Quintessential England in Winchester

Inside the Cathedral. It is massive and has been reworked several times over the centuries.
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We traveled up to Winchester with Stephanie and Martin in their car.  It was sad to say our last goodbyes to our good friends and relatives in Exeter, but our time marches on.  We arrived at Stephanie and Martin's home, just out of Winchester at Itchen Abbas.  They have a lovely property with an acre and a quarter of lovely garden.  We just soaked up the lovely view from their garden.  It was a fabulous day and we could not believe the beauty of our surroundings.  It was as the title suggests, Quintessential England.  In the evening, Martin and I walked down (the ladies drove) to a local pub for a fantastic meal.  It was not like NZ pubs at all and served excellent quality food that we would expect from a fairly high quality restaurant.  The walk down (and back) was one I will always remember, with a crystal clear river that we followed for most of the way, or walking through fields with thatched roof homes and cottages to see.  I needed to pause a few times to take in the beauty and tranquility of it all on a lovely evening.

The view at Stephanie & Martin's of the "back yard".
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Day 2 - Winchester

The next day we travelled in to Winchester and besides a walk through this historic town, we went to the Cathedral, where Stephanie is training to be a guide next year.  It is an amazing building, containing history dating back pre 1000.  In fact they think that some of the architecture shows that some of the construction stopped or was of a temporary nature for a while around the turn of the first millenium as there was a wide held belief that Christ's return would be imminent at the 1000 year mark.  Also interesting was the swazsticka emblem on one of the lying statues, long before Hitler ever made it his own.  It was apparrently a symbol of peace and prosperity at that time.  The Cathedral is immense as the photo suggests and you could spend a long time there.  Upstairs, we saw an ancient Bible that was hand written in about the 13th century I think.

A view of the River Itchen, on the walk tha Martin and I took to dinner.
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After another amazing pub lunch, we set off to see the Round Table.  Yes, this is the famous, "Knights of the Round Table" fame.  It is up on the wall of the only remaining building from the Winchester Castle.  It is pretty massive, as is the Grand Hall.  Amazing to think that William the Conqueror, who ordered the destruction of the other buildings left this one alone.  Also got a great shot of King Alfred on the way back to the car.

That evening we had a great family catchup at Stephanie and Martin's place, with many relatives coming over for a barbeque.  It was great to catch up with everyone and for me to meet many of Kathy's relatives that I had not before.  We really enjoyed the evening and had a great time.  I even got to practice my barbeque skills again.

View of Winchester Cathedral. The reason it was so big, is that before England was unified, a King was based here.
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Day 3, Time to leave

We had so much enjoyed our time in Winchester and it gave us a different perspective on England.  On the morning of our time to leave, we had a quick trip up to an adjacent village and I did catch the best picture I have taken of the Quintessential English cottage.  Check this new picture out....

We sadly got on the train and headed back to London for the final phase of our holiday.