August 4th. Exploring the Southwest - Part 2

And here is what we did on Sunday. We started with some breakfast. It was similar filling but uninspiring fare as at the farm last week. Egg and sausage were even more practical: fried egg plopped next to two sausages with no decoration or spices. But after a while we got in the mood and sampled all the cereals, toast, yogurt, preserved, and fruit. And then after it was all gone it was time to move on.

As we headed toward Shaftebury, we passed a sign for Walled Garden, English Heritage site. We just