Today we have decided to head out to the countryside so we get an early start to Paddington where we grab the train to Bath. One thing that sucks about US credit cards is that they are not the chip and Pin type. This means you can't buy tickets at the machines and the lines are usually long where you can talk to a live person. Unfortunately/fortunately debit cards do work. I'm just not real comfortable using them but in a pinch, you do what you gotta do. An easy train ride and 1 1/2 hours later and we're in Bath. A quick call to the Enterprise car rental guys and they pick us up and deliver us to the car. Very nice because it is slightly out of town where it is far less congested. He loans us his book of maps and we're off to Stonehenge. The last time I was here, my brother was climbing all over the rocks. In fact, he's probably the reason its roped off now. It really didn't matter because it was still very impressive. Keeping with our luck at finding good food in odd places, we ate lunch at the roadside stand there. Awesome sausage sticks! Pile back in the car and on to Salisbury. We find a parking spot and enjoy a very picturesque walk along the river to the Cathedral. Here we find the world's oldest clock, c.1380 a beautiful building and one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. Like our quest to collect sunflowers, we now make it our mission to collect Magna Carta's. One down three to go. After the Cathedral, we wander around the old city and decide to stay here for the night. We inquire at the Tourist Information center and they book us into a very nice B&B just up the hill. The beds there were heavenly!! and the bathroom spacious. The owner recommends a nice little pub within walking distance so its more fish and chips for me!
 
After a glorious night's sleep we reluctantly get out of bed but are greeted by a wonderful home cooked breakfast. We hit the road by 9am to meander our way back over cow and goat paths to get the car back by 11. After dropping off the car, they drop us back in town so we can go through the Roman baths. When were done there, there is space at the Pump room so we lunch there; very Jane Austin. After a lovely Bleu Cheese tart and a couple of glasses of wine we go to the Abbey. We've arrived just in time to take the tour up the tower. No way I could have done this in Salisbury but here I'm ok. Well, the wine certainly helped and Chris & Ryan really wanted to go. And the distraction of one of the most beautiful buildings ever didn't hurt either. By the time were done, its time to wander to the train station and head back to London. While this was a relatively easy day, we're starting to feel the cumulative effects of travel so we decide to go back to the Italian place. Close by, good food, no thought involved...all is good.