Stones and Potters

This was our long day we had planned...Avebury which is said to be better than Stonehenge, Lacock which is the little village and abbey where many of the Harry Potter movies (and many other movies), and then on to Stonehenge.  A very long day of driving.  We left before 9 AM and we got home at little after 9 PM so too tired for a blog last night.  There is so much to tell that it is hard to remember it all. 

Our first stop was Avebury.  We didn't expect to spend a lot of time here but it turned out to be a very interesting little place.  This actually has the largest collection of stone circles and it appears that this was a gathering place for the masses as well as a settlement.  We went through the museum, toured the Manor House and went into the church.  This was the cutest and most everything friendly church we have seen.  The organist was playing inside and all of these churches are still sporting their Easter flowers and they were beautiful.  Dogs are welcome here and they have a bowl full of water for them and a bin full of clothes, socks, hats, mittens etc. with a note that if you are traveling and are in need you should take whatever you need from the container.  We always put some coins in the box as we leave.  The Manor House was recently redone by the BBC who obviously have loads of money to spend.  Apparently they chose a house each year to remodel.  We had fun in here and I think you will see Kay holding up a nightshirt and in a cape that were left for you to try on.  What can you say about stones?  We did marvel at the fact that it would have taken a major effort without the machinery we have today.

After walking back to the car park (don't you love my British?), we headed on to our next destination which we thought was programed into the GPS as Stonehenge.  It took us to the tiniest roads we had been on to date and definitely had no idea of where we were.  At one point I did take a video with Kay's camera because it was so tiny and tight we wondered who would back up if we encountered a car from the opposite direction!  We did later on but were in an area where they have an small space for one car to pull over.  I have to say drivers here are much more courteous than at home and always acknowledge a thank you with a hand raised if you pull over or wait for them to pass.  On the other hand, two lane windy roads here are  50, 60 or 70 MPH with areas you are to slow to 30 and they will stay on your bumper if you aren't going fast enough to suit them.  Passing here is called "overtaking" and because of the winding roads, it's extremely dangerous...but they do it.  Anyway our next stop turned out to be Lacock instead of Stonehenge.  This is a gorgeous little village that has been the setting of many Harry Potter movies.  It is so perfect in fact that supposedly, they just bring in lollies (trucks) full of dirt to covered the paved streets, remove some of the signage and they are ready to film.  We walked around the village and had lunch here at a beautiful little place where they had pots of hyacinths, tulips and daffodils everywhere!  It was just beautiful.  We walked around and took some pictures of the abbey where the indoor filming was done...very beautiful property for sure then walked back to the car.

Devizes is a town with a river and locks that we went through both ways today.
 

It was a little after 3 now and we had another hour drive to get to Stonehenge.  Kay was still good with driving so we headed there.  Of course it had threatened rain all day and we may have had a couple drops fall on us at Avebury but so far Kay's theory that the sun always shines on her may be stretching it a bit.....it wasn't really sunny...until we got to Stonehenge then lo and behold the sun shone on us!  Well done Kay!  This is a National Trust sight and we both have memberships which we bought so we didn't have to pay to park or get into certain properties.  Stonehenge has opted out of this so we had thought we would be able to see it from a distance but when we got there, it is set so that you must pay to see it.  We decided we came this far and we would bit the bullet and do it.  It is a mile and 1/2 hike to the site or you can take one of the buses that run continuously.  It was 4:30 when we got the tickets and again good timing since most everyone was coming back.  We took the bus and it was so cold and windy on that hill we were so glad the sun was still out to help keep us warm.  It is impressive to see it but we both thought it was much smaller than we thought it would be.  Actually Debbie, I think Foamhenge was bigger!   We heard more American accents here than since we left the Atlanta airport!  We got lots of pictures and Kay did some selfies on her camera and someone took one of us on her camera that you will see when she is able to do her blog.  We stood on the 6 degree solstice and it was cool...no it was cold!  The wind had picked up and as it got later, it got colder.  We noticed as we walked around the stones (you can't go anywhere near the stones as there are paved paths you walk around the outside) that there actually was a road that runs behind where you can see the stones from the road...and the traffic was backed up as far as you could see.  I took some photos.  When we left, the GPS took us out that way to go home so we then had to sit in that traffic but I got some picture from the car on the road as well.  After we were about numb from the cold, we walked back to board the bus and they drop you at the gift shop of course!  We did buy some things and I got the kids some gifts and then we headed home.

It was a little over two hour drive back to Ilmington and we had to get "petrol" as they call it here.  This was Kay's first time to drive at night.  The roads here being so narrow and winding makes it difficult to drive in the day let alone at night so it was a tense drive the last hour when it got dark.  We got back about 9:15 PM and fixed ourselves something to eat for dinner and went to bed.  Now you know why there was no blog last night...we were just too tired and it was too late! 

So ended our first week!

PS  Debbie..the photos of the horses and chicken are for you.