A busy week

Spent this week/weekend touring Scott's mom around--lots of fun! Here are some highlights:

Not to sound jaded, but Stonehenge was underwhelming. It sits on a tiny patch of grass pinched between busy motorways. Even in October, in nippy weather, there were loads of tourists. I read that the site's caretakers are working to revamp it. The roads will eventually tunnel under grassy, pedestrian friendly areas, and an interpretive center will be built to better explain the history and engineering. But for now, you walk around the structure listening to a lackluster audio tour while stupid German teenagers photograph each other gesticulating obscenely and Donatella Versace look-a-likes, wearing tight jeans, fur trimmed jackets and knee high boots, mill about with bored expressions, occasionally saying something mean in Italian to their husbands. We gave up trying to get a photo without strangers:
We also took a lovely walk at Polesden Lacey, with lots of beautiful vistas, hills to climb and descend, and cute farm animals to try to lure closer to the camera. (Nadine almost succeeded in getting a herd of cattle to come to us by repeatedly calling "Here, Bessie" but in the end they thought better of it).

We spent time at Lacock Abbey and Lacock Village as well. A beautiful 16th century estate built around a 13th century abbey once inhabited by a small community of nuns. The village was founded in the 1200s and still features many limewashed medieval type buildings.

Also visited a record 5 pubs, Nadine liked them so much. Here's our new Claygate favorite, the Foley Arms: