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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHowever, we couldn’t go straight back because of differences between check-out and check-in times. So that meant we had to fill a few hours. Fortunately I noticed something iconic along the way: Stonehenge<\/a>. It required a mere half-hour deviation from the optimal route (map<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I asked the family if they wanted to stop at Stonehenge, and everyone seemed pretty excited about it. So that was the plan, and we headed into Wiltshire and onto the Salisbury Plain. Highway A303 runs directly past Stonehenge and drivers can see it clearly from the road. In fact, traffic backed up a bit because everyone slowed-down to catch a glimpse. It’s pretty impressive even from a distance but we would get a lot closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don’t feel like I need to explain much about Stonehenge because everybody knows the deal. It’s a cultural icon. It aligns with the summer and winter solstices, and it’s old, like 3100 BC – 1600 BC old. We’re all good, right? Even knowing all that, it’s pretty inspirational seeing it with your own eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We got there early — right as it opened for the day — and avoided the crowds just as the Stonehenge website<\/a> recommended. We also bought tickets ahead of time. That gave us piece of mind although there seemed to be plenty of walk-up tickets available too. I imagine it might be more of an issue during the middle of the day or on a weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visitors don’t drive directly up to the stones. Everyone stops at a large car park at the visitor centre about a mile away. From there, they board busses (or they can go on foot) to the actual Stonehenge site. Visitors then walk along a path around Stonehenge, going as slowly as they like or as many times as they like. Nobody was allowed amongst the stones themselves, or at least not while we were there. I think that’s normally the case. Anyway, crowds were already starting to build by the time we finished so I’m glad we started early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After we saw Stonehenge we returned to the Visitor Centre to check out the exhibits. This included artifacts within a museum-like building as well as a recreation of a Bronze Age village. It showed how the builders of Stonehenge lived, which was rather spartan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We could have seen more sites if we’d wanted. There are several minor stones and burial mounds nearby that also contribute to the larger UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, having just seen the actual Stonehenge, those would pale in comparison. I suppose if someone had visited Stonehenge before it might be worthwhile. We were satisfied so we moved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We drove a few miles to Old Sarum<\/a> on the outskirts of Salisbury (map<\/a>). Occasionally I get to visit sites previously discussed on Twelve Mile Circle and Old Sarum was mentioned<\/a> here back in 2011. I cited it as perhaps the most egregious example of a “rotten borough” prior to the\u00a0Reform Act of 1832. More on that in a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iron Age inhabitants first built a fort atop this hill sometime around 400 BC. Then Romans lived here, and then Saxons, and then Normans. Basically, anyone in power occupied the site because two major trading routes crossed there. Eventually, a royal castle occupied the hilltop beginning around the 12th Century, made of stone and intended to endure. It remained there for the next three hundred years, along with a cathedral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the Bishop of Salisbury and the Sheriff of Wiltshire couldn’t get along. The Bishop left Old Sarum, tore down his cathedral and built a new one a few miles away. A town grew around the new Salisbury Cathedral while Old Sarum slowly withered. People even scavenged stones from Old Sarum as building material for the new town. Edward II abandoned the site in 1322 and Henry VIII sold the remaining ruins in 1514.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, old political boundaries remained and Old Sarum kept two seats in the House of Commons despite its zombie status. Essentially, anyone who owned the site also controlled those seats in Parliament because nobody lived there. That lasted until 1832 when the law abolished rotten boroughs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We explored what little remained on the hilltop, including the castle ruins and the outline of the original Salisbury Cathedral foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now came London. I drove to Heathrow Airport and returned the rental car, ever grateful for completing another week of left-side driving without incident. We didn’t need a car in London and I certainly wouldn’t want to drive there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Heathrow, we had several transportation options. Things have changed dramatically since my last visit many years ago. Back then I remember trying to navigate the Underground, figuring out a tangle of overlapping lines and paying cash at every turn. It was mindbogglingly complicated. Now I simply needed a mobile phone and some common sense. An app told me exactly where to go and I used Apple Pay, and that made everything trivially simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We decided upon a middle-of-the-road option from Heathrow, using the Elizabeth Line<\/a>. We could have paid more for the Heathrow Express train which would have been a little faster and nicer, I suppose. On the other hand, we also didn’t want to lumber along on the Underground’s Piccadilly Line either. So it was the Elizabeth Line, a good balance of speed and price. I guess a Taxi might have been another option although London traffic could always complicate that too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We needed to get to Paddington Station (map<\/a>) which was conveniently served by the Elizabeth Line so we didn’t even need to change trains. Wikipedia says<\/a> it’s the “second busiest station in the United Kingdom… with 59.2 million entries and exits<\/em>“. It’s been filling that need since 1854 when Isambard Kingdom Brunel (the same guy in Bristol<\/a>) designed it. Paddington was massive. So many trains and Underground lines ran through that point from so many directions that it felt like a maze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro Tip: The station has a pub with a surprisingly nice selection of cask ales. It came highly recommended on the CAMRA<\/a> website. I can confirm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I usually don’t spend my free time in large cities; I do enough of that for my job. However the family really wanted to see London and they overruled me this time. I did enjoy London though and our choice of location probably had something to do with that. We rented an Airbnb property instead of a hotel, and it had three bedrooms on two levels. A smaller flat sat directly below us, and then a shop at ground level situated along a vibrant street. It was just around the corner from Paddington Station and we could get anywhere easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m sure I contributed a small part to London’s gentrification problem. A long string of working class families probably lived here for decades until speculators and short-term rentals priced them out. So I felt a tinge of guilt for that. On the other hand, this was cheaper than two hotel rooms that I would have needed otherwise, with a lot more living space. I also felt like we were a part of the neighborhood if only for a couple of days. It set us up well for further exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Henge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Stonehenge;](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53825251602_2261e309e4_b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nVisitor Centre<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nOld Sarum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nThe Underground<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nPaddington Station<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nLondon Living<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nArticles in the England Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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