England: Salisbury

From Brighton, we changed our base to Salisbury, one of the best-preserved medieval towns in the UK. Its economic base was wool. Unlike many other towns/cities, Salisbury seems to have changed little over the centuries. We attended an evensong in the cathedral, mostly town folks. To my surprise, I rather enjoyed the experience.

One day trip from Salisbury was to Stourhead House and Garden. We invested in a Royal Oak Foundation membership which gives free entrances to National Trust properties. Stourhead was built with the Hoare's Bank fortune which financed slave trade and New World plantations. While the house at Stourhead was not particularly impressive, the landscape garden with all the rhododendrons was very enjoyable. Per National Trust website's direction, we used an on-demand bus to get to the site, our first experience.

From Salisbury, we visited Stonehenge. We took the public bus and had a walk around the area, bypassing the tourist shuttle and ticket office. John was rather excited; I was less impressed, especially sinceI just came from the Minoans.

The Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest church steeple in the UK at 123 meters (404 feet).






The River Avon runs right through the center of town.




On the Train to Stourhead


The train passed through some typical English countryside.


Some photos outside and inside the Stourhead House






The Stourhead Landscape Garden, rhododendrons in full bloom, was amazing.


Temple of Apollo Viewpoint.


Pantheon Temple








A view of the lake.






One more rhododendron photo.

First below is the mapy.com map we constructed to plot our Stonehenge walk, starting and ending at the bus stop in the upper right. We ended up not following it to the letter, but just making the map was educational.


Off the bus (1st below) and walking through Durrington Walls Neolithic Settlement (2nd below) and Woodhenge Neolithic Timber Monument from 2500 BC (3rd).






The path towards Stonehenge.


And there it is. First below is the view from New King Barrows which are about 1 mile east of the Stonehenge Stone Circle. Second below, a bit closer.




Almost there. Personally I am happy to approach on foot from a few miles away.




This is as close as you get for free.


These folks are as close as you get if you pay.


Not much left to do after visiting the Stone Circle except to head back towards the bus via the Cursus Ridge Neolithic Burial Mounds




Bonus Woodhenge Pano with les deux SL.


One evening we had some small plates and a real ale at Wetherspoon's Pub.

England: Brighton

A direct flight from Athens to London Gatwick and a 35-minute train ride, we were in Brighton to start a three-week tour of England and Wales before Scotland. This part of the trip got on the itinerary only three days before we left for Tunisia. It made so much more sense. We didn't feel too bad about having to forfeit two sets of non-refundable tickets to and from France. We'll get there in the fall.

While Brighton has a handful of buildings from the medieval period when it was a fishing village, like much of the country, the city was largely built during the age of empire. While the seafront may have seen better days, the city still seems rather popular with visitors. Yet the future is uncertain. The iconic Brighton Palace Pier has been up for sale since the beginning of the year....

Walking out of Brighton Station.


From the train station we headed to our hotel. It felt good to be back in England with its double-decker buses.


After settling into our room (2nd floor with a bay window, 1st below), we headed straight to the beach to enjoy the very pleasant sunny day.








We spot a Vegan Fish and Chips place and can't resist ordering a plate.




Heading back to our room, we walked by the Indo-Saracenic Royal Pavilion (1st below). And vowed to come back first thing the next day to take a photo in the morning light (2nd below).




Then we headed to actually walk out on the Palace Pier after only admiring it from a distance the day before.










There are great views to the west from the Palace Pier. The ruins of the old pier can be spotted to the left, and the 162-metre (531 ft) Brighton i360 Observation tower at center.


We also walked a bit on the Brighton Beach Promenade, both upper and lower levels.






And finally, back to Brighton Station to catch our train to Salisbury.