Oxford to London

Day 11 - May 21

Awesome jam packed day of travel today - all over southern England. Departed Oxford and headed out across the countryside to Iford Manor in Wiltshire. What a wonderful old manor house and estate, with history dating back to the Roman occupation of England. We were so fortunate to get a personal guided tour by John Hignet. He was so full of wonderful knowledge and insight into this awesome garden. His enthusiasm was contagious, and we were all following him around, hanging on his every word. Terraced garden, river nearby, cows in the distance, topiary boxwood in the shape of furniture that you could actually sit on, and a cool cloister where they have concerts and opera in the summer. Wish I could go back and experience that awesome combination - summertime nights, open air live music, and an incredible garden setting. Getting back on the bus after this visit, I felt so full - not my stomach, but my soul. Such a great feeling. Satisfied, fulfilled, content, blessed, fortunate, special. Not enough words to fully describe.

Back on the road for a lunch stop in Bath. What a busy little town. It looked more like we were in Italy with the way the houses cut into the hillside and the architecture of the buildings. Can't deny the Roman influence here. Didn't see the baths - too expensive, crowded, overrated. Lunch was really good - not sure what I ate, but it sure was good - some kind of croissant, pastry, cheesy, bacony, fattening thing. Didn't take long for it to disappear as we sat in the park with the hovering pigeons. I didn't share.

Next stop was Stourhead, near Wiltshire. Beautiful 2,650 acre garden built to bring art to life by copying scenes from famous paintings. Lots of incredible views, statues, and replica structures of ancient Rome, all put in place around a huge lake. Great place to visit - not enough time. I remember sitting with our group on top of the hill at the Temple of Apollo just soaking it all in. Everybody was talking & laughing, but somehow, the view overwhelmed my every other sense and I just sat there quietly. Again my soul got filled up. Hard to put into words, but again I felt so full, content, satiated. This was another great day to be alive.

Now we're on to Stonehenge. I didn't expect to see such incredible scenery on the way - across the Salisbury Plain. The only association I had before with salisbury was gravy covered steak...not anymore. This was some of the most beautiful farmland I've ever seen. Fields rolling on forever covered with yellow canola and green grains. A perfectly blue sky dotted with an occasional cottony cloud. I wished I was in my jeep instead of the bus. Stonehenge was interesting - don't dig the recorded handset tour thing - much more prefer a live person. And we had to stay far away from the stones behind a rope. Do they think we'd knock em over? Still amazing to wonder how these things got here and why.

Last leg of the drive was into London. Interesting hotel room - had to go through a maze to get to our room. And again with the key card power thing. The bathroom was the most compact ever. I think I could have brushed my teeth, taken a shower, and taken care of business without moving more than six inches. Oh well, can't complain. But again, no coke machine! Had to go up the street for my fix. (that doesn't sound right...just a diet coke, nothing more, really.)