The tube station at 630 am has become all too familiar. Along with the 2 hour train rides. Rain. And the regular: large hot chocolate with an apple cinnamon muffin. Best muffins I've ever tasted. However, today we added an additional step: the public bus. What a treat that was. We arrived at the Wilton House and it was phenomenal.
For all avid movie watchers, you may have seen Sense and Sensibility, or perhaps Pride and Prejudice: they were filmed here. We watched a short movie involving a nun who disappeared into walls that was quite difficult to fully appreciate and historically learn from due to immaturity and lack of sleep. After the epic screening, we toured the House, and it was gorgeous. The Earl of Pembroke (attractive doesn't even begin to do this man justice) is the 18th heir of the property. Our adorable tour guide gave us the rare opportunity to walk on the bridge in the gardens. 
It was such a serene and beautiful bridge, built by the same architect who built the Rialto Bridge in Italy. So beautiful. And gorgeous. This was followed by pastries and lemonade: I acquired some sort of blueberry apple delight and it was magnificent! 
Next stop: Salisbury Cathedral. Perhaps I thought to myself: another cathedral, if I've seen one I've seen them all. I'm happy to say I was completely wrong: I've never seen one like this.
It started out just as any other tour, with the bonus of an old perky tour guide of a man who told every story like it was the first time and used phrases such as "it was a hell of a good time" and other such casual swears, in church. 
The spire on Salisbury is the tallest in England... we gained a full knowlegde of the Cathedral and it was fascinating, it's incredible to learn about the process behind the incredible architecture you are standing in and touching. 
Then the real tour started: we were granted a special behind the scenes rafter tour. If you are afraid of heights and/or sketchy wooden beams, this is not the tour for you. We were taken up above the chapel, 
then up into the cieling, up into the ringing bell towers (I still can't hear out of my left ear, and our architect tour guide made us take a picture: he missed the bells. It is also possibly the worst picture of all of us ever taken.) and finally up into the 400 foot spire.
I'm still speachless, the views were incredible, the stories were priceless, and being able to see the church like this was eye opening to say the least! It was quite the adventure, and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention I saw the document that changed changed democracy as we know it and influenced our constitution. 
We climbed back down the smallest spiral staircase you've ever set foot on, and rushed to catch our taxi's to perhaps the most famous ruins in all of England: Stone Henge! On the run to the taxi's, Kait and I happened upon our friendship written on a wall, we couldn't pass it up. 
The drive there was just like a scenic drive through Logan, Utah: cows. Cows everywhere coving rolling hills and plains. And then, just like that, out of nowhere we beheld the monumental ancient ruins. 
We were told that the area would be roped off, and we were not allowed to touch the rocks unless we had a blind person with us. That can always be arranged. Unfortunately, there were no blind performing people on the tube that day to con into the job. I've seen many a discovery channel documentary on how Stone Henge came to be, today I listened to a 30 minute audio guided tour, and I still couldn't tell you how this beautiful composition of colapsed rocks came about. I can tell you however that the heaviest stone weighs the equivilant of 7 full size elephants. 
It was unreal, there is just a presence about it that you can feel the moment you set foot on the ground. It was such a special and unique experience, but by the end of this 17 hour day I was exhausted. Refer to picture below: 
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