground in the middle of the mall. Nice idea the "grass" angles up so you sit against it.

Fast food, not a grog shop in site. You can see Greggs, Smashburger and Burger King in the back. Not pictured is a McDonalds right on the left. I remember a time when Burger King first started it was real heavy on the "King" part. Lot's of Royal deals. I even have a friend who played the King in a couple of commercials.

Green Park Brasserie. We sat inside to hear the music but it is a lovely night and lot's of people are outside as you can see. One thing we have learned is that if there is hint of good weather, the Brits are outside and loving it.

Bath Day 2 Walking Tour AM
I walked into town all downhill and met a nice English gent on the way down and he gave me a little insight into the area. It's a fairly decent walk only about 15 minutes and I am in downtown. The Mayor of Bath's Honorary Guides give a free walking tour everyday at 10:30AM and I think it is a must. Great Guides, which I found out later are mostly retired people from London, and well worth the two hours to get a really sound overview. The greater Bath area seems really big and the downtown area is large also but after the walk you start putting the pieces together. The Royal Crescent isn't that far away from the Abbey etc. Lot's of Bridgerton sites even though that period was supposed to be in London.
Quite hilly here so be prepared for some uphill walking but then it's downhill back to town Center.



The start of the tour is in front of the Roman Baths, just to the rightof this picture, there is a big sign, well marked.

Just to the left of the Roman Baths is the Abbey.

On the North side of the Abbey

The entrance to the Kings and Queen baths. There were three different baths in town, I've forgotten the name of the other two but this was the big one

Pulteney Bridge. There are apparently four bridges that have shops and one time residences on them in Europe (according to our guide) Ponte Vecchio in Florence is one and some in Germany.

This is the Weir? Not sure if that is correct spelling, it can somehow control the water flow. It's really cool to look at.

Up on the Riverwalk looking back at the city. The Parade Grounds is to the left and down below.

End of the Royal Crescent, a long crescent shape of houses, 30 of them, completed in 1774. Now some have been broken into flats and there is an upscale hotel in the middle

The Royal Theater. Not sure about the whole story here, it might actually be the second Royal theater and there is a new one in the back, you can see the metal structure looming over it.

Bath Day 2 - Hop On Hop Off PM
Took the Hop On HopOff bus which is usually a nice thing to do when you want to get the lay of the land...and you are tired of walking.
Pretty standard stuff, 23 lbs per person for two days. Got a good overview, a lot of the same things I saw this morning but there is a Skyline tour that takes you up in the hills. It's a great way to get up in the hills, not a great space for shooting pictures because it is so green, tree lined streets, that there are only a few places you can actually see out on Bath. After my slight tongue in cheek poke at Bath yesterday because of the Mall, I have now fallen madly in love with Bath. The architecture is unique over a lot of what we've seen so far. Great streets to get lost in, wonderful parks and we've had the best weather.


On the Bus near the start at Manver's Street. That's St. John the Evangelist's Church in the background

Looking down Cheap Street, pretty busy today. I'm sure there is a story about the name of this street but I don't know it

Looking back at Bath Abbey from a point the Parade Grounds

Weir with tourist boat. We saw some kayakers today, in a group, and the guide took them over the Weir. I'm not sure what grade falls they are but it looked fun

Jane Austen lived at this address. Unlike in Bridgerton, where it seems like people had a country house and a London digs, people came here for the season and rented lodgings. That might explain why there is a site where Jane Austen lived on every corner. Or maybe she didn't pay her rent?

The Holburne Museum at the end of Pulteney Street. This is Lady Danbury's house in Bridgerton. I have to say I was a fan of Bridgerton to see the styles and buildings and to try to imagine that time.

Entry into the Royal Victoria Bath Park

Sedan chair in front of 1 Royal Crescent. A person would sit in here and be carried around by four strong dudes. It originally was for sick people, after the rich people saw these, they said "Hey, I'm feeling a little sick too!"

Out in front of the Royal Crescent. This picture does not do this scene justice. All of these students descend on the park, I believe for pictures. You can see some tuxes and dresses here. If I would have waited an hour, you would not have been able to see the grass because it was so covered with students.

Shot of the Giggling Squid. This is an old school building, private school probaby, and now it is a Thai restaurant and a great place to end our day.

Bath Day 3 - Bath Abbey
Headed into town to see Bath Abbey. It used to be a Cathedral but when the Abbot moved to Wells, it Bath was switched to an Abbey? I think that's the story. The stained glass is really amazingly colorful, more so than Salisbury which actually has a lot of clear glass. Bath has been called the Lantern of the West. We were fortunate because we went for a tour, the tour's are kind of randon we found our later, but the young lady at the door said, well we don't have a tour, but we have a concert starting in 20 minutes! Done and done. After the Abbey we looked in the Guildhall Market. Markets had to be Okayed by the King was chartered in the 12th century.



On the way to the Abbey, Roman Baths on the left.

This is easier to explain than to see from this picture. This is a statue of Peter. After Henry the VIII got rid of the Church, someone vandalized Peter's head. So this head, has actually been carved out of what was left of his beard. That's why the wierd face.

This was a real treat, to hear this choir in such a grand place was very beautiful.

The Abbey is famous for it's fan vaulting

Baptismal font, quite different than the one at Salisbury!

Look at those windows!

In the middle you can see King Edgar, the first English king being crowned here in the Bath Abbot, Cathedral at the time. I think it was summer because if he had been crowned in January, he would have been known as King Edgar Winter

Dome of th Bath City Markets in the Guildhall

Here is the official seal by Royal Charter. What's with the Roman Numerals, I thought the Romans were gone by now

"Cheap" used to mean shop or market, hence Cheapside and Eastcheap in London.

Thank you for documenting your trip so wonderfully, Tdiddy12 . Your Stonehenge photos are really special. This is a lot of work, and your photos and captions are fantastic. Will be helpful and inspiring for others.

That's right, and Chipping in a placename means it was a market town.

1 Royal Crescent
On the end of the Royal Crescent is a museum and you can see how the upper class lived in one of these fabulous houses.They have about 6 or 7 rooms decorated in the style they would have been. So this represents a rich plantation owner with three sons and 2 daughters. There are speakers in each room and as you walk through it gives you a little presentation either about the purpose of the room or in some cases stories about the family. It was worth it to see inside one of the original 30 rooms in the Crescent.


Establishing shot of the Crescent

Entrance into the Museum

Look at these stairwells. It seemed like there were only a couple of rooms, large rooms on each floor and the a stairwell.

Everything has to be balanced in this architecture, even if it meant adding a door with nothing behind it. It was needed to balance the door on the other side.

This was a really interesting presentation. There was a three paneled mirror, but then a film started in two panes of the mirror. The left side was the father complaining about his son and the right side was the son complaining about Dad!

The lady's bedroom

Kitchen

Another interesting display. Although you can't see it from this picture, this table had a film running of a woman making a recipe. Her hands were stirring the incredients.

This was the head housekeepers room. She had quite a job running the house and keeping everything in order.