Esseborne Manor Hotel Andover

I know it is amazing... like how did they erect these things 3000 years ago?

I can't tell you anything you already didn't know about this place I'm afraid, except that you get just as close from outside the perimeter fence as you do if you pay the entry fee so why pay?

But it also has a big Cathederal, and this one houses one of 3 copies of the Magna Carta.

I noticed that 2 of the little praying areas (I'm not a church goer so I don't know what those gated off areas are) still had their original painting on ceiling. I can't understand why (during the reformation I think) they got rid of the beautiful colourfully painted ceilings - whitewash is soo soulless ironic really. Now there are only a few churchs in the country you can see them in ...

... had water in 5L bottles so we made do with a sponge down - not ideal in the cold :(

Minor disaster behind us we went for a potter around this pretty village. I have since discoverd that I didn't take really any photos which do the place justice. But what I can say is that this place is much more to it that a Cathederal.

Late afternoon we headed on to Sailbury. Arrived just before sun set and again found a park a ...

... it was in silhouette, so he couldn't identify it. Probably a tawny owl. Visited the sanitary station at Abingdon and noticed that the mooring there are being refurbished. Went down through the lock and moored on the recreation ground. The heavy mallet was wet and slipped out of J's hand, bounced on the ground and hit him on the shin. As he hopped about a bit Hazel said "Good job it didn't go in the river!" Just in front of us was Louis on Madam (last seen at Bull's Bridge in ...

... head down the freeway.

7pm Dinner stop at KFC... hmm things aren't starting off on a healthy foot.

We see a sign for Winchester, it is closer that Salisbury so we head there instead.

8;30pm Found a nice park on a back street good spot to spend the night.

Exhausted we make the bed and fall into it asleep, looking forward to checking out the town in the morning.

On Monday morning we checked out and then went to Venice Beach and Santa Monica where we shopped some more. We then took the car back and went to the airport. The flight left at 17:35 and was just over 9 hours. We arrived home yesterday at around 11:20am UK time.

... just like that and that I was lucky he didn't bite my ass like he did with everyone else. At least there would have been more padding there, I thought! Anyway, about 10 minutes later I felt my arm swelling up and sure enough, I am developing a killer bruise. I have two indentations from the fangs and although they say they don't have it here, I am concerned about the rabies. Ten minutes later, the stupid thing had ...

... UK is instant. They generally don't brew their own fresh coffee of a morning. However I should not fail to mention that the Starbucks revolution has reached most major cities in the UK and will be taking over the world shortly. Speaking of consumerism... the 24-hour supermarket does not exist in the United Kingdom. Shops that are open until 8pm are considered to be open late. That's on a normal day. On Sundays, shops are only ...

... Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Singapore Unknown, Indonesia (transit between singapore & bukittingi) Bukkitingi, Indonesia Siberut Island, Indonesia Bukkitingi, Indonesia Danau Toba, Indonesia Medan, Indonesia Georgetown, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Singapore Perth, Australia Unknown, Australia (transit between Perth & Broome) Unknown, Australia (transit between Perth & Broome) Port Headland, Australia Broome, Australia Derby, Australia Various Kimberley ...

After the uneventful plane ride, (save for the exceptionally rude British Air staff) I trained my way over to Andover just in time for a fancy dress Christmas party at Andy's work. Sonya picked me up and since we were running late I had to change in the car. I wiggled my way into a fairy godmother costume all the while listening to select tunes from my favorite Canadian bands. Thank you DJ Sonya. Oncoming cars kept letting us pass and flashing their lights at ...