On to Salisbury

We bade farewell to our efficient little apartment, packed, tidied up and taxied to the train station. The trip to Salisbury was easy, highlighted by a view of one of the chalk horses found in this part of the world.

Googling discovered that this one is known as the Westbury white horse. It has been recut (into the turf) numerous times since 1778. A nice little bonus as we trained along.

We dropped our bags at Caboose (a left luggage operation inside a pub) and headed into town for a light lunch at a little outdoor cafe.

We walked down towards the Cathedral, which we’ll visit tomorrow, and went into the Salisbury Museum. They have a Rex Whistler exhibit on at the moment, and an enthusiastic docent made us pay more attention than we might have otherwise. I was vaguely aware of him, but discovered that he knew everyone in the arts and society at the time (1928 onward), until his death in the war in 1944. This is a jaunty self-portrait from 1933.

Perhaps we should indeed have included Wilton House (where he painted numerous portraits and decorations) on our itinerary, but you can only do so much.

The Stonehenge exhibit was good prep for our visit there tomorrow. Everything from skeletons to cooking utensils to pottery, like this neolithic Durrington Walls Grooved Ware pot,

was on display, some dug up by treasure seekers, others by early archaeologists, and eventually by modern diggers with better equipment, all displayed in reverse chronological order that actually made a good deal of sense. I don’t know which I like more, the artifacts themselves or the be-whiskered old men who wrote about what they found in the 18th century!

A quick stop at the food hall at Marks & Spencer for supplies, and we were soon enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace of our new digs for the next three days.

The flat is very thoughtfully designed, with notes of Morocco in some of the lighting and fabrics.

Another very steep staircase, but we’re getting used to hanging on to the balustrades as we go up and (especially) down.

Dinner tonight was at Baroushka, a Lebanese restaurant five minutes away. Alison had some most delicious lamb, and I had a roasted sea bream, and we were both happy. We might even come back again on Wednesday!