Day 4 (Portsmouth, Salisbury and Stonehenge)

This morning we had a delicious breakfast with the Bonds.

I tried red currents (bitter like cranberry with lots of tiny seeds)

and had my first taste of Marmite- gag! (a brown salty spread for toast)



We caught the ferry at Gosport to Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard (That's HMS Victory in the background)

HMS Victory, completed in 1765.



Most famously remembered as Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and
where he lost his life in 1805.



It was hard to believe that such a gigantic ship could be constructed completely from wood. It took approximately 6000 trees to build.

Part of the bowsprit-(That is the mast that sticks out the front of the ship)

View toward the stern showing some of the gun ports. The Victory carried 100 guns (cannons).

The rigging- (my hand for scale)- about 26 miles of cordage

Nelson's dining room and day room- see the checkered floor? All the furniture is collapsible, even the huge dining table because it would all have to be removed for battle.

But this is how most of the crew lived.
At Trafalgar, The Victory carried 820 men and boys commanded by Capt. Thomas Hardy and 146 Royal Marines

We spent all but the last hour before the dockyard closed on The Victory! (I know- Nerds.) But we did see a few other interesting ships:

HMS Warrior
with an iron hull and a steam engine, was the largest, fastest, most heavily armed and armored warship in the world. Completed in 1861, it made all previous warships obsolete.

HMS Mary Rose, built around 1510, sank in 1545 just outside Portsmouth Dockyard. Over time, the wreck was covered in sand and silt.

The parts of the ship that were buried were raised and are currently being preserved in a specially designed wet environment.

Shops along the quayside in Portsmouth.

Stephen and Val drove us to Salisbury Cathedral

Since it was after 5:30(17.30) we could not go in, but we took some lovely sunset photos outside.

Details of Salisbury Cathedral

And just outside Salisbury, we stopped at Stonehenge. There is was- out in the middle of a grassy plain where it has stood since about 3000 B.C.

Sunset at Stonehenge

Day 3 (Rye, Battle and Andover)

We had a leisurely breakfast this morning and watched some little "Downs" bunnies romp in the field behind our B&B.

Our drive to the southern coast was beautiful!

This was a really typical road- with hedges on both sides and over-arching trees.



We stopped at a community "Boot Sale" near Rye, (that is boot- as in trunk of the car) and picked up some bargain souvenirs. We felt right at home here!



We drove through the ancient village of Rye. From Roman times, it was a thriving shipping town



After terrible storms in the 13th century, the harbor was suitable only for smaller vessels, which made it an ideal port for smugglers!

This is the gate house entrance to the site of "The Battle of Hastings"- which is NOT, by the way, in Hastings, but the town of Battle.

Remember 1066? King Harold (the Saxon) was defeated by the Norman invaders led by William (the Conqueror) in a battle NEAR the town of Hastings.



And there is the spot. It is hard to imagine all that blood and sword hacking when you see it now.



As penance for all the thousands of lives lost there, William I built an abbey on the site of the battle and a church with the high altar resting on the "spot where Harold fell".

Unfortunately, the Norman cathedral was completely destroyed under Henry VIII, but the ruined abbey buildings remain.

Battle Abbey ruins

The medieval abbey wall and the town of Battle below.

A pub next to the walls of Battle Abbey.

That evening, we made it to Andover where we stayed with our wonderful friends, Val and Stephen Bond.


Fascinating Observations

• British English spoken quickly is painfully difficult to understand- Are they really speaking English?
• Dorking and High Nutfield are considered acceptable town names
• It was 15 to 19 degrees most of the time we were in Kent- in Celsius of course!
• Brits do not use fitted sheets (a flat is used instead) and there is no top sheet provided. We had to ask for them!
  
• Nothing opens before 9:30 or 10am and everything closes by 5:30. This made for some frustrating moments.
• There are still public phones in England. (The red phone booths!) One call costs abt 40p- or about $.70US
• Brits enjoy mashed peas- this is just what it sounds like- green peas mashed up like mashed potatoes- looks..um.
• This is the land of the traffic roundabout. You start to get VERY confused with all the going around and around without a GPS.
• It is a "Toilet"- you will not be taking a bath in it will you?
• Free House- the food and beer are not free! It means that they serve a variety of brews, not just one brand.
• It was not unusual to check out on the far side of a store, then walk back through the merchandise to the exit- Is that crazy or what? They must not have a lot of shoplifting.
  

This is a dog parking spot outside a local grocery store!

Day 2, part 2 (Canterbury)

We ate a quick lunch and drove west to Canterbury.

The town of Canterbury has been around since at least 270AD when the Romans enclosed it with a stone wall. These walls were later enlarged and reinforced, but parts of the Roman wall are still visible.

About 600AD, St. Augustine converted the pagans, built a church here and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.



The cathedral the we see today was completed in 1498.

Let me just say that photos cannot show how amazing this cathedral really is. You just have to experience it. Here are a few samples of what we saw.

11th and 12th Century Stained Glass

Aisle of the 14th Century Nave



Ceiling of the Nave



Site of the Martyrdom of St. Thomas Beckett in 1170.
The original shrine built in his honor became a pilgrimage site until it was destroyed in 1538 on the orders of Henry VIII.



Quire screen



Bell Tower Ceiling completed in 1498



The high altar and St. Augustine's chair

Trinity Chapel with the tomb of Henry IV and wife



Closeup of Henry IV Tomb decoration

Tomb of the Edward the Black Prince

Some graffiti at the stairway to the crypt "T.L. 1650"



Worn stone steps

The Crypt
This is what remains of the 11th Century Norman cathedral (which was built on the site of the Saxon cathedral destroyed in 1067.) See how the arches are rounded and not pointed?

View of the Cloisters



A few of the hundreds of gravestones in the cloisters, some so old and worn that they are nearly erased.



The Bell Tower seen from the Cloister



Elaborate exterior carvings



See the faces?



Fading....It has been a full day!

We got Fish and Chips for supper and drove "home"



What a welcoming place to spend the night!