Another Adventure in Wonderland…

Hello everyone,

I cannot believe it has been a whole week since my last post.  Every day is a new adventure and this week has been no exception.  Let’s get caught up again.

Last Saturday, January 25th 2015, one of the other residence, Naomi and I took our 2nd day adventure.  This time we ventured a little further away from Farnham with a general idea of heading to Bath to see the old roman bath ruins.  This day trip was a proper adventure, with a general idea of where to head and no quarrels with being distracted along the way (and rightly so – we were).  Our first distraction: Old Sarum; which sounds like something right out of middle earth – and sort of was.  This Iron Age hill fortification combined a royal castle and cathedral within 2 moat-like trenches.  Not much remains currently, however the outlines of each structure still stand.  Here are some pictures from Old Sarum for your enjoyment: (p.s. still getting used to the GoPro)

Next up on the “winging it” adventure day:  Salisbury Cathedral.  Holy Cow was this place breath taking!  I could have walked around this Cathedral for hours and hours.  The Salisbury Cathedral is one of the leading examples of Early English Architecture. This Gothic style Cathedral has Britians’ tallest spire and the best preserved Magna Carta.  I could go into details about how the different sections of the Cathedral were built, when and for what purpose, or how it was changed during the Reformation within the Tudor dynasty, but instead I’ll show you pictures. Enjoy:

Once inside the walls of the Cathedral, it opens to a courtyard surrounded by these hallways (this is at a corner)

dont you just want to have a picnic?!

I love the ceilings

the reflective baptismal font

shaped so that when standing at a point, it appears to be a cross

mini model of what the Cathedral looked like during construction

Gorgeous blue windows

did I mention I love these ceilings?!

just breath taking

smile

tiny me.

look Mom and Maya… I’m in a picture

We got lucky today, the weather was chilly, but not to bad when you bop in and out of places and keep walking. Once out of Salisbury Cathedral, we drove the rest of the way to Bath.  The city itself is beautiful – driving in from the hillside, overlooking the entire city of matching buildings.  The Roman Baths are ruins in the heart of the city depicting how the Roman epicenter would have looked 2000+ years ago.  Ancient Romans once bathed within these natural thermal spas.

Bath!

being here makes me think of you Marty!

to think, this used to be a very popular bathing destination

Bath Abbey

Also within the city center is Bath Abbey, built in 1499 and left to ruin for more than 70 years after King Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of monasteries in 1539.  In 1616, the Abbey was renovated by he current parish and it is still used today.  The vaulted fan ceilings are incredibly beautiful.

As the light outside got dark, Naomi and I head back to Farnham.
Tomorrow, my new friend Kelly and I venture off to Hampton Court Palace in the outer brim of London.  I’ll save that for the next post.
Make sure to keep an eye on Instagram (@mstibj) for daily posts!

Until next time, take care.
-Meredith