Ventures and Adventures of a Vermonter Abroad: Stonehenge and Salisbury

Hello All!
On Saturday I went to Stonehenge! I woke up super early and caught the train into Salisbury with some other people from IFSA (my study abroad program). We took a taxi to the 'Henge itself. What an awesome experience. It was hoving above freezing, windy and spitting snow. Still, it was a wonderful opportunity to marvel at the mystery of the stones.

Stonehenge with the ditch that surrounds it. The audio guide said that it was dug with deer antler pickaxes and cattle shoulder-blade shovels.

Lonely stone off to the side

Stonehenge is unfathomably old. Back when it was constructed, the surrounding area was covered in forests. Quite the change from the sheep pastures of today! To give you some perspective, it was already ancient when the Romans arrived in Britain. I'd like to think that this ring of stones stumped many a centurion.

At a distance

Look at how squared-off those corners are!

You can almost see inside

A barrow (burial mound). There were a couple in the vicinity

Hearing about how the stones were quarried and shipped to the site via raft reminded me of my visit to Guédelon this past summer. This is a site in Burgundy, France where they are building a 13th century castle using the techniques of the Middle Ages. It's like a living archeology project. If I won the lottery, I'd love to fund a project similar to Guédelon but with a Stonehenge-era focus. How cool would that be?! Following are a couple photos from Guédelon:

Castle!

Side-view of the castle

They quarried all this stone by hand

Ok, side-conversation is now done.

After freezing our fingers off at Stonehenge, we returned to Salisbury and made our way to the Salisbury Cathedral. It has the tallest spire in the UK, and an original copy of the Magna Carta.

White Swans: Still property of the Crown

So cute!

My attempt to capture the UK's tallest spire

It was nice to rekindle my love affair with Gothic Architecture.

St. Edmund of Abingdon, is that you?

All these Saints! Also note the two ladies taking a smoke-break (!)

Stained glass, gothic arches and lens flair!

A baptismal font. Can you believe it?

Rivaling my love of Gothic Arc? Heraldry.

A memorial for Rex Whistler who was killed in Normandy, 1944. He lived in Salisbury Cathedral Close. This memorial was made by his brother and given to the Cathedral.

This stone looks unimpressive, but it was loose when I stepped on it. I can only conclude that there's a map underneath it and whoever lifts up the tile will soon be on an Indiana Jones-style adventure.