Visiting the sites around Salisbury

September 3, 2016
Jim enjoyed a sleep in morning…until 10 am!    I enjoyed finishing the work on my bookkeeping and then began to cut and paste my entries from Facebook into a word document that I corrected and expanded.  I’ve tried to send photos other than just on Facebook but with little success.  I have been cutting and pasting my photos from my phone into my computer.  It helps make space on the phone data and also allows me to use them in other ways. 
Jim is out walking; he took his cane, umbrella…it’s raining off and on….and his phone to explore the city on his own.  I’m also enjoying some space alone for an hour or so.  Traveling together is a 24/7 job and there are times when we try to do some different things to give each other space.
Our plan is to stay within the city today; there are several places to visit and then attend church tonight.  Tomorrow we’re driving south to visit our friend Jane at her home near Ringwood.  She is a friend of our friend in Florida named Bonnie and I traveled with her in 2013 with Bonnie and my sister Mary at the end of our trip to Russia.   Jim left me in Paris where I met up with the girls and we enjoyed touring Paris and Italy together for several weeks. 


September 4, 2016
A fun day...after walking to 9 am mass we drove to Jane's home near Ringwood on the coast of the English Channel near Southampton. We first met Jane in Paris in 2013, she is a friend of our friend Bonnie.
She lives in a beautiful English Cottage on a large piece of land that is beautiful landscaped. She's in the process of lots of remodeling but took time out to spend a day with us.
She drove us over to the village of Christ Church so that we can see the beautiful Norman church that has an extremely long naive and a very interesting history. After a pizza and cappuccino, she drove us the short distance to the coast Line so that we could see how beautiful it is even on an overcast day.
We could even see the Isle of Wight and the Bear that is actually white Cliffs on the one end. If you look carefully at my pictures you can see the outline of the bear.
Soon we were back in our own car and headed home before it got dark. Another wonderful day . Tomorrow Jane is driving up to our place and taking us on another adventure.
The photos at the end were taken on our way home in the village of Downton...loved the thatched roofs.
September 5, 2016
Labor Day at home, but here just another Monday. Jane drove north and picked us up about 10 am. It was an hours drive to our first stop, Lacock Abbey and Village. Along the way we saw the first of three sightings of symbols and horses done in chalk on the hillsides.
Lacock Village is owned entirely by the National Trust and rents out homes and shops for income. This is a favorite spot to film movies and television shows as there are no visible electrical wires, etc. Very authentic looking.
The abbey was the private home of the Fox Talbot family (he invented a process used today in photography.) His family donated the Abbey and the village to the National Trust back in the 1940's. The actually abbey for nuns goes back long before King Henry VIII took it away from the church.
Before we left the village, Jane treated us to Cream tea and scones at the Red Lion Inn.
Back on the road we drove further north to the village of Castle Coombe where they recently filmed the Steven Spielberg movie "War Horse" ...it was deep in the valley and we lost our GPS connection until we climbed back to the main roads.
Our next stop was in the beautiful town of Bradford on the Avon. A bustling village set along the banks of the Avon River. There was a very Old Saxon church among many other quaint building going back into the centuries. And a welcome home sign for a medal winner from the recent Olympics.
Saw another two horses on the mountainside ...the chalk ones...on the way back to Salisbury. It was nearly six o'clock when we sat down in the Red Rouge Restaurant in town for a delicious meal to end our adventure. Jane and I enjoyed boeuf bourgeoisie and Jim had an excellent confit de canard. Jane headed home and we called it a day with a quick game of cards.

September 6, 2016
Weather is still overcast, but warmer. We drove south to Kingston Lacy to visit once again a manor home full of Jim's favorite art and a small Egyptian exhibit. One thing of interest is that every book...and there are thousands... are dusted at least once a year and each page is turned in each book.
We savored the Rubens, Van Dyck and Titian and enjoyed the lessor known artists as well.
In the gardens there was both an obelisk and a sarcophagus transported from Egypt.
Leaving after two hours, we drove towards the coast on many twisting and narrow roads to the Corfe Castle. A 10 minute walk up the hill to the village and then continued on up to the castle to explore the ruins that date back to the year 1109. You could see the coast from the upper ruins. This was built by the son of William the Conqueror who won the battle of Hastings in 1066.
Heading home we arrived at 5 pm, stopped for shopping at the Aldi Store. Lots of bargains so we stocked up for the next two weeks. Yes, we'll be going home before we know it!