Neil deGrasse Tyson

We were a little later than usual to breakfast because Mr C wanted to pack his bags beforehand so that we could check out of the hotel as soon as we had finished eating. At breakfast I discovered the delights of the pancake machine that I had intended to try earlier during our stay, but with our hectic schedule I forgot about it. The first two were so tasty that I went for seconds and found a young French boy was processing pancakes. He turned to me and said ‘are you waiting?’ to which I replied ‘yes’. He then said ‘two more’ indicating that he was going to cook another two after the first two had popped out of the machine. I smiled and said OK and when he had finished collecting his pancakes he smiled at me as he took his tasty delights back to his table.

We loaded our car and drove to Stonehenge which we had been looking forward to since before we set off on our holiday adventure. It being the school holidays there were queues for entry but I remembered that there is a fast track for English Heritage members and located that entry kiosk. We were admitted within minutes.

The weather was glorious and sunny giving me the perfect excuse to wear my new wide brimmed, straw sunhat. I was a little bit apprehensive that a gust of wind might carry it away but my hat behaved itself. I was glad I chose to wear this hat, it kept my head cool and my hair intact whereas my other hats overheat my head and I end up with ‘Hat Hair’.

On this occasion our walk to the stones, was not optimal and we were left disappointed. As we approached the stones we saw two coaches and the remains of the old visitor centre much more prominently than the iconic stones.

After we had passed the eyesore and were approaching the stones, we were tempted to an ice cream. There was a bit of a queue which left us plenty of time to decide one or two scoops… We had already chosen the flavour, Bramley apple crumble and custard. By the time we got to the kiosk we had settled on two scoops each. The scoops we saw were very small, but when our cones arrived the scoops were twice the size of the scoops other people had been receiving. The ice cream was delicious and melting around the edges causing sticky fingers. Yum Yum!

It is always a joy to see the stones within the wide landscape, although it was much busier than on our previous visit. Our time was limited so we opted to catch the bus back to the visitor centre rather than walk back (which we usually do).

Rather than eat out on our return home we decided to pick up a chicken and some veg so that we could have a roast dinner. There are always several supermarkets en-route but on this occasion, there were none to be seen. As time was running out, we resorted to googling for the nearest supermarket which turned out to be in an obscure location. We arrived with fifteen minutes to spare before it closed, but thankfully were able to pick up everything we needed for dinner along with bread and milk.

Dinner was delicious and much more relaxing than dining out after a long drive home. I missed being able to call my mum on a Sunday which has been the norm for many years…

Photo from the Race the Distance website

Our next holiday adventure, although still in the planning stage is coming together. We will visit Norwich for a few days where we hope to catch up with friends and also enjoy Mr C’s 60th birthday present from last year. The present is an afternoon seas rather than an afternoon tea.

Our next destination will be a short hop on the train to London where plan to visit the Tower of London and see the ceramic poppies that have been reinstalled in the moat to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. After some consideration we have settled on Windsor where the train station is next to a hotel we have previously stayed in.

By now I am sure you are wondering where Stonehenge and my ‘Virtual Challenge’ fits in. I planned to purchase this medal and walk the virtual distance later this year but when Mr C suggested that we visit Stonehenge on the way home from Windsor it made perfect sense to start the 199 mile challenge now.

The virtual walk starts at the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales and finishes at Stonehenge in Wiltshire. The Preseli hills are where the huge Blue stone rocks are thought to have originated from.

It will be touch and go for me to reach the virtual distance to Stonehenge before I actually arrive there in person.

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.

The breakfast experience in the hotel was a little chaotic but the food was excellent. I chose waffles with fruit compote which arrived with a spoonful of clotted cream on top. Clotted cream, or any other cream, is not what I enjoy (or expect) at breakfast, I removed it and put it to the side of the plate.

We had booked to visit the Peto Gardens, Iford Manor at mid day which left us with an hour to fill. We headed towards Brass Knocker Basin with a view to walking to Dundas Aqueduct however we ended up by another stretch of the canal  at the locks in Bradford on Avon. Apart from seeing a WWII pill box this stretch of the canal had nothing much of interest so we continued to the Peto Gardens, where before setting off to explore the garden, we had lunch on the terrace outside the newly built tea shop and restaurant. We enjoyed our lunch, in my case a cheese and red onion sandwich (lunch of the week), in glorious sunshine. The owner was there chatting to one or two people and filming a short promotional video.

The garden is spectacular and whilst from my previous visit my lasting memory was the garden structures this time the flowers were equally as prominent. I was glad to have the guidebook because I lost the one from my previous visit before I had chance to read it. It explains the history, garden structures and statues. Before leaving the garden, we revisited the café for a drink, choosing a shady seat to cool off.

We still had time on our hands and were more successful in finding Brass Knocker Basin where we parked and walked along the canal to Dundas Aqueduct. I wished we could have spent more time there as there was lots to see.

Mr C had sourced an Italian Restaurant, Piazza Fontana, for our evening meal. When we arrived we found that it had a lovely outside seating area with a Mediterranean feel to it. I chose sea bass with shrimps, lemon butter and rocket followed by affogato. The food was delicious, the service was excellent and the menu extensive so we decided to book a table for the following night, our last in Cirencester.

We then walked the short distance to The Fleece for a nightcap before retiring for the evening.

After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and drove to Stourhead House & Gardens in glorious sunshine. We signed in at the National Trust reception area before heading through to the house and gardens. It was around 20 years since our previous visit and it was our first visit to the house, which contains some interesting items. After our tour of the house we entered the gardens and found its colours to be spectacular. Before continuing on our journey to Cirencester, we lunched in the National Trust Cafe where to our pleasant surprise, we found the food options more varied than we have come to expect from a National Trust tea room.

Outside our hotel in Cirencester we parked in the drop off area as advised by the hotel. Mr C was harassed and told to move his car, by an angry van driver that happened to arrive a few moments after us. Mr C moved to a nearby space whilst we checked in to the hotel. We were given a lovely welcome pack which included local points of interest and a walking tour of Cirencester. After unloading we moved the car to a local pay & display car park, freshened up for dinner and made our way to the hotel bar.

I ordered a dry sherry, which the bar tender, after offering cider, eventually found with the help of Mr C.  I was then asked if I would like a 125, 175 or a 250 ml glass. At this point I gave up and said don’t bother whilst thinking that if you have got the drink in your chiller so you should know how to serve it. Mr C asked how we should pay the bill (his G&T) and the young man who was serving us hadn’t got a clue.

The restaurant turned out to be not quite our thing. The menu blended from starters to main courses with some options being either. We chose fishcakes which we thought would be a main course. It turned out to be starter size for Mr C and not even big enough for a main course for me with my small appetite. Although the meal was brief it was delicious. During our meal we got chatting to a couple on the table next to us and found that they had got married the Saturday before. She was struggling with her arm in a sling, having tripped up some steps and broken it on the Bank Holiday weekend just before the wedding.

When we had finished chatting, we stepped out of the chaos that was the hotel’s bar and dining arrangements into the calm of the street. We crossed the road to the Fleece Inn where we soaked up an enjoyable relaxing atmosphere.

After breakfast we headed to Stonehenge for which we had pre-booked tickets, arriving earlier than our ticket time but were able to go in due to the low number of visitors. I have never seen Stonehenge’s car park so quiet.

We booked in and collected our ticket to visit the stones (most of the site is open access). It was was refreshingly quiet, I put this down to no coach tours or travelers from abroad. It was a delight to be able to view the stones without large crowds. This more than made up for me not being able to visit them as part of my birthday celebrations last year.

The walking route has been changed since our previous visit and does not automatically take you past the Cursus. The new walk leads to a signboard that indicates several points of interest (and the amount of time needed to walk there) We chose the path to the Cursus before walking along it rather than retrace our steps.

Whilst viewing our surroundings a school group turned up and it was lovely to hear the school teacher instructing his pupils on how to walk and behave as they walked through the field full of cows. At one point as we walked along the path near to the Cursus, two bulls were having a head-butt tussle directly across the pathway in front of us, causing us to pause until they had moved far enough away from the path so that we could continue our walk to the stones safely.

It was amazing to see the stones so quiet, The first time I visited from school many years ago when I didn’t really appreciate what they were or the fact that at that time I was able to stand between the stones and look up at them. The sun. was playing on the stones turning them from grey to white. Back at the visitor centre, we enjoyed a picnic lunch from the cafe, eating it outside at one of the picnic tables.

After our visit we returned to Sherborne where we spent too much money in the cookshop before enjoying a slice of Dorset Apple cake accompanied by Elderflower Presse at a pavement table outside the Three Wishes Cafe. We then enjoyed a quiet moment soaking up the atmosphere on a bench overlooking Sherborne Abbey.

For our last night in Sherborne we dined in the hotel. Ben, who had been serving us during our stay, said his goodbyes as he would not be serving breakfast in the morning.