Stonehenge Rocks, or, The Steak is a Lie

Part I: Stonehenge

Friday's trip to Stonehenge was amazing.  And early.  But amazing nonetheless.

When you pull up to Stonehenge, you see sheep.  A lot of sheep.  But they aren't the only locals waiting to greet you--Stonehenge is also home to many Druids, or at least home to their protests.  The Druids claim responsibility for Stonehenge, and although nobody can conclusively prove they're wrong, carbon-dating of the animal bones used as tools to dig holes for the stones suggests that Stonehenge predates the Druids.  However, the Romans are off the hook, despite the English king's claims when the ruins were brought to his attention, because they're too young a civilization to have been around to craft the circle.  I thought this woman seemed very representative of a lost time and a lost culture.

The stones that need no description.  A couple of interesting notes, though--because of the immense weight of the stones, each is buried 5-6 feet underground at the bottom.  Also, each stone is tapered toward the top so that a view standing at the ground makes them look completely straight, despite their height.

 

The historical society's best guess as to what Stonehenge originally looked like.  Pretty impressive for something that was built about 5000 years ago.  So what's your theory? Pre-historic Druids, early Roman ancestors, or, the most popular theory, an alien signal to their home planet?

And, Part II: The Steak is a Lie.

Salisbury.  What comes to mind?  Salisbury steak, mayhaps?  Wrong.  Salisbury steak was invented by an American physician, a Dr. Salisbury, and has absolutely nothing to do with the town in the UK.  Needless to say, we were very, very disappointed.

 

But, luckily, Salisbury is not just another English country town (although a very good example of one!).  It is home to Salisbury Cathedral, an engineering marvel for both its design and the speed with which it was constructed...the entire cathedral took less than a century to build, and excluding the spire, less than a half-century!

There was a cute footbridge we took to the town market in the center of Salisbury, and the creek running under it was home to many mallards and a few swans.  They didn't seem to get along so well, though--most of the swans were trying to chase the ducks off!

 

This isn't a stunning work of photography by any means, but I thought the contrast of old and new here was kind of cool to think about.  Salisbury is a town with a long and rich history, and some elements of it--besides the cathedral--have changed little over the years.  You can still hire a coach and horses to take you around town, instead of opting for one of those new-fangled car contraptions.

 

CANDYLAND!  This shop had every type of sweet imaginable, including a special Salisbury confection.  Salisbury's local indulgence was a stick candy with "Salisbury" printed down the center of the stick candy, a part of each layer. I wonder how they manage that...

 

Leaving the cathedral.  I was hoping for a silhouette type shot here, but it turned out more of a "church spire spearing the sun" effect.  Alas, this side of the cathedral is not nearly as breathtaking, but that's only temporary--the scaffolding here is a sign of the refacing project on the exterior of the cathedral...once that's done, Salisbury Cathedral will be photogenic from all angles.