On to Stonehenge!

Hello!

Out the door a bit before 8:30 am as Philippa had to drop the boys off at school, and then get to work herself.  We’ve had such a lovely visit, it was so hard to say goodbye! 

On to Sainsbury’s to fill up the hire car with diesel and then, quite literally, right down the block to the Europcar office. 

Entrance of Ely Cathedral

They were waiting for us, with a ready-to-go Vauxhall Astra.  Very nice car – same blue as previously and the connector to the GPS actually works!  However, there is no CD player, so no more books-on-disc for us this trip.  Oh well! 

Exterior of Cathedral

Stunning stained glass

Entrance to a side chapel

Stained glass everywhere!

We wanted to stop at Ely this morning, on our way across England, so headed there first.  Got into town and were able to find very convenient (and free!) parking, just down the street from the cathedral. 

Looking up!

We had been to Ely Cathedral some years ago, but we both had forgotten how genuinely lovely it is.  Started as a religious site sometime around 672, parts of the cathedral date from Norman times and is really filled with some of the most beautiful stained glass we have ever seen!  We had a good look around and then headed back to the car. 

Sir Nathanial's Room

Made our way first to Cambridge and Milton Keynes, and then turned south near Oxford working our way southwest.  (We have decided we wanted to revisit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, but will do that on Friday, as we’re making our way to Heathrow.)  We definitely wanted to avoid both London and the M (Motorway) roads, although we were on an M road for just a few miles.  Finally, got on some wonderful smaller roads in Wiltshire and the Salisbury Plain.  This is an area full of military operations; training bases, etc.  They had red flags posted on artillery ranges, and finally, as we made our way into Durrington, we actually had some “tank” traffic!  SO odd to see real tanks on village and city streets!  Fortunately, we never had to get behind one, but at one point, we rounded a corner and – excuse me! – they are definitely bigger than we are!

Finally, about 3:30 pm we arrived at Rollestone Manor, a lovely manor house listed first in the Doomsday Book and later rebuilt in 1242 with additions along the way to expand. 

Thatched house from our window

And horses!

I think there are about 7 guest rooms.  We will be here for the next four nights, moving to Heathrow on Friday for our return on Saturday.  We are in Sir Nathaniel’s Room, which is on the first floor, and has views out to the back (where there is a house with a thatched roof!) and side, so plenty of light.  It is spacious and definitely comfortable … and let us not yet again complain that there are no sports channels whatsoever.  I’ve decided I won’t be watching sports until we get back to Tucson!

We unpacked luggage (SO nice not to be living out of a suitcase for a few nights!) and relaxed for a bit.  I posted three blogs, and Robert getting everything caught up on the household accounts. 

We went downstairs about 5:30 pm to the lounge, and selected an excellent bottle of French Sauvignon Blanc. 

Comfy lounge

First wine for me in weeks!

The owner made up a lovely fire there, and we had the place to ourselves, which was nice.  Then, in to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.  Their menu had looked fantastic on the web and we were very much looking forward to eating there.

Well …let me first say, that someone in this house really knows how to cook!  The food – everything we had – was fabulous!  Have serious doubts that we’ll be eating our dinners anywhere else!  For starters, Robert had a yummy baked goat cheese encased in puff pastry, with a tomato and red chili chutney.  (I’m thinking of having that tonight!)  I had the pan fried tiger prawns (with ALL unnecessary parts removed…) marinated in jambalaya paste on a bed of greens tossed in red pesto dressing. 

Lovely fire!

Only way I like to animals on a wall ...

Incredible!  Not really hot, but very flavorful.  R is thinking of having that for his main course tonight.  For mains, I had an amazing coq au vin, served with a side plate of roast potatoes, carrots and green beans).  Robert had the seared cod loin with béarnaise sauce.  It was so good that I’m actually thinking of ordered it tonight!!  (Yes, me order fish, it was that good!)  For desert, R had their rhubarb, blackberry and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream (which I got!).  He said it was great.  I had their mini-desserts – a bit of everything, including their rose sorbet, more clotted cream ice cream, gin cheesecake, crème brulee and sticky toffee pudding (my favorite!).  Hard to get back up the stairs, let me say, but we did make it, and I truly face-planted right on to our comfortable bed …

R's goat cheese

My prawns

R's cod

My coq-au-vin

Assorted sides

R's crumble

My mini-desserts!

Up this morning around 6, and we’ll head down for breakfast at 8 am.  Today, I think our plan is to go to Stonehenge first (opens at 9) and then see some of the other sites in the area – Woodhenge, Cursus, Durrlington Walls.  We actually have early access to Stonehenge this Thursday morning (although it may be very wet!) but want to spend some time at the site today as well as go through their new museum.  May head toward Avebury (small village incredibly surrounded by absolutely HUGE standing stones) around lunchtime, as they do have a very nice pub that we recall from prior trips.)  So … down to breakfast, and I’m now “officially” caught up on the blog!!!

Much love,

m

xxx

Note:  On the Sunday blog, there are several large “XXX’s” because I couldn’t remember the name of the beach, and thought Robert would fill it in.  He thought I would so never mentioned it.  So, for all intents and purposes, XXX means Old Hunstanton!

Note 2:  This room really ought to be called the Lady Bug room!  There are dozens, literally, here with us.  Robert is putting them out the window as fast as he can find them, and there are still more … not a bad thing, necessarily, just odd!

m

xxx