Brent and Lynn

Saturday, Sept 1 thru Sunday, Sept 2

 Derek and Ruth took us to meet a couple of their Scooter buddies and have breakfast.

They have a lot of fun on their scooters and meet together often.

Derek and Ruth and their friends let us sit on their scooters for pictures.

Oh, that wasn't the scooter, but it's almost as small.  It's one of Europe's new Smart Cars.

Gets great gas mileage and costs less to park because it takes less space.

Derek and Ruth at their apartment just before leaving for breakfast.

Here are the other scooters.

I'd rather ride this way!

Full English breakfast at Carlo's, minus toast and tea.  And, yes, Brent had ice cream for dessert.

Then on to Salisbury to see the cathedral.  There was quite a traffic jam getting into Salisbury.

But the cathedral wasn't crowded, even though there was a wedding there that day.

Pretty huge!

Some interesting facts about the cathedral:

Salisbury Cathedral visitor information website says, "Salisbury is unique amongst medieval English cathedrals having been built in just 38 years (1220 - 1258) in a single architectural style, early English Gothic. The tower and spire (Britain’s tallest) were added about 50 years later."  

Wikipedia says, "Whilst the spire is the cathedral's most impressive feature, it has also proved to be troublesome. Together with the tower, it added 6,397 tons (6,500 tonnes) to the weight of the building. Without the addition of buttresses, bracing arches and anchor irons over the succeeding centuries, it would have . . . fallen down; instead, Salisbury remains the tallest church spire in the UK. To this day the large supporting pillars at the corners of the spire are seen to bend inwards under the stress. The addition of reinforcing tie beams above the crossing, designed by Christopher Wren in 1668, arrested further deformation.^[7] The beams were hidden by a false ceiling, installed below the lantern stage of the tower."  (large numbers added)

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After taking in the cathedral, we did a little farmers' market shopping, again.

Notice the crooked face of this building.  It's its insignia.

 And, of course, the local entertainers.

Lynn bought a scarf (with music staves printed on it) 

and grabbed a Wiltshire pasty and a custard tart.

Brent got some fruit and ate his tarts we had previously purchased 

at England's Walmart counterpart, Sainsbury's.

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Of course we had to go to Stonehenge.

 From his missionary days, we have a picture of Brent actually leaning on the rocks.

But by then we were feeling cheap, and there wasn't really anything more to see with the additional tourist charge, so we settled for a picture outside the fence 

(taken by a fellow tourist who apparently didn't realize we wanted a picture with Stonehenge).

 

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Hate to admit it, but all the touristing had left us with tired feet, etc., etc., etc., 

so after leaving Stonehenge we looked for the closest motel we could find

and holed up there.

It ended up being in Andover.  It was actually the most "American"ish motel we stayed in--

Premier Inn.  That's where Lynn got to have her first taste of Sticky Toffee Pudding.

It's not like Yorkshire Pudding--more savory instead of sweet--more like hot fudge pudding, 

only not chocolate, but with warm chocolate/toffee sauce and hot custard.

There was a choice of pouring cream, ice cream, or custard.  

I chose the custard because it seemed more authentic.  

It was scruuuuumptious!

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Sunday was just a nice, relaxing day.  Went to church in Basingstoke, 30 min away,

read and discussed a little from Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage,

relaxed, and ate leftovers.

Just enjoyed being together.