A Rockin' Day...

Sorry, I haven't written in so long! Things have been soo busy, but I will try to find the time asap to record the amazing adventures I had in Ireland and Scotland. As I write this, I am currently riding the national railway back from a day at Salisbury and Stonehenge! The town of Salisbury was a picturesque Medieval town with shop–lined streets, a beautiful cathdral, and a fairground filled with children. We were privileged to visit Salisbury Cathedral, built in the 13^th century, which has the highest spire in England, soaring at 404 feet! It also holds what is believed to be the world’s oldest working clock, dating back 800 years. I am continually perplexed and astonished by the effects cathedrals have on me. I have visited what seems like dozens over the course of the last six weeks, but every one I enter seems more beautiful than the last. Salisbury’s had such a calming and peaceful atmosphere. The ceilings were some of the tallest I’ve seen and the stained glass was magnificent. I loved the feeling of holiness and worship there. I have been bothered in a few cathedrals by the amount of shrines to various saints, which seem to take the focus away from who the building was built to worship. I love being in a cathedral though and imagining God’s voice saying, “This is my house.” If God had a physical house on earth, he would deserve the best of man’s design and craftsmanship, and that is what is so magnificent about these cathedrals. Plus, the cathedral housed the best of the 4 original copies of the Magna Carta!
When we left the cathedral, we wandered through the streets to the bus station where we embarked on a tour to the world famous Stonehenge. It was exactly how I pictured it, a stunning and mysterious monument surrounded by rolling green hills. There were even sheep which were trying to walk amidst the monument and had to be shooed away by the guards. I tried to picture the people who created this monument some 4,000 years ago and grasp that length of time. Our tour told us that Stonehenge is the third “henge” or hanging to stand on that spot. Earlier henges were apparently made of wood and date back to 3,000 BC. The stones are believed to have been carried over from Ireland or a more distant part of England and floated down the Avon river on rafts. After that, the stones are believed to have been transported by rolling along wooden logs. When they reached the crest of the hill, where they stand today, historians’ guess that they were slid into holes, which were slanted on one side, and using levers and the power of hundreds of men were stood upright. No one knows why Stonehenge was built, but it is evident that it’s design is very purposeful. The placement of the stones functions a bit like a giant sundial which works as a calendar for a whole year. Specific marker stones indicate the time of the summer and winter solstices, and throughout the year, one can determine the month based on which stones the sun shines through. The Beaker people must have had a huge presence in Bronze Age Salisbury, because over 500 of their burial mounds are present around the area. Furthermore, there are other stone circles, including the larger, Avesbury circle, which surrounds the entire town of Avesbury. Though I would love to understand how such monuments could have possibly been constructed, the mystery makes the Stonehenge experience so much more enchanting. I feel like I’ve accomplished a lifelong goal, after seeing the circle, because I remember as a little kid, marveling at Stonehenge pictures in National Geographic Kids, never imagining that I would actually get to see it in my life. I feel so blessed that this trip has been full of those types of moments. I am constantly thrown into a state of shock at what I’m seeing, and am so thankful for every one of my experiences here. I can’t wait to get home and tell you all more about it!