Bonkers

Friday 27^th September

We said farewell to our host Jaqui and left Lyme Regis after breakfast setting Howard, our GPS to take us to The World Heritage Site of Stonehenge, located near Salisbury in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside.

The mounds on the top of the hill are burial mounds…

you can see many of these dotted around the nearby countryside.

It's an awe-inspiring site and during the tour we heard a number of theories put forward about Stonehenge. Perhaps it was a temple for sun worship, a healing centre, a burial site or perhaps a huge calendar? How did our ancestors manage to carry the mighty stones from so far away and then, using only the most primitive of tools, build this amazing structure? Surrounded by mystery, Stonehenge certainly didn’t fail to impress…another satisfying National Trust visit and we still have 2 more to go!

We set off for Brighton and stopped along the way for lunch…we continue to be charmed by the beautiful little villages we come across…today we stopped in Arundel…it’s High Street is lined with interesting shops & cafes and just around the corner a VERY impressive castle!

We arrived in Brighton and checked into our B&B…we have a small but gorgeous room and are within easy walking distance of all the action.

 Our hosts Matt & Andy provided us with a map and assured us we’d have time to visit the Brighton Pavilion this afternoon which was number one on our must do list…

The Brighton Pavilion is an extraordinary and extravagant pleasure palace. Built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in stages between 1787 and 1823, it is home to some of the finest collections and examples of the chinoiserie style in Britain.

These photos don’t do it justice…we heard someone describe it as ‘bonkers’ and that is just what it is…we’ve never seen anything quite like it…

This is the roof of the banquet room and 

a huge chandelier hangs beneath this dragon…

Here’s the chandelier & the banquet table,

its impossible to get the whole room in,

it’s entirely ‘over the top’.

This is just a small potion of the kitchen! 

It is lined with a wonderful array of copper pots.

We were among the last to leave and decided to wander through ‘The Lanes’ and look for a light bite to eat…we decided on ‘The Mesmerist’ and enjoyed the food and the atmosphere however we think we were the oldest people in the place...the music got louder and louder and we decided it was time to head for ‘home’. We’re very impressed with Brighton and plan to have more of a look around tomorrow morning before heading for Dover.

It’s hard to believe it’s only 3 more sleeps before we leave to come home…it will be great to see our family and friends but we’re not looking forward to the long haul flight home.