Rapher's Log - Stardate 05/27/16
Well, sadly, the soak didn't really help. Friday saw my feet still as puffy and sore as the day before. Ah, well, what can ya do?
Honestly, had we been staying in London, I might have stayed back at the hotel and rested my feet a bit. Today, however, we had train tickets for Salisbury, so I soldiered on. Salisbury. We visited the Cathedral back in 2006 on a coach tour, also had lunch at a nearby pub (one of the blandest tomato sauce based pasta dishes I've ever had, if I'm honest). It's been 10 years, we figured it was time for a revisit.
Now, the train tickets I'd gotten online said that we could catch the train at any number of London stations. Well, Victoria Station is close, let's go there, we thought. Thankfully, they were 'open return' tickets, meaning we didn't have to catch a specific train. We got to Victoria and started checking the departure boards, looking for a SouthWest train going to Salisbury. None could be found in one area, so we checked the other board. Nope, nothing there either. After being puzzled by this for a bit, I finally went and asked for help. The lady working there was very helpful and not only informed us that we needed to get a train from Victoria to Clapham Junction, and then transfer to the Salisbury train there, she also told us which platform & time.
Yeah, that bit of info might have been good to know in advance. Looking back, I see now why the tickets did specifically mention Waterloo stn. Ok, so we hopped the train and got to Clapham...then had to look for the next train to Salisbury. Fa-rig, also not terribly obvious could be platform 9 or 11...tried 9, didn't see any, tried 11, didn't see any, asked and was sent back to platform 9. By this point, we were both damn close to saying "I don't care what we've paid, it's not worth it". Waited at least 20 minutes, reading the departure boards and thinking how much fun it is to try and keep track of it all. "If you're going here, get on the first 2 coaches as the train will split after going there". "Get on your train, spin around 3 times and throw some fairy dust, you should be fine". Eventually it turned up and we got to Salisbury around 10:45...a bit later than we had originally planned.
Followed the signs to the Cathedral, which didn't go too badly. Paused to take a break and feed peanuts to various birds along the way. Some birds are picky, though, a few of them didn't fancy the salt & vinegar peanuts I was sharing with them. How rude! *G* Paused again, just before the Cathedral but not due to my feet - my camera battery died. Sandra ended up joining me on the bench for the same reason.
We approached the Cathedral from a different angle than we had in 2006 but nothing was looking familiar. Especially not the statues all over the grounds, of humans with rabbit heads. It was a special display by Sophie Ryder, various statues depicting relationships. They were different... Inside, more statues, and a new fountain/pool which was amazingly still, considering water was flowing out of it. I took a picture of the reflection, it was like glass. Spent at least an hour there, and, yeah, I spent a lot of that time sitting on benches. We also went down to the Chapter House for the "Magna Carta 2015" display. While we were able to take pics at the Chapter House this time, we couldn't take pics of the Magna Carta itself, still. Ah well, got to see it again, at least.
Had lunch at the Cathedral's pricey café. Both of our sandwiches were a tad dry, my shortbread cookie wasn't too bad, though. From there, we hit the gift shop, I squashed a penny and we headed out. Next stop was the Salisbury Museum, which wasn't far from the Cathedral. I admit, I remember very little of it. Usually, a rest break (like lunch) would be enough to get me through a bit more time, but not this time. I was in pain and started feeling queasy in the museum. (don't know if they were related or not) Sat down and looked around the main room, while Sandra looked at things more closely. While she went upstairs, I went outside and fiddled with my footwear, to see if it would help any. Snapped a few pics of the museum exterior (no interior pics allowed), some of the Cathedral, then off to the Old George Mall area, another pedestrian mall.
I must admit, I do love how so many places in England have pedestrian malls. Did a little shopping, popped into Starbucks (heh, had to get another Chocolate cream frap...wish we had 'em here!) and eventually picked up some food at the Marks & Spencers for supper. Headed back to the train station sometime after 4:30, had to double back once to cross a busy street, and got our train back to London. This time, however, we opted to stay on the train until it got to Waterloo, none of this Clapham Junction crap this time. Decided to top up our Oyster Cards at Waterloo as well, before heading back to Victoria. The M&S food was pretty good, I had a Carbonara dish that was gluten free (didn't choose it for that reason)...it was quite tasty.
