Of rocks and Cathedrals (aka. Stonehenge and Salisbury)

So on Friday, June 18th I went on a trip organized by ASE to Stonehenge and Salisbury. We all loaded onto a bus and went to Stonehenge first. We had a guide with us named Andrew Butterworth-he's a bit of an ASE legend and a really cool guy.

As it turns out, Stonehenge is basically situated right in between two big highways, which is a bummer. Also, the center there is old and not great so that Stonehenge is at risk of losing it's world heritage site status! I really hope that doesn't happen because it is an amazing site! I took a lot of pictures (every angle is just a little bit different). We figured out that if we laid on the ground, we could get a picture without all the people in the background so that was fun. Andrew told us how they brought the stones from hundreds of miles away and what the original set up was. It was a really cool scene and cool to think of these people hundreds of years ago moving these huge stones.

After Stonehenge we got back on the bus and went to Salisbury. We saw the Cathedral from the outside and then had a while for lunch and some exploring. Most people went to eat and explore the town, but I wanted to eat at the Cathedral Cloisters. So I ended up eating with Barbara (the director of ASE), Andrew, Professor Schousen, his wife Missy and their son, Stephen. It was really nice of them to include me and I enjoyed it. Then I went out into the field outside the Cathedral and played a bit of football (still talking about soccer) with Stephen before going off on my own. I ended up just walking around the outside of the Cathedral. It was a really wonderful experience. It wasn't just great to look around, but it really became a spiritual experience. I can't quite explain it, but I had a great time at Salisbury because of this time on my own. After that time alone, I met up with the group and went on a tour with Andrew inside the Cathedral. One of my favorite parts was seeing the baptismal font. It is a fairly new addition, but on the side of it is the sign of the cross. Andrew told us that it was an accident the cross was there--when it was blessed (I think Andrew said by the Bishop of Canterbury or some bishop anyway) the bishop made the sign of the cross with oil and it ended up making a permanent mark in the stone! My other favorite part was that while we were on the tour (apparently they do this every hour), they came on the loud speaker and led everyone in a prayer (or silence if you preferred). Again, it was just really touching and reminded me where I was. It was a good moment. Off all the churches, Abbeys and cathedrals I have seen, Salisbury was by far my favorite!