This and That – Good morning from Salisbury and the Isle of Wight.
How glorious the last two days have been! Salisbury Cathedral is beyond belief. This magnificent House of God, with its soaring Gothic arches held high by clumps of massive columns, their bases surrounded by wreaths of worn roses, boasts some of the most intricate stained glass in the world. The artist’s palette of colored glass takes one’s breath away. Then, soaring above it all, is the spire, tallest in England, second tallest in the world. While we were there two men were scaling the spire doing repairs. They looked like miniatures, ant-like as they claimed higher and higher.
Our hotel, The Chapter House, was quintessentially English in character. Low ceilings, lots of timber and plaster, coupled with the ancient aroma of carved oak and the current smells of coffee and frying bacon, only enhanced its Englishness. Morgan and Stephan attended to our every request. On the way to our cosy room, via a rabbit’s warren of hallways, a staircase awaited us. Is there a lift? I asked. No…welcome to England. (LOL) The food was delicious – the steaks thick, the chips yummy, and the Bloody Marys bloody tasty. Two were enough to make me…Well, I digress. (LOL)
We rode the train to Southampton and took a cab to the Red Funnel Line ferry, which took us to the Isle of Wight. Standing on the deck, the misty rain on my face and the briny smell of the sea engulfing me, I could not help but think of the Titanic, as I watched the ferry’s propellers churn up the grey-green water.
Osborn House on the Isle of Wight was the home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It was designed and decorated by the Prince in a high-Victorian style. Heavily carved and gilded ceilings, rooms filled with richly carved mahogany furniture covered in plush brocades, along with thick Oriental rugs, were the style of the day…I wanted to move right in. Vestiges of their personal lives were everywhere: their clothes, the children’s toys, Victoria and Albert’s personal pens and writing paper, and the sovereign’s bathtubs. In this retreat from the duties of the crown, the Royal Family found rest and relaxation.
We are currently on the train to Oxford, one of England’s most fabled towns. A new adventure begins!
Cheerio, my friends. Big hug. 
(Originally posted September 15, 2022)
The baptismal font at Salisbury Cathedral.
A rainy day, moi, and the soaring towers of the cathedral behind me. Can you see the two men on the center tower?