Tomorrow: Back in London...yeah...
Honestly, had we been staying in London, I might have stayed back at the hotel and rested my feet a bit. Today, however, we had train tickets for Salisbury, so I soldiered on. Salisbury. We visited the Cathedral back in 2006 on a coach tour, also had lunch at a nearby pub (one of the blandest tomato sauce based pasta dishes I've ever had, if I'm honest). It's been 10 years, we figured it was time for a revisit.
Now, the train tickets I'd gotten online said that we could catch the train at any number of London stations. Well, Victoria Station is close, let's go there, we thought. Thankfully, they were 'open return' tickets, meaning we didn't have to catch a specific train. We got to Victoria and started checking the departure boards, looking for a SouthWest train going to Salisbury. None could be found in one area, so we checked the other board. Nope, nothing there either. After being puzzled by this for a bit, I finally went and asked for help. The lady working there was very helpful and not only informed us that we needed to get a train from Victoria to Clapham Junction, and then transfer to the Salisbury train there, she also told us which platform & time.
Yeah, that bit of info might have been good to know in advance. Looking back, I see now why the tickets did specifically mention Waterloo stn. Ok, so we hopped the train and got to Clapham...then had to look for the next train to Salisbury. Fa-rig, also not terribly obvious could be platform 9 or 11...tried 9, didn't see any, tried 11, didn't see any, asked and was sent back to platform 9. By this point, we were both damn close to saying "I don't care what we've paid, it's not worth it". Waited at least 20 minutes, reading the departure boards and thinking how much fun it is to try and keep track of it all. "If you're going here, get on the first 2 coaches as the train will split after going there". "Get on your train, spin around 3 times and throw some fairy dust, you should be fine". Eventually it turned up and we got to Salisbury around 10:45...a bit later than we had originally planned.
Followed the signs to the Cathedral, which didn't go too badly. Paused to take a break and feed peanuts to various birds along the way. Some birds are picky, though, a few of them didn't fancy the salt & vinegar peanuts I was sharing with them. How rude! *G* Paused again, just before the Cathedral but not due to my feet - my camera battery died. Sandra ended up joining me on the bench for the same reason.
We approached the Cathedral from a different angle than we had in 2006 but nothing was looking familiar. Especially not the statues all over the grounds, of humans with rabbit heads. It was a special display by Sophie Ryder, various statues depicting relationships. They were different... Inside, more statues, and a new fountain/pool which was amazingly still, considering water was flowing out of it. I took a picture of the reflection, it was like glass. Spent at least an hour there, and, yeah, I spent a lot of that time sitting on benches. We also went down to the Chapter House for the "Magna Carta 2015" display. While we were able to take pics at the Chapter House this time, we couldn't take pics of the Magna Carta itself, still. Ah well, got to see it again, at least.
Had lunch at the Cathedral's pricey café. Both of our sandwiches were a tad dry, my shortbread cookie wasn't too bad, though. From there, we hit the gift shop, I squashed a penny and we headed out. Next stop was the Salisbury Museum, which wasn't far from the Cathedral. I admit, I remember very little of it. Usually, a rest break (like lunch) would be enough to get me through a bit more time, but not this time. I was in pain and started feeling queasy in the museum. (don't know if they were related or not) Sat down and looked around the main room, while Sandra looked at things more closely. While she went upstairs, I went outside and fiddled with my footwear, to see if it would help any. Snapped a few pics of the museum exterior (no interior pics allowed), some of the Cathedral, then off to the Old George Mall area, another pedestrian mall.
I must admit, I do love how so many places in England have pedestrian malls. Did a little shopping, popped into Starbucks (heh, had to get another Chocolate cream frap...wish we had 'em here!) and eventually picked up some food at the Marks & Spencers for supper. Headed back to the train station sometime after 4:30, had to double back once to cross a busy street, and got our train back to London. This time, however, we opted to stay on the train until it got to Waterloo, none of this Clapham Junction crap this time. Decided to top up our Oyster Cards at Waterloo as well, before heading back to Victoria. The M&S food was pretty good, I had a Carbonara dish that was gluten free (didn't choose it for that reason)...it was quite tasty.
Tomorrow: Back in London...yeah...