Well we have really been moving through Southern England, we realise we do not have a lot of time in Britain, so we are really flying. We picked up the car in Bournemouth and we could not get a GPS, or even a map book. So being spoilt in France we decided to buy a cheap Navman, it is wonderful. I have no idea how we managed without them. We then went to Christchurch and had lunch in the churchyard. England really is a beautiful country, but it really does need a roof.... It has rained and rained since we arrived.
We then went on to Stonehenge, something Kearie and I have both wanted to see for a very long time. The Olympic torch was about to pass through the area, so traffic was a nightmare, we finally arrived at Stonehenge to discover that we had just over ½ an hour before the road would be closed, they were going to have some big festival and the road would not open again until midnight.... they told us it would be wonderful and we should stay.... well we weren’t having any of that, so we did a quick dash to the stones, what a disappointment. I expected it to be mythical, an eerie feeling, something, it looked like a rubbish dump. Lots of old rusty iron fire poles and things had been placed around the stones, presumably to light up in the evening for their concert. But it just looked dreadful, like a trash heap. I was incredibly disappointed, they still charged full price too, even though they knew we would only have 30 minutes at the most to look at the thing. I was disgusted with the whole thing. Definitely not a place I would return to or even encourage others to visit.
We found a nice restaurant in Warminster and stayed in our first B & B, it was lovely, with beautiful gardens and lovely facilities, it was in Fordingbridge and was called the 3 lions. Really lovely spot and on the ground floor. I love the ground floor, with all my heavy luggage. Although I have cut my luggage in half, but leaving all the non essentials in the car. I will miss the car once we are back in Europe..
Some of the lovely garden at The 3 Lions, a lovely B & B
The next morning we drove to Salisbury and visited the Cathedral, it is beautiful, we were both very impressed.
Salisbury Cathedral...It's huge
Part of the inside of the cathedral, it is really lovely
After Salisbury we visited Bath, what a beautiful city, all of the buildings are made or faced with the same stone, so the whole city looks wonderful, no bright colours or silly buildings, it is really lovely. We visited the Roman baths and did the hop on hop off tour, without hopping off... It was lovely to sit back and let someone else drive, driving in Bath is a nightmare.... Even the guide on the bus told us that, I wish I had known earlier and we would have used the park and ride. They have park and rides outside a lot of towns in Britain, you park your car in a car park, outside of the town and buses come out regularly to pick people up and take them into town, a brilliant idea for places like Bath, that are crap to drive in. The Roman Bathes were great and Kearie and I really enjoyed the visit.
We stayed at another B&B called Guyers House, it had been some kind of stately home at one point, it looked like a manor to me, it was really lovely and once again our room was on the ground floor,, woo hoo, on a winning streak...
The Roman Baths
Bath, It was raining, so I have no decent shots of the city. kearie might, I will ask her when she wakes up...
Yesterday we drove through the Cotswolds, what a beautiful area, we had lunch at Burton on the Water, a really lovely village, the Cotswolds are full of beautiful villages and we had a lovely time. We then travelled north to Lincoln. We visited the Lincoln Cathedral, my third visit to this cathedral, but it really is lovely, and Kearie had not seen it before. We are staying just out of town in a Hotel, unfortunately my luck did not hold and we are back on the first floor.... I always look at the owner of our accommodation with trepidation until they say where our room is, I hate stairs and I hate luggage..
Burton on the water, beautiful place
More of Burton on the Water
Outside Lincoln Cathedral. I have posted photos of this cathedral in my last blog, 2 years ago. So won't bore you with repeats...
We are catching up with my lovely friend Sue today, and her husband Jim. I stayed with them last time I was here and it will be wonderful to see them again. We will then travel to Rotherham to visit our other friends Mary & Mal, who we met in Greece 2 years ago. We have both visited with them since, but not at the same time. It will be lovely to catch up.
We are hoping to be in Scotland by the 17th to visit with Sheonagh and Ally, so we will be travelling fast. I hope you enjoy the photos
Cheers for now
Lones
Looks great. xo
ReplyDelete