Stonehenge

Our good friend, Jim Falle, was our guest this weekend and it was his first trip to London so we kept him busy! Sunday we hopped into the MINI Zip Car (I should say folded into the car!)cranked up Tomas-Tomas, and off we went to explore Stonehenge.


Out in the open countryside of the Salisbury Plain stands a monument of rocks in a circle and nothing else - well, a few sheep! The first stage of Stonehenge was built in 3000 BC.....can that be 5000 years ago? The audio tour suggested that the circle was connected with the sun and the passing of seasons and that it's builders understood astronomy. I found it interesting that some of the stones were brought from Wales, 240 miles away.....How?....possibly floated down a river on a barge but no one really knows.







All that fresh air made us hungry so we drove to Salisbury in search of an authentic pub for Sunday lunch. We all had the Fish and Chips and mushy peas - No lamb roast and Yorkshire pudding for me! Then I talked the guys into exploring Salisbury Cathedral, mostly built between 1220 and 1258 and a beautiful example of Early English Gothic architecture. It was built of marble and Chilmark stone - does that name sound familiar to those of you in New England? I have been reading the bestselling novel "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett and I have become completely enrapture by the romance of medieval cathedrals and the story of Tom, the mason who becomes the architect. I am loving this book....put it on your booklist!