Avonlea House - B&B Salisbury

... there now! It's a beautiful village where there are almost no new buildings. The main street is the main street of Meryton in the BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice. The town was also the twon where a series called Cranford was shot. Not sure how many people will have seen it in Australia, but it's a great series if you like period dramas. Several of the buildings have also been used as exteriors in the Harry Potter films, for example, the house where ...

Today several Trussell Trust staff and volunteers have bruised upper arms from loading hundreds of boxes filled with a reocrd breaking 3800+ Christmas Shoeboxes onto a rather large lorry... The bruises were worth it to see the lorry pull away and begin its 2,450km trip to Bulgaria to transform thousands of Christmases.

We have to say a huge thankyou to all those who donated boxes and to all those hardy souls who braved the cold in ...

Booked flight today - Guatemala on Feb 22nd 2010. So to mark the occasion I thought I'd start my travel diary today as well.

Two months to go - and a lot of list-making, planning, shopping, getting vaccinated, freaking out, and bouncing with excitement to do!

... afternoon, we made it into the town of Bath. Di brought us to see the Circus (on a large roundabout) and the Royal Crescent (in a huge, open, green space) – two residential areas with interesting, curving architecture (the Royal Crescent was built by architect John Wood, Jr., in 1767-75).

Previously in the day, the rain had been of the misty kind, but during our stops to the Circus and the Royal Cresent, it turned into a bona fide downpour, so Di loaned ...

... 20 minutes, I finally asked only to find out there is no such bus to Stonehenge unless you pay for a tour bus. Otherwise, it's a 3 mile walk. Matt looks at us and says, "Great, let's walk!". Just then, it begins to sprinkle. "****, what did I get myself into! I'm totally fine being a spoiled little American!" I think to myself. But, we carry on.

After 3 miles of walking in the rain, we get to Stonehenge! The weather ...

... there. I really wanted to go to the Jane Austen house/museum, but they only offered tours and our schedule didn't work with theirs. Instead, I went to get my picture taken with the Jane Austen statue in front of the museum, but this guy dressed up in period clothing, I guess trying to be Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice, or some other man from one of Jane Austen's books, snatched my arm up and made me take a picture with him. I ...

On paper it seems like just a casual Saturday morning jaunt down the roads of the West Country to a few rocks in the ground, but oh no, let the photos and map pins fool you not, this trip had been a long time coming, and a long time planned. The origins of this trip date back to the distant road-tripping days of ...

... the masons who worked on the building with a fascinating and endearing humanity. I found the cathedral most interesting for the art held within it. There was a huge, wonderfully expressive papier mache nativity still on display from Christmas, protectively overseen by an all encompassing angle which hung from above. A chapel to the side held a glass etched prism rotating slowly to reveal different aspects of the cathedral on ...

My first stop was Bowood House, southeast of Chippenham, UK. The most famous person in the history of Bowood is the "2nd Earl, Prime Minister from 1782 to 1783, was created Marquess of Lansdowne for negotiating peace with America after the War of Independence." Pretty grounds and building, although the terrace was closed for a function (whoever it was needed 2 black ...

... visited Salisbury Cathederal which has the largest Spire in England. Then we visited Old Sarum - an ancient castle and cathederal - although was more like a pile of rocks on top of a hill to me. The highlight of the day was definitely stonehenge. Pretty amazing to see ti close up and wonder of the mystery surronding how it came to be!