Caryn and Jan took us (by car) to see the countryside of England! We went first to Avebury, which is a henge in Wiltshire that is 15 times as big as Stonehenge. The stones aren't 15 times as big, just the area of the stone circles. We were able to visit a small museum talking about the history (or what they think probably happened...they aren't too sure about a lot of it because it's so old), go inside the old church, and then walk right up to the stones sticking out of the ground. It's crazy to think of how long they've been standing there! We went to Stonehenge next. It's more tourist-y and they've roped off the stones, so you can only see them from a distance. But they were amazing! And the bleak scenery around there just added to the mystical feeling. We are lunch at the cafe there (parsnip soup and a baguette!), then drove to Salisbury. The cathedral is magnificent. It has the tallest steeple in the UK. The building of the cathedral started in 1220 and took 38 years to build. We were particularly impressed by the amount of people buried there who had been secretaries to a king, or ladies maids to a queen who we'd read many books about! A copy of the Magna Carta is kept at the cathedral and we were able to see it. It is the best copy out of the remaining 4 left and there's a guard standing there making sure you don't try to take pictures or do anything to it. ;)
We went out for high tea in a beautiful hotel in Salisbury. Maria has found a new love: clotted cream. It was a delicious treat with jam on scones.
We had dinner in a small pub called "The Mayfly," on the edge of a river. Jan's daughter, Alexandra, joined us for dinner. It was a great time and everything was delicious (including the drink we tried: half beer, half ginger beer).
A wonderful day to finish off our stay in England!!
-Natalie
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