Today began with another wander through the Salisbury Cathedral grounds en route to the Wiltshire and Berkshire Rifles museum. Then visits to two English Heritage properties: the first was Old Sarum which was the original site for Salisbury and the cathedral on a nearby hilltop as determined by Willie the Conqueror. After that I visited Stonehenge. It was a little underwhelming for me and maybe everyone else was also wondering what the fuss was all about. I k...

OK I'm here still in Salisbury. I slept in today and almost missed breakfast! I must be starting to relax a bit. What a gorgeous place! Historical things everywhere, restaurants and bars, and the River Avon flowing down the middle of it all! Some signs on the river walkways which promote care of he river and its water talk about a number of great attributes. The chalk in the local geology filters the water and keeps in clear and nice to drink, and the clinche...

Big day today. After a suitably late breakfast left Portsmouth and cruised down to Portchester Castle which is on the other side of the harbor from Portsmouth itself. My first castle hooray!! Originally a Roman fort and built upon by the Saxons and Normans and used as a prison in the 1800's. Spectacular keep with constructed walkways and an apparently original winding stone staircase fitted with a rope to assist the imperfectly balanced. Winchester for lunch, ...