Rocking on and then into Bath

Left London Saturday morning by train to Salisbury. We only needed to do one change from Olympia to Clapham which made travelling with a heavy suitcase a lot easier. Paul volunteered to guard our cases whilst the rest of us found seats further back on the train. Paul now alone had the opportunity to crack onto a couple of mature English ladies heading to Devon for their holidays. It took just over an hour on the train alighting at Salisbury then a short taxi ride to 2 Park Lane guesthouse. When it comes to taxis it seems rather odd that if the first taxi in the queue is a mini why they think they can fit 4 adults with luggage into it beats me! Wizards obviously!  Our guesthouse was lovely and the breakfast provided extremely tasty.

Once settled we decided to explore Salisbury and headed off walking into the City along the Avon River very unlike the one Paul has paddled back home. Heaps of people around so we followed the trail to the Cathedral which is known to have the highest steeple in England. Also on display in the Chapter house was one of the few remaining Magna Cartas. We did think about having a drink free day but that was very short lived stopping at George and the Dragon, Avon Brewery and Qudos. Qudos had live music so we stayed, danced and met some very interesting people. At this pub I decided that PC needed to know that he should be aware of how the people around him were interacting with each other. If a young mutton decides to dance suggestively on the dance floor with you maybe check to see how big her boyfriend is first. Lucy a young lady just loved one of his Loud shirts made in Gero and must have told him at least a dozen times. A married couple sat at our table who were so in love with each other they should file for divorce. Of course PC became their mate as the honeypot had her Dolly Parton’s on display. I instantly became a snob and showed a lot more interest in the band. Jonn and Ross who were on their own table had a throng of young women to dance with and after we left at 12ish they continued to party on. We managed to walk home which was probably a good thing and Paul went to bed happy knowing that he still “had it”  and I had just “had it” with all of the walking!

Sunday was the day for Stonehenge and Bath. I had booked a chauffeur for this day before leaving Geraldton with one of the locals from Salisbury as we wanted to see as much of the area possible in a day. £160 for the 4 of us was well worth it as it was a very comfortable air-conditioned car. We certainly needed air conditioning as it has been like the summer of 1976 lots of days of extreme heat which means above 25C and for more than 1 day. Martin the driver was ex-police force so new all the back roads and how to avoid the traffic jams. Stonehenge was a great discussion point. Ross thinks the stones were a big doorway and the rest was made of wood and then rest just rotted away. Paul reckons the locals had too much time on their hands and needed something to do. The Heritage mob are spending a mere £29 million on an interpretive centre. 8,000 visitors a day is big business. Years ago before the inner circle was closed  you could get in and mix it with the stones or stoners, but just think of how your photos would look with every Tom Dick and Harry hanging in there.

Lacock Village is a listed heritage working village where lots of period movies are made. Judy Dench is well known in this area. We also went past Gordon Sumner’s aka Stings house and left a message in a bottle. Bath was certainly very crowded due to it being peak season and I do believe Paul is all heritaged out! Amazing buildings and Roman baths and you definitely need more than 4 hours to take in all of the architecture. 9 hours later we were back in Salisbury at The Lazy Cow a pub owned by some Limerick butchers who know how to do a mean tender steak. Blown the budget today.