ancient clocks, tall towers, and mysterious stone circles
My journey from Salcombe to Salisbury was quite drawn out. I had to take a bus back north since there is no train to the coast. That was to be expected, though, as I had had to take the bus down. Fortunately, I had done all my route planning prior to arriving since the hostel had no internet access (This was the only hostel where I encountered this. It was not unpleasant, though, just glad I had already written down all the transit times I needed.) As I mentioned in my last blog, travel on Sunday can be quite different than other days of the week--fewer buses and fewer trains. In this case, it meant there are only two bus trips from Salcombe to Exeter: 11.30 am and 5.30 pm. Needless to say, if you miss the first bus, your plans are significantly set back. haha. I, therefore, planned to not miss that bus. After a lovely breakfast with lovely conversation, I gathered my things and headed down for the ferry. I was terribly glad to not have to walk my bags all the way back into Salcombe, Cliff Road or no. The ferry ride was lovely. I arrived in plenty of time to make the bus, so I stopped for some juice, a magazine, and a little pastry-breakfast. Then I headed to the bus stop to wait. I shared the wait with three rather typical (and amusing) middle-school boys. It was entertaining to eavesdrop on them as I read my magazine. (Oddly, the layout and typeset of the UK InStyle is slightly different from the US version.) Now, although I could take the bus just to Totnes and catch a train from there, I would have to wait over an hour at what amounted to a platform. Not really my preference. Therefore, I asked the bus driver if this bus went all the way to Exeter, or if I had to change. He gave me a weird look. But seriously, Sundays are odd; I wasn't sure. He said I could ride all the way to Exeter, so I did. The fare difference about evened out, and I didn't have to wait a long time on a bare platform. The drive was lovely. Again, Devon countryside is beautiful. The roads, however, are thoroughly insane. I'm pretty sure that bus drivers there have to be moderately crazy. Roads are often quite narrow with blind corners and close walls. There were several times I held my breath in suspense at the driving. It's like being in a recklessly driven NYC cab on a roller coaster. Really. At any rate, I arrived at Exeter St. David, grabbed a sandwich and a coffee, and waited for my train. Onward to Salisbury.
I arrived in Salisbury around 4.30. This meant that pretty much everything in the city center was closed. I did walk through on my way to the hostel and was happy to see that the information center had a map posted on the exterior wall. Score! Now I didn't have to rely entirely on the quality of signage Salisbury happened to have. I found the hostel with no trouble at all, though I was humorously chagrined to find that it was at the top of a hill. haha. I got checked in and headed out to find the cathedral. I was quite fortunate in the direction of my approach. As the hostel is on Milford Hill, I approached Salisbury Cathedral from the Queen Street side. Entering from this side sends you walking down North Walk past the lovely Malmesbury House and Sarum College. The upside of this comes when you exit the small street to the astounding close and stunning size of Salisbury Cathedral. Currently, the north face (the one you see from this vantage point) is currently being refurbished, so it is partially covered in scaffolding and missing a number of its stained glass windows. That was quite all right, however, as the cathedral overcomes any scaffolding. The feeling of awe at the size and height of the cathedral is comparable only to the York Minster really. The preservation of the close surrounding the cathedral helps to create just the proper setting for it, as well. I was happy to discover that I had arrived in time to look around for a bit before enjoying the choral evensong. They were doing a session from a series of choral services entitled Fully Alive. It was astonishingly beautiful. Listing to a choir in a cathedral is an experience like none other. No other venue, even a concert hall, can convey quite the tone, the timber, the feeling of music the way a cathedral does. This service was even more special as the bishop was retiring. As he addressed the congregation for the final time, he conveyed through his tone how much he truly cared for them. It was very touching even to me, a stranger. After the service, I continued to explore the cathedral. The cathedral has graves that are over a thousand years old. Salisbury Cathedral is also home to the oldest working clock (1386) and one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta (housed in the Chapter House--it was, unfortunately, closed when I arrived, and I was unable to return the next day. :-/) In all, it was an inspiring experience. I then wandered back through town, had some dinner, and wandered back to the hostel. When I got back, I grabbed my book and went to the lounge. Instead of reading, however, I ended up watching several episodes of Desperate Housewives with an Australian girl named Sally and a guy who was reading and commenting on the silliness from the corner. It was a good time. Sally turned out to be sharing my room which was great because she was really nice and was also traveling about by herself. The next morning, we had breakfast and realized that we had both planned to take the 9.30 bus to Stonehenge. We decided to go together. :-) We had a fantastic time riding to Stonehenge, taking far too many pictures of Stonehenge (it was fun having someone else to be slightly touristy with. haha), traveling to Old Sarum, and taking lots of pictures of Old Sarum.
Stonehenge was pretty amazing, I have to say. We arrived earlier than most tour buses arrive, so we missed the bulk of tourist groups. Also, Stonehenge wins points for having a free audio tour. Sally and I had a great time ogling the tall, mysterious stones and listening to the guide. We both also found it very funny that the audio guide clarified the numbers for us each time: "If you would like to hear more about [insert idea], please press forty-four on your audio guide. That's a four and then another four." hahaha. It's not as though it's the guide for non-english speakers. It did make us giggle, though. The tour bus then takes you to Old Sarum. Old Sarum began as an Iron Age earthwork and became a Roman, Saxon, and finally a Norman fortress, castle, and then palace. This is where William the Conqueror convened the nobles/leaders of the regions in order to require their homage in 1086. It was also the site of the first cathedral. The thing about Old Sarum is that not only was it abandoned, the builders of New Sarum (later to become Salisbury) disassembled the structures at Old Sarum in order to use the materials in their buildings. It was really odd to see the ruins because they aren't stone ruins at all. What's left is the remains of the inner core insulation: rather a jumble of mortar and rubble. It was quite interesting. What was also interesting was to see the change from William's use of the high earthwork in order to be fortified and see any advancing enemy to the use of the river valley due to the decrease in vulnerability and the increase in trade. After our exploration of Old Sarum, we returned to the hostel, and I set off for the train station to continue on to Oxford.
And interesting fact I learned on the Stonehenge bus (it had an audio tour): Salisbury, though an important trade town, was spared almost entirely during the Blizt. The reason for this is rather grim, though. It came out later that the Nazi pilots were strictly ordered to avoid damaging the cathedral as its 404ft spire (the tallest in England, by the way) was a landmark for the pilots. They would locate the river via the spire and then follow the river north to bomb other cities.
I have to say that Salisbury, of all the cities I visited, felt the most quaintly historical. By that I mean that it seemed unnatural for there to be cars driving around there. More than anywhere else, for some reason, it felt almost inappropriate that anyone use anything other than horses and buggies. I know that sounds really odd, especially considering other old cities I visited, but there was just something about the feel of this one that made modernities seem very out of place.
At any rate, Oxford was my next destination, and though I had been a little unsure of booking two nights there, it turned out for the best as my trip from Salcombe had meant that I'd had to visit Stonehenge when I would normally be traveling. It was a good thing, though, as it meant I had been able to share my experience with someone else. Goal for Oxford: capture the colleges! Onward!