Honeymoon Journal

A British bank holiday -- and thus very hard to find food, since everything closes! We rented our car and drove to Salisbury, where we saw the cathedral (all a-bustle from the festival, which featured the London Philharmonic). We watched a few street performers, swung through the local open-air mall, and ate at a cute teahouse just outside the military costume museum.

After wandering a bit, we drove out to the ruins of Sarum, the oldest military enclosure in Britain. It was circled by open fields and, since it was a beautiful day, hundreds of people had decided to enjoy the sunshine. The ruins weren't much to see in themselves, but the weight of history - nearly six thousand years - was fascinating. Since Stonehenge was only six miles away, we hit it next. We were both very impressed by it, and we got some great pictures. The Brits are very fond of "phone" tours, where you press a button on a small hand-held to hear information corresponding to the numbered sign in front of you, but we would have preferred to see it all written down on the sign; we saw the same device in Bath, and -- as in Stonehenge -- it seemed to slow everyone down and felt a little railroaded. We sat a while, just watching and marveling, then drove back to Salisbury to find somewhere to sleep. We were so exhausted -- Tom caught a terrible cold and the chow mein I'd had for dinner really didn't agree well -- that we collapsed in the hotel, missing the Philharmonic; Tom still hasn't quite forgiven me for that one, but settled for watching it on BBC.