We got to Salisbury on Monday afternoon and went back to the Chapter House where we had reservations. We were tired and knew that the following 2 days would be busy, like super busy, so we just had soup brought up to our room and blobbed.
Tuesday, the 21st was actually solstice, but it occurred late morning so the morning sunrise would not be celebrated until Wed a.m. This was a change as, originally, Id found that it would be celebrated on the 21st. We were going to spend the night of the 21st anyway so the only way it changed anything was to make the 22nd very busy.
I had reserved a walking tour for us to walk a portion of the avenue that the pagans, druids, celts and other Neolithic people would have walked down and then up to the stones. Well, that tour was canceled on Monday because tour guides were with covid.
I had thought about doing this on our own but then when Dale suggested that we attempt it I texted our prior tour
I bought tickets to enter Stonehenge for Tues afternoon at 1pm. We could walk down the boulevard, over to the stones and be there in time for sunset. As I believe, I wrote earlier, the sunset was the most important time for the early people as it marked the time when the days would be getting longer and warmer. Theyd survived the winter.
Now the boulevard, or avenue, was constructed about 5,000 years ago. We read that there are still areas marking the borders and there is a dip in the earth where the boulevard is. This is visible up on the hill across from Stonehenge. This boulevard was made using deer antlers and wood. I cant imagine how much work this must have been.
On Tuesday Dale and I went to catch the Stonehenge bus, this is a bus that runs from Salisbury to Stonehenge every hour. We wanted to get on the 12 pm bus and then walk the boulevard being at the Heel Stone at 3:30pm to catch the sunset.
but then found that the credit card machine did not have a card reader as it was only a tap reader so could not read our card. About 1 week earlier our card went from contactless to wanting a signature. I couldnt find the card that Id been using that was clearly contactless forgot that Dales wallet was in the bag that we were carrying. He had a card in it. We had to get off the bus and get cash, but my debit card was in my wallet at the hotel. Again, we forgot that Dales debit card was in his wallet in our bag.
We went back to the hotel and got my wallet, found an ATM, got cash and went back to the bus stop. This time we got on the bus and got to Stonehenge at 2 pm instead of 1pm. We hopped on the bus in Stonehenge and got up to the stones as quick as possible.
Once off the bus we asked the guide about walking from the boulevard and she pointed us to the gates we needed to go thru. Again, we had been in a hurry and didnt
The stones are located on a hill and the across a hill and down a valley then up the hill to the stones. The pagans would walk along the boulevard up to the stones. The gate into the avenue is actually off to the side so you cant access the boulevard as walked by the pagans. We walked down and across the hill to where we saw the boulevard. There we were able to see the phenomenon that wed heard about. You can be walking and the stones disappear, then you start up the hill and they reappear.
As we walked up the hill to the stones, I noticed a small border to our left. I thought that it might mark the boulevard. We walked over to that border and then saw that there was another border even more to our left. I knew that the avenue came out at the heel stone so we just walked in the center of this area. Dale looked back down the hill and said, look we are right in the middle of what was the avenue. I
looked and yes, we could see the indentation in the earth and the borders on both sides. It was such an incredible moment to walk what people walked 5,000 years ago.
We walked up as close to the stones as we could.
