Day 4- Saturday London to Avebury via Salisbury

Salisbury was gorgeous today as you can tell. The tallest spire in England and England's finest Gothic Cathedral which was built in only 38 years (1220-1258) the exterior, grounds and cloisters are really better than the inside of the Cathedral. Although Gillian was denied the singular pleasure of climbing the five hundred and eleventy twelve steps (OK, 332) to the top of the Cathedral tower as they were booked for the day, we were just able to see the nave as there was a service about to start. We did see the original Magna Carta exhibit before the hordes arrived for the day, and then had our tea and pastry overlooking the cloister seen above. It was a wonderful exhibit marking the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

I did let out a rather unladylike squeal of excitement when I spotted Mompesson House across the green from the Cathedral as this was the location for Mrs. Jennings's London house in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility. There was an exhibit of items from the film to mark the 20th anniversary.

The hallway and stairs were gorgeous. The house is not very large but it is elegant. And who is that hiding in the corner from the clock?

"Ah, there you are Pooter! Still alive I see."

Well, actually a hand made Pooter the parrot donated by some of the local ladies of Salisbury to liven up Mompesson House.

Many of the already gorgeous rooms had the added attraction of things like Elinor Dashwood's evening dress for the London party as worn by Emma Thompson. Here is a close up:

I couldn't wait to share these with my sister back in Toronto. Wish you could have been with us!

The photos of the interior of Mompesson House were all taken by Gillian (and aren't they lovely???). She is now my official photographer. :)

This is one of Marianne Dashwood's daytime dresses as worn by Kate Winslet. I believe the hat in behind is the one she struggles to un-knot when she complains "Are we never to have a moment's peace? The rent here may be low but I believe we have it on very hard terms."

Can you see the infamous E.C.F. handkerchief on the bottom right? The one Emma Thompson tries to hand back to Hugh Grant after wiping her nose on it? And you can't miss Mrs. Jennings's crazy pink hat on the left!

And how about that fabulous hat of Lucy Steele's? Wonderful!

We even got to see the breakfast room where the letter from Willoughby is finally delivered to Marianne.

And the suit Alan Rickman wore when relating the tale of the infamous Willoughby's meddling with Beth, Colonel Brandon's ward. OK, I was slightly delirious at this point so it was good that Gillian was taking the photos.

We then toddled off to the centre of Salisbury where they were having a special "French" market day. As well as the olives displayed tantalizingly above, there were pastries (we indulged in an apricot pastry) before setting off to Avebury.

It was a two bus journey which was easy and truly lovely with more thatched roofs than you could shake a stick at. There was a small issue about the bus driver not letting us off near our B&B but the manager of The Red Lion pub VERY KINDLY drove us there after the owner said he would try to rescue the damsels in distress who looked like they were moving into his pub with all their luggage.

So if you ever find yourself in Avebury, the Red Lion pub is a wonderful place for dinner and a pint. Will post photos after we go back to eat there tomorrow!

Step count for the day was 14,682. 

Cheers!