Stonehenge, Old Sarum, & a Classical Concert at the Cathedral
Saturday, May 28
We had the briefest of visits to Stonehenge back in 2010 on our tour around the UK. The stop was literally about 20 minutes, I'd say. You do have to pay extra to go inside the fencing and we didn't have time to do that. So I wanted to go back and have an actual experience there.
The hop-on hop-off bus was definitely the most practical choice to get to Stonehenge, and it left right from the Salisbury train station which was a two minute walk from my AirBnB. I got the earliest bus I could, at about 10:00 am, and, boy, was that whole bus full of mostly Americans (from what I could tell)!
The bus ride was nice; it took about 30 minutes to actually get to Stonehenge, but there was a little audio tour to listen to and seeing the countryside on the way was pleasant.
Once we rolled up to the parking lot, I could tell things were different than when I was there in 2010. Back then, Stonehenge was in view from the parking lot -- albeit, pretty far away. It was nowhere to be seen this time. There was a really nice building for toilets and a really nice building for the visitor center, but no stones.
The bus driver informed us that we could take a shuttle from the visitor center to Stonehenge, or we could walk there. I liked the idea of walking up to the stones, but I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for so many steps.
I walked through the visitor center, not looking at anything -- I was on a mission to get to the stones. I decided to take the shuttle when I learned it was a 5 minute ride, knowing a 5 minute ride means about 20 minutes of walking. I figured maybe I'd walk back if I felt so inclined.
Seeing Stonehenge come into view just gives you a sense of wonder. Walking up to it does the same.
(Many pictures to come that all look the same!)
Some people say they are disappointed when they see Stonehenge because it's small. I beg to differ. It's true that the stones are about 13 feet in height. But I like thinking of the feat that people 5000 years ago made -- hauling these stones from hundreds of miles away and getting them upright and on top of each other? Pretty impressive.
This is a burial mound nearby that sheep were just chilling on.
I heard a woman offer to take someone's photo and they declined. I always think that's weird for someone to decline, because who just wants selfies? But I hopped over and was like, "Will you take mine?!" So we exchanged photo sessions.
This is where you can see the mid-winter sunset.
This is the closest you can get to the stones. This bird was just enjoying being the subject of photos, and just generally was having a great time at Stonehenge.
This is where the crowds were. Just a hundred people taking selfies. Even though I hate a selfie (both the act of taking a selfie and how I look in them), I was like, "Ehh whatever," and took some too.
Did another loop around for some more selfies from a different angle.
I didn't stay too long. Maybe an hour or so. The crowds nearer to the stones were a lot of people and there wasn't anywhere to sit except on the ground. I wished that it wasn't so packed because I was hoping to get a little bit of a vibey feeling from the stones, ya know what I mean? My witchy senses weren't really tingling at all and I wanted them to.
Hopped on the bus to the next destination, which was Old Sarum. It was on the way back to Salisbury. Old Sarum is a ruined site of the first settlement of Salisbury. There was a castle built there in 1069; Edward II abandoned it in 1322. The remains of the first cathedral are here.
This video starts with the foundation stones of the cathedral and then shows the remains of part of the castle complex.
Cathedral foundation stones from 1000 years ago
Here's a stock photo of what the whole complex looks like. Very cool!
I had a beautiful day for these two locations!
I headed back to Salisbury on a local bus and went into the town center. Since it was Saturday there was a market happening, which are always fun to see. Proper butchers and fishmongers, vegetable and fruit sellers. And food trucks! I had lunch from the food truck below.
Cute, right?!
This is the old gated wall of Salisbury.
A pretty street row of houses in Salisbury.
I hung out at my AirBnB for a bit, ate some leftover pizza, and got ready for an event! The event was classical music by a symphony orchestra at the cathedral.
I was probably the youngest person there and I loved it! Look at the beautiful uplighting!
I don't think I've ever seen a symphony orchestra before, but man, it really makes you feel things! Some of it felt pretty traditional, like what you'd expect. But then some of it was the music you love from movies during the epic parts. I even got chills a couple of times.
Here's one of the songs they played.
Another fantastic day... what else can I say? 😊
