A leisurely getting up was followed by a leisurely breakfast at our delightful Bibury Court Hotel. Breakfast was in the glass conservatory overlooking the garden. Archie was there serving breakfast, but no Hugh Grants.
Today, our final full day in England was a day of stones, big ones. Our first stop was Avebury, which is a small town surrounded by stones – an enormous circle of stones plus smaller circles. You are driving along the road and then suddenly there they are quite close to the road, pointing to the sky. It was all very impressive.
Since Stonehenge was also quite close we couldn’t leave England without one last stone visit – the most famous in the world – and yes it is pretty impressive, perhaps not as big as I thought but you can get closer then I thought even though the public can’t touch them.
A trip to England for us was not going to be complete without a trip to Bournemouth where John’s sister had worked for 7 months last year. We wandered out onto the famous Bournemouth pier, walked on the sand, played a couple of games in the amusement hall (amusements halls seems to be part of what Brits do when they go on holidays to the seaside) and bought an icecream from the shop where Carolyn worked.
We are spending our last night in Worthing at the Chatsworth Hotel – 4 poster bed with a seaview. Pleasant town… with a beach of stones, instead of sand… pretty clever really as the stones are so large they do not get stuck to your shoes.
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Summing Up
The Bilbury accommodation and dining experience (in the Cotswolds) on our second last night was a fitting end to our UK holiday.
All in all the accommodation wherever has been great and in some lovely locations. Not having to cook has been wonderful and we have had some very pleasant dining experiences.
Visiting historical places such as castles and abbeys raising issues for us of aging and mortality. The stones reminds us of how small our own lives are in the history of the human race, but also makes us wonder about the human need to build something that is creative and which reflects a desire for meaning and ritual…
M Scott Peck in his book on ‘Search for Stones’ sums it up like this:
We return them to you
Circles and stones
Alone and together
We make You monuments and temples
Altars and menhirs
We lift them up
Out of the earth
Stand them as signals
For the generations
Signals of remembrance
Signals of praise
We now look forward to a week in Greece, but also the fact that soon we will be going home, there are many things to look forward to – the idea of just being home, being with James and Ellie, catching up with family and friends.
We are perhaps a little travel weary but not too homesick just yet.
