A Daytrip to Salisbury

I've finally had the time to sit down and sift through all of the pictures I took while my daughter and I visited Salisbury as a little day trip out of London on our recent vacation in the UK.

We ended up is Salisbury for several reasons.

ONE:  I had been there once before in 2012 with my husband but literally had only 2 hours to eat, check out the exterior of the cathedral and pee.  We were on a bus trip on our way from Cardiff to London and there wasn't any time to stop and see anything!

TWO: I had recently finished reading Edward Rutherford's book, Sarum, which tells the story of the Salisbury Plains from 6000 BC right up until the 1900s. It was a brilliant (and long) book and I couldn't wait to see its central setting in real life. 

And...THREE - my daughter was dying to go on a REAL train ride.  She'd been on short haul steam trains that were meant for children's entertainment, but in her words she really wanted travel a real distance sitting on a train "just like Harry Potter does." 

That settled it. We were off to Salisbury.

The train ride lasted just less than 2 hours across sheep fields and through pretty little towns.  Afton said that it was everything she'd hoped it would be.  She watched the world go by listening to Ella Henderson on her ipod while I caught up on some travel journaling.  

We walked from the train station into the center of town.  Within minutes we were viewing the history and beauty of this ancient town.  

It was a clear sunny day, but the wind was very cold.  We wished had worn more layers but kept moving, in and out of buildings catching some extra warmth where we could.  

We came across the Salisbury main market square - and it was market day!

We bought some yummy cheese and nibbled on it while we circulated through the stalls.  We both wished we could have brought one of these pretty primrose planters back to London with us.  It would have added a lot of lovely colour to our hotel room.  

Once we had had enough of the busy market square, we journeyed down some back streets in search of the quieter parts of the town.  

We soon came across "The New Inn."  Right away I had my phone out in hopes of finding out when it dated from.  

"A 12th-century inn situated in the heart of historic Salisbury, The New Inn offers traditional pub accommodation 10 miles from Stonehenge."

We were too early for lunch, so we had to be satisfied with the view of the outside of this historical public house!

After walking a few more blocks, we entered Salisbury Close through St. Ann's Gate.  Immediately we were greeted by these amazing trees covered in a plethora of  spring blossoms.  

A bit further down the lane, we came across one of the huge green spaces that surround the cathedral.  We had purchased some fruit at the market so we sat down on a bench (cold on the bums!) and enjoyed our raspberries and apples.  

We continued to walk the private roads through the close viewing several gorgeous homes, ranging in date from early medieval times to more recent refurbishments.  Originally most of these homes were built for clergy of the church, but more recently have been leased to private citizens who can afford to pay the incredibly high rents!! 

This was our favourite house (below).  It was hidden neatly behind this metal gate and flint and brick walls.  

And behind the gate.......

(Look at the mix of materials.  A little bit of everything over the centuries!)

By now, Afton and I were famished and REALLY cold, so we voted to head back out of the Close through the High Street Gate

and out into the streets of Salisbury.  

We had a cozy lunch inside a small little restaurant whose name I totally forget!   But-- you can sees it's bay window jutting out into the high street in the bottom of the picture above! : )

After lunch we spent nearly 3 hours in the Cathedral.  But that is a whole other post.  

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Hugs to all,

Bronwyn