another check off my art history bucketlist

Yesterday my friends Arielle, Brett and I visited Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

My art history geek self was having a wet dream, let me tell you.

To get to wiltshire it takes about two and a half hours, not counting obvious diversions. After hopping on the tube and grabbing the National Rail out of Waterloo station we took an early morning train out to a town called Salisbury, which is about a two and a half ride through scenic England.

Everything you see about suburban/rural England in the movies is true. Mossy roofs, lots o' sheep, the romantic mist over the fields as the sun comes up. It's precious but I'd die if I lived there. Thank goodness for cities.

Anyways, Salisbury is a cute little town with a decent touristy vibe and a gorgeous 13th century Cathedral whose steeple just so happens to be the "tallest in the land" as our tour pamphlets proclaimed (which means it's the tallest in the UK at 404 feet!). It's really a sight, surrounded by luscious green close (which I'm assuming is the term for the grounds around the Cathedral) that we took time to run through and enjoy the sunshine.

Salisbury Cathedral in all its glory.

Sunshine. Despite what all those asshole pessimists say, it does not rain here that often. Yes, rain exists...but no more than in Jersey in the springtime. I think it's rained MAYBE three whole days while I've been here while we've been outside doing things. Other than that I have enjoyed a mild January with temps floating in the 50s. Suck on that New York and your few inches of snow as of late.

I digress, as per usual. But yeah, the Cathedral is gorgy, the town is precious. Finally tasted my first meat pie (pork and apple, wondrous) and then out to Wiltshire we waltzed.

Lie, we were typical tourists and jumped on the 15 quid tour that drives you out to the Stonehenge Landscape. Whatever, I learned a few cool things along the way. LIKE- did you know that in the UK to flip someone off they show two fingers? The middle and the pointer. This goes back to Medieval times when the French would capture British archers and to keep them from ever shooting another arrow they'd chop off their two fingers. So in protest the British do this to taunt the French. And then it caught on. Silly Americans eff'd it up.

So Stonehenge is breathtaking. Large bluestones in the middle of a very expansive and serene landscape where sheep graze (Arielle and I tried beckoning our woolen friends by baa'ing at them. fail.) and there are large burial mounds in every direction which add a little more to this prehistoric site.

Rocks! Blue Skies! Stonehenge! Yeah!

Why Stonehenge is important: 5,000 years ago these early inhabitants of the English countryside decided that Wiltshire is super awesome and a great place to put a spiritual and ceremonial rock formation. The rocks come from the Preseli mountains in Wales, about 156 miles away. The biggest rocks weighed 25 tons when transported (somehow, maybe aliens) to the site. Then they were chiseled and erected in two horseshoe like set ups that we see ruins of today. Oh and most interesting? The main axis of Stonehenge (which literally means hanging rocks in oldspeak) is aligned with the summer solstice, which makes it a big calendar. Why and how? Couldn't tell you. But, Neolithic people Rock!

Har, har, har.

Prehistory never tasted so good.

Ok, I think I've recapped enough now.
Oh, and Brett and I attempted to find Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross today and couldn't get to the platforms because we need a ticket. Tempting, but chose against it. 

By the way, Kings Cross Station is really pretty, I'll take this over Times Square anyway.