At the start of
our trip, my parents and I arrived in London within a few hours of each other and met up in the international arrivals terminal. Some insane tail winds for them and head winds for me meant that they were waiting quite a long time for me, even though my plane was scheduled to arrive an hour earlier than theirs! After a little coffee, we got our rental car and headed off to Salisbury, where we stayed for two days.
Salisbury is famous for its
huge cathedral, which was built in the 1200s! It's hard to believe that it was built so long ago and is still standing. It also houses an original copy of the Magna Carta, which was quite interesting to see. Our first order of business upon arriving in Salisbury was to walk around the city and the Cathedral close, soaking up the sun.
We also walked around the Cathedral's cloister, which was really beautiful. I really enjoyed the peace and beauty and amazing old trees of this cloister.
The Cathedral close was full of grand old homes, and we really enjoyed walking around to see them.
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| My favorite door. It was blue, of course. |
The next day, we took a walk out to
Old Sarum, which is where the original city was founded, in 3000 BC. My dad recently read
a book on the history of Salisbury through the ages, and this site featured heavily in the book.
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| Old Sarum hill. |
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| Site of the old cathedral. |
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| Ruins of Old Sarum. |
We took the full tour of the Cathedral in the afternoon, viewing the Magna Carta, and also participating in an Evensong service. I have to admit that seeing ruins is interesting, but I have a hard time picturing how it once was. Attending an Evensong service, on the other hand, in the same place where such services have been taking place for hundreds of years, made me feel connected with the past in a very tangible way.
It was nice to have some time in Salisbury (partially to allow my parents to get over jet lag a little before we did a lot of driving), but also because it is always possible to see and learn more when you stay a little longer in one place, as opposed to just popping in from place to place. It was a great start for our trip!
