Stonehenge and Salisbury: AKA a Day Full of Selfies, Gross Sandwiches, and a Whole Lot of History

Wow wow wow... Today was such a productive day!! We started off with our trip to Stonehenge. The site is located in the middle of nowhere in this GORGEOUS mellow farm-ish area which was really cool because we had visited two really hustling and bustling cities the days prior to this excursion. They have just opened a new visitors center which they constructed so that it wouldn't harm the hill like landscape that was created at the time Stonehenge was. I wasn't really sure what to expect going to Stonehenge, but it was awesome even though we don't know much about it. Just looking at the structure of the formation from all of the different angles was interesting. Our group spent quite a bit of time trying to think up ideas of how they got the rocks that lay across the top of the others in place. We were all mind blown when Peter told us that they used rafts to transport the rocks across the water. Visiting this location is definitely something that everybody should do once in their life just because it is so unique. Even though there isn't really anything known about it, it's hard not to appreciate it for its mystery and just sheer "awesomeness".

 A drummer that was playing by the formation

Ava said she liked the Kappa Delta hand sign the best :)

After we took as many selfies as our phones could hold, it was time to load back on the bus to go to Salisbury. The city was an extremely pleasant surprise. Salisbury is a very cute area and compared to London and Oxford, it is extremely calm. The first thing we saw while walking over to the Salisbury Cathedral for our tour was the school that William Golding taught at and supposedly wrote most of The Lord of The Flies while working here. Coincidentally enough, 60 years ago today (September 17), the novel was first published!! Pretty cool stuff.

Salisbury Cathedral is one of the grandest buildings I've ever seen and it is the tallest Gothic structure in the world. We were lucky enough to go on a tour through the interior and it was so interesting because there is a story or meaning behind every last little thing in the building. We saw the oldest working clock in existence, a number of different tombs that belong to several Bishops and other church leaders, and lastly, we saw one of four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta. I don't think any of us could comprehend how incredible seeing that document was. Even though it was signed in 1215, it is so well preserved that it looks like it was typed up on the computer and printed out this morning. The printing was absolutely spectacular and Lindsay and I decided it looked like somebody had typed it up on microsoft word because the letters were all exactly the same size with no scratch outs, and the lines were perfectly straight. After our tour, we got to wander around Salisbury a bit which was really fun. They had a ton of cute little shops and bakeries. Our last big event for the day was attending the Evensong service at the cathedral. It was a beautiful service and the girls choir was singing. Their average age looked to be about 10 years old and they were absolutely incredible!!

Magna Carta
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news/magna_carta_four_copies_to_be_united_in_2015

 Model of the cathedral

 Oldest working clock in existence

 Tomb of a man who was 7 ft 4!

 Memorial plaque for those who passed in a train wreck in Salisbury

 Way back when, the Priests and Bishops stood in these stalls during services. They were standing room only and tended to last between 2-3 hours, so the clergy had these chairs with wooden platforms that they could rest on while they looked like they were still standing.

 Boston Tea Party coffee shop

 Sign with the distances to Salisbury Maryland and Salisbury North Carolina

I was super exhausted when I got back but had the chance to catch up with my sister, Alicia, and two of my very best friends from High Point, Amanda and Eliana. We miss each other a little bit too much so it was really fun just messing around for a while, even though it was from across the pond!!

Friday we take on Bath!! Until then my friends!!

xoxo 

SG