We are the only guests in the house last night.  We knew that before hand and found it amusing that all of the guest houses on the terrace street had the “No Vacancy” signs out.  We guessed that they all wanted a little break after the Skittles and Agatha Christie Festival.  That was partly it, but they did mention that since they are right across the street from a pub, they turn the No Vacancy signs over about 6pm each night to discourage drunk people who have hooked up with someone at the pub and decide to grab a quick bed so bang on their door at 10 or 11pm!!

We leave our B&B after an even smaller breakfast.  🙂

At the train station we hear, for the second time since the most recent London attack, the “3 S’s”.  See it, say it, sort it.  They announce if we see something suspicious we should say something to a train employee and they will sort it.

Welcome sign

Pampas grass between the platforms

The walkway between the platforms

We arrive in Salisbury about 2pm.  Our accommodation, which is a small apartment is very close to the train station.  About a 5 minute walk.  According to the website it was built in 1800.  It is very nicely renovated.  We used one our “free nights” from Hotels.com (every 10 nights, you earn a free night), so we are only paying about $45 CAD which is the tax and a small amount that the value of our free night was short.  There is also a dishwasher and a laundry room available.  We are doing laundry since it is available!!

The living area

The table

These are the kitchen cabinets

Voila a small fridge!!

They even provide a few seasonings and olive oil.

The bedroom

We head out for a bite to eat and walk around this town.  It is a very very old city.  It’s 9 miles south of the iconic prehistoric stone circle at Stonehenge, which stands on the grassland of Salisbury Plain.  We are not going to see this however.  We saw the even older stones in the Orkney’s and feel pretty tired of being large crowds of people.   As we walk we see some of the oldest looking buildings we have seen on this trip.    The first photo in the next grouping is the Old Mill Hotel, located in West Harnham along the River Avon, was built in the mid-12th century. In the 16th century the house was converted from church property to one of the UK’s first paper mills.

The Old Mill House. Notice the wave roof

Sheep in the Water Meadows

A view of the Cathedral with the Water Meadows in the foreground

A house across the Harnham bridge. Notice how tall I am!! 🙂

A house next to the Harnham Bridge. The tiles are terracotta. We have never seen these before

Another tipsy turvey graveyard

The view from the Harnham Bridge. It was constructed about 1245

We do however walk over to the famous Salisbury Cathedral.  The first stones for this cathedral were laid in 1220.

The Nave of the Cathedral

Another view because it so beautiful

The Baptismal Font

The Organ

All along this aisle are tombs of very influential people of the times. If you look on the floor, the larger tiles are also tombs.

This one has his dog with him

The cloisters

This is Stu at the High Street Gate.  There are five gates remaining of the Cathedral Close.  There is a sign at this one that says “Please vacate the Close by 23:00 when these gates will be locked”

I see this shop very close to our apartment.  It gave me a chuckle, so I had to take a photo  🙂

Salisbury is a very beautiful spot.  We would recommend it anyone who will be in this area.  Tomorrow we have another train ride to our next stop near Gatwick Airport, where we will leave for Sardinia on Wednesday.