Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Yeah, I Could Live There (Salisbury)

I'd been to England six times before my first move to London in September 2008 - the first time was on a family holiday when I was 11, but the second and third trips were tours with my choir from the Washington National Cathedral here in DC while I was in middle and high school.  (The fifth was a choir tour, too, right after my semester abroad in Paris as a college student in 2007, and it was tons o' fun to experience one of the trips as an adult!  I had no idea when I was a child that so much carousing went on behind the scenes...)  While we checked off all of the usual tourist attractions and activities, we also spent time visiting (and singing in) almost every cathedral and well-known church in the United Kingdom.  One of my favorites was Salisbury, a quaint but bustling medieval town in the south of England.

Salisbury is located the most beautiful green valley at the confluence of five rivers; it was a major market town in the Middle Ages and is packed with incredible history, from Stonehenge to the 13th century cathedral and beyond.  (If you like historical fiction, I totally recommend Edward Rutherford's Sarum, which traces the life of the town through the centuries - it's fascinating!)  It takes about an hour and forty minutes to get into London on the train so the city is accessible, but it feels like you're in the deepest countryside when you're in Salisbury.  Sometimes, when Jon and I imagine where we might live one day, we picture ourselves in a lovely little town like this one...


And, of course, in these fantasies we're always in an amazing property like The North Canonry, right on the Cathedral Close, parts of which date from the 13th and 16th centuries.  It's got six bedrooms, a wine cellar, a music room, and a stable block and formal gardens as well as an incredible view of the cathedral and fishing rights on the river Avon.  Don't worry, dear readers, you can come visit us here once I've redecorated!  There'll be plenty of room.











29 comments:

  1. it's kind of funny that you chose Salisbury for this, seeing as there's also a Salisbury in Maryland [which just so happens to be where my dad grew up!]. obviously not the same as Salisbury, England, but still.

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  2. Pretty pretty! I have been to the UK twice but I have to admit ONLY to London! Isn`t that terrible? There is a small chance that I will be headed to England for a gfs wedding this summer, and if I get to, I want to rent a car and drive all around the UK!

    Some Snapshots Blog
    Jess

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  3. first- i love your blog! so glad you linked up! immediately followed you on bloglovin!! gosh this is just gorgeous!! I loved Salisbury!

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  4. there is - I've been there! do you know Morgan from La Chapstick Fanatique? she lives there :)

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  5. it's not terrible at all! I lived in London for three years and still haven't seen everything. but it is so fun to explore the rest of England - fingers crossed you get to this summer!

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  6. Nadine BackEastBlondeApril 2, 2013 at 1:43 PM

    Oh my goodness, I would love to live there! It's so funny because I have never once thought about visiting any place in England other than London. I visited London once and then kind of decided that I should try to visit a few more European countries before I return to England. This makes me want to go and relax and ride horses and wear a large brimmed hat.

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  7. Every time we come back to the UK and take the train somewhere outside of London/Newcastle I point out all the big houses in the country and tell Lee if he buys me one I would move back. If only it was that easy :)

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  8. WAIT, YOU MEAN IT ISN'T? my hopes and dreams, dashed :P

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  9. it's so easy to hop around Europe! you could do both? a few days in Salisbury with a horse and a hat and then a few days in France with wine and cheese sounds ideal :)

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  10. YAY hello welcome and thanks for hosting! I'm going to have to make this a regular thing :) I found out about the link-up from Nicole at TreasureTromp - what a matchmaker!

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  11. Stonehenge! wish i had visited when i went to england

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  12. Gasp, I didn't know that you sang with the Cathedral Choir!! I love them! I have wanted so badly to find a choir to sing with after college, but my crazy schedule has always made it hard to find a group that my work or class schedule wouldn't conflict with. In the meantime I've had fun serenading my husband and cat. :) Also, yes to all of these Salisbury ideas. Those gardens! Those views! I'd be there in a heartbeat. :)

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  13. Gorgeous! I love historical fiction specifically set in Great Britain so thanks for the book recommendation. I've lately been obsessed with reading about the time period regarding Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their brood.

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  14. I did! there are a bunch of choirs around town that I'd be happy to recommend, if you want :) I really miss singing!

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  15. next time! this is so hippie of me, but I really want to go back during the solstice :)

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  16. omg then you HAVE to read Edward Rutherford! he also has one called London, TWO based in Dublin, and one about the New Forest (though I haven't read that one) - they're so good!

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  17. I LOVE Edward Rutherford's books! (Seeing below, the New Forest one is one of my favorites!)
    We were only in Salisbury for a day, on a whirlwind Bath-Salisbury-Stonehenge-Avebury jaunt, but we both loved Salisbury. Such a quiet little town, but with plenty of amenities.
    As for the North Canonry? We'll split it with you. I mean, really, we only take up one bedroom, and Sloan, Charlie, and Max can be playmates ALL THE TIME (since they're all gonna live forever of course). It will be grand!

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  18. Reminds me of study abroad. We went to Salisbury and Old Sarum in the POURING rain. But it ended with a private sunset tour of Stonehenge where we had the privileged of frolicking through the stones. That was cool. Salisbury Cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. Love these pictures. They really took me back! :)

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  19. whoa nelly what would have been a whirlwind! and YES I like that idea - let's do it :)

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  20. oh wow! that would be absolutely magical. it was cloudy every time I went to Stonehenge - not quite so atmospheric! but moving nontheless, I thought. woo :)

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  21. The Irishman has friends who live there, and we call their home "our country house". We actually went there to watch the Royal Wedding and it was fabulous to see an English town all gussied up for the big day. It's got some great pubs and cafes too. Plus we ran a half-marathon across the Salisbury Plains that ended at Stonehenge and it was pretty magical.

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  22. When my husband and I were in Bath last year, we overheard this older posh couple talking about their "summer house in Salisbury with a juliet balcony". We still make jokes about that. It was ridiculously funny at the time and seeing you talk about how much you love it reminded me of that.

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  23. I think I could live there too! I'm an Edward Rutherfurd fan, but I haven't read Sarum yet. Thanks for reminding me that I need too :)

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  24. oh I bet that was beautiful! I'll have to see if a race there overlaps with one of my visits :)

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  25. haha amazing! yes, when they downsize to a smaller place I will help take their summer house off their hands - purely out of the goodness of my heart, you know :P

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  26. it was the first of his books that I read! And have you read/seen Pillars of the Earth? Kingsbridge is sort of loosely based on Salisbury and its cathedral.

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  27. We also entered this one, and didn't actually do it, but apparently it's great fun: http://www.tidworth10k.co.uk/

    And the Neolithic Half / Marathon has walking events too, if you're not ready for a long-distance event (they also have dog-running races which are AWESOME - maybe bring Charlie?)
    http://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/whats-on/Events/sarsentrail_neolithicmarathon

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  28. Pillars of the Earth is a fantastic book! I've read it, and seen it. Right now I'm reading Fall of Giants by Follett, it's brilliant so far, and I think I'll pick up Sarum when I'm finished. I read New York by Rutherfurd last year, it was good, but not one of his best. I thought his two books about Ireland were much better.

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  29. I think we would all love to have a summer house in Salisbury.

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