Meeting people on the road and prehistoric animal remains

‘Meeting people on the road is always easier when you are alone. This time I didn’t do so well though. Before arriving in Cornwall I visited Bath and Bristol.

I made a stop in Salisbury that turned out to be a brilliant tactical move. Due to my ignorance, I thought it had something to do with Peter Gabriel’s beautiful song, which is actually called “Solsbury Hill.”

Salisbury has a beautiful cathedral and I slept in the college in front that serves as a music school; during the school season there are kids studying by playing the very old cathedral organ. It is a very old building and to the nun receptionist I could not help but ask if there were any ghosts. She did not appreciate my witticism.

There is not much to see, and while there is quite a lot of tourist traffic during the day, it is rather dull at night. But I enjoyed the park around the cathedral in the long evening hours where darkness never comes by reading, watching dogs walking with their owners, and eating take-out Oriental food.

A canal and typical houses in Costwolds — Cotswolds, this is Lower Sloughter. Perhaps lesser-known area of England for Italians that absolutely deserves

Not meeting people on the road: I let the German get away.

I could be argued that in my usual way, I did everything in a hurry. But I am convinced that for these 2 cities the 2 days are enough. Bath, very touristy, is more than deserving but in essence is all about the ancient Roman baths and the adjacent cathedral. The baths are the only ones that have remained virtually intact since then. Also interesting are the buildings of The Circus and Royal Crescent, a kind of townhouses from the 1700s but much more elegant than the modern ones.

Wide view of a curved brick building surrounding a green lawn under a partly cloudy sky, with people strolling on the grass. — The Circus in Bath

In Bath I did not take advantage of the opportunity to be able to meet a nice chick. At the beginning of the trip it takes me a while to get out of the all-hurry mode with no time to divert myself from my activities. So I doze off the Romagna lifeguard instinct in me to meet people.

He was behind me to enter the Roman baths. We crossed eyes and exchanged a smile. During the visit with the audio guide headphones on it would have been almost harassing to strike up a conversation, and we were in for not bothering her. That same evening I found her, still alone, clearly going as I was to a pub just outside the center.

It would have been easy to make a joke to her, but I did not seize the moment. I thought I would get a chance to do that in the pub, where, however, she was reading at a table in the garden, and even there I thought I was disturbing. I went in to have a look at the people who had started playing some very weird unlistenable stuff. When I came out with the idea of approaching the chick I realized that I had been anticipated by a local.

Indoor swimming pool of Bath spa, surrounded by the arcade — The Bath Spa Pool

In Bristol (Bansky’s city) you go to tour the murals (his and others’). I preferred to wander around a bit at random where I felt most inspired, but to me it didn’t say much

Beaten to the photo finish by the old man

I arrived at Stonehenge very early, taking advantage of car ownership and tactical proximity from Salisbury. I am not going to tell you how since childhood, I had been fascinated by the place, which I approached with religious excitement.

I was the first to get my ticket and board the shuttle bus that leads from the parking lot/museum to the actual site. I got out on the fly and at a brisk pace set off following the signs. In the shuttle was a small family and an elderly couple whom I did not consider as potential rivals. I was convinced I could be the first to arrive to take pictures without people. When I could already see the boulders and was starting to adjust my camera (I use a very simple one, as they used to do), the old man ran past me! At first annoyed I even thought about running myself, but the scene would have been too ridiculous.

The large boulders in a circle at the Stonehenge site without people around them — Stonehenge without people, I made it!

I knew that you could see the site even from quite close without paying, but I was happy to take the full tour, to get even a few meters closer without people in the way, and to visit the museum as well. Also when a place you have imagined it so much, it is worth spending even a lot to enjoy it more.

Also in the area is the other theoretically similar site of Avebury. It is larger and with boulders that are much worse reduced looking like they were thrown there. This is why you don’t pay for it.

Chat with flock of sheep

Speaking of fictional characters, I had high hopes for the Devonian. It’s the setting for many novels by English writers. I have to say it disappointed me a little.

Dartmoor National Park, in particular, might be even more enchanting in winter—much like the setting in Doyle’s *The Hound of the Baskervilles*, when Sherlock Holmes and Watson go in search of a ghostly hound. The only animals I saw were a deer that crossed my path and a flock of sheep with which I had a brief exchange.

As a base I had chosen an inn in Paigngton near Agatha Cristie‘s hometown. Like the ones where even the Murder Lady or Hercule Poirot go on vacation, and where there is always also a retired army officer as well as a lapsed nobleman and a young heiress. But nothing, I didn’t come across any of that. From there I also went up one day to Exmoor national park where I did another super walk overlooking the ocean.

A path on a high cliff overlooking the sea on the Cornish coast. — Scorching cliffs and spectacular views in Cornwall

Hunting for fossils

The trip I enjoyed most was to the Jurassic Coast. At first glance it is a normal beach, pebbles and sand with high rocks immediately behind and which is free access (but salty parking).

Small fossil of a shell found by Favio Viroli in the Jurassic coast — One of my fossils

It is actually an incredible place. So many fossils or parts of fossils turn up every day that anyone can take away. Clearly there is an initial screening for any significant finds, but there are really a lot of people every day taking home something that lived 200 million years ago. I was quite lucky in the collection and since then, when I invite someone to dinner, I always ask if they want fresh fish. In this link you can learn more about it.

More fossils found by Fabio Viroli in the Jurassic coast. One of the objects is other, but it was used to meet people on a journey — To meet people on the road, it is useful to be a little silly. Asking which prehistoric animal one of these objects might belong to, I became very sympathetic to the guide.

Talk about meeting people on the road: the successor to Alice in Wonderland

Oxford is full of beautiful buildings that are mostly the various colleges; to me it struck the thought of how many genius minds have walked on the same stones and been inspired here when young. Like, for example, the very crowded and hidden Turf Tavern, which is reached via a very narrow lane and is a maze of small rooms frequented by students (including Oscar Wilde; Margareth Thatcher and Bill Clinton) since 1381.

And of course the corner of the wall that Tolkien saw from his little room and apparently inspired him for the giant trees featured in Lord of the Rings. Not to mention the lawn where Lewis Carrol used to picnic with the daughter of the principal of Christ Church, which inspired him to write Alice in Wonderland.

Christ Church library tables in Oxford; all wooden with high stained glass windows, they were setting it up for a reception — It’s really Harry Potter’s library!

Christ Church is the college used as the setting for the Harry Potter saga. In the dining hall they often hold events there; when I was there only the entrance was accessible because they were setting up. Continuing the tour I met a little girl who was sweating from carrying a carton that I later learned was full of one of their colorful, sweetish drinks. Offering to help her, her expression changed as if I had given her the winning New Year’s Eve lottery ticket. She was the principal’s daughter, too (like Carrol’s muse)! She was helping in setting up the reception and offered me one of those bottles that I drank in the room.