Get me out of London!

It's a good thing we like a challenge, as Lucy and my holiday in Cornwall coincided with the worst weather in months. We drove out of London through torrential rain that had already flooded villages, caused landslides and flipped caravans in Wales.

But, Lucy is a calm and magnificent driver, so we made it to our overnight stop in Salisbury only an hour later than expected.

The best thing about going on holiday is that the rooms are always nicer than our one at home. And, a really good night's sleep led us to a cool and clear morning just perfect for exploring the small farmer's market in the centre of town. Our nibbles made good company as we strolled along the river Avon towards the cathedral.

Being as it's 750 years old, one can forgive the massive restoration that makes a decent photograph impossible. Luckily, a picture from elsewhere is a pretty good substitution:


Lots of things about the cathedral are the tallest, largest, firstest or bestest. It makes the whole thing enjoyable and impressive.

One of those impressive things is that the cathedral was built very quickly - the nave and transcepts took only 38 years to finish. Being something of a devourer of cathedral-based fiction, I know that a cathedral within one generation is phenomenal. And I love that the cathedral had a really excellent model showing how it was done:


The finished product is phenomenal. The nave is beautiful:


And even the plainer of all the stained glass windows were pretty:


It would take quite an item to trump these highlights, but the cathedral manages it by hosting one of only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Wow. Yes, I think I'll write that again. Wow.


Annoyingly, this isn't actually my picture of the MC. A pain-in-the-bottom guide hovered in the way of the majority of the display, keen for every opportunity to launch fact after fact at us.

A few things were cool - such as how much skill it showed to write the document from start to finish with no mistakes, and no extra spaces between clauses where naughty Lords could later amend erroneous details. But, I would have preferred the guide's zealotry be replaced by opportunity for quiet contemplation of the glorious implications the document wrought for law and democracy.

So, instead, I made like a monk and used the cloisters for pondering:


Having 'done' the cathedral as much as we could, it was time to leave Salisbury and get back on the road to Cornwall. It took four hours to get to Padstow and, even though it had started to rain, the trip was far better than the previous day's experience.

Especially since we arrived in time to dine with Rick Stein. Okay, so it was fish and chips, and they were only as good as your average Friday night treat in NZ, but they were the best I've had in England. (This was probably helped by my Aotearoa accompaniment, snuck into the restaurant in Lucy's backpack - thank you Mummy!):


It was a very warm way to end a long day, and a tummy full of food explains why neither of us had any trouble falling asleep in our tent.