England 2017, Saturday, 5/27/17

An update to yesterday's entry: Dartmoor scenery was stunning, the running stone walls, the sheep wandering loose, the craggy outcrops, the hidden thickets of forest. As we were driving towards Andover, we came over a rise and there on the left was Stonehenge, standing out in the middle of the field.  It was such a surprise coming upon it from the "back" side.  There were no signs, no lines of tourist buses, no huge Visitor's Centre to contend with.  Just the stones as they probably appeared to millions of passersby over the ages.  Stunning is the only word for it.  And then we were over a hill and it was gone.  Like Brigadoon.

Slow start to the morning here in Andover.  Tim and DebD headed out for an exploratory walk, skipping breakfast.  They discovered that Saturday was market day on High Street, immediately outside the hotel.  They walked the street, scored some purchases in the Charity Shops (Goodwill types) and stopped for a sausage roll and Tim's new all-time favorite - coffee cake.  This is cake flavored with coffee extract and espresso; the British are very literal you see.

Mark and DebC started the day at the hotel breakfast bar with a full English.  We, too, walked the market and delighted in the scenery along high street, noting the black pudding in its uncooked state (rings like polish sausage) and pausing for a photo stop at The Angel Pub.  Around the corner from the sign you see in the photo is another sign "The 7th Oldest Pub in England (with a fireplace)" Again, the British being literal.

Around 11:00 we left Andover and headed for the ancient town of Winchester, there to visit the famed Cathedral and the Great Hall, which contains the purported original Round Table of King Arthur.  Carbon dating shows that the table was probably constructed around the 13th century, some 500 years after the time of Arthur.  Still plenty old.  Henry VIII had it painted its current color scheme and, it is believed, the portrait of King Arthur is probably the face of Henry VIII.

The Winchester Cathedral was a highlight.  Although Mark and DebC had been there before, we chose this time to take the free tours on offer, as it was starting just 10 minutes after we arrived in the building.  This was very informative and educational.  Although we had seen some of these things before, the details outlined and the history behind them was fascinating.  The so-called Green Men carved everywhere in the cathedral were not something we would have ever noticed.  These are faces surrounded by leaves, or growing out of leaves or greenery, or sometimes with leaves flowing out of their mouths or as their hair and beard.  Although historians are not exactly sure of their meaning, there is thought that they harken back to gods prior to the introduction of Christian religion in the 9th century.

Other symbols abound, and we learned that symbols change meaning over the centuries.  There was one statue of a bishop lying on top of his casket.  Noted around his collar and wrists were swastikas.  It seems that during the 15th century, this was a religious symbol - the running cross.  Carved into the screen running around the top of the quire, there were trefoil symbols and one that today we know as the Star of David.  In the 13th century, when these were carved, the six pointed star was meant as a symbol to keep out the evil eye.  The docent wasn't sure when the symbol became the Star of David symbol as we know it today.  This will require further research.

We departed the cathedral and headed back to our car park along the High Street, also filled with stands for market day.  We stopped at the Sainsbury Grocery store for provisions such as wine, ginger ale, crackers, etc. and headed back to Andover.  Navigator and Driver combined for a flawless return trip along a different route, arriving back at the Star & Garter within 35 minutes without a single wrong turn or occasion to back up and head in a different direction.

For dinner this evening, we ordered take-out pizza from the Pizza Express restaurant in the ground floor of the hotel and enjoyed it in the bar with a glass of beer, some wine and a gin & tonic.  Another sight filled day topped by good food and in the company of friends.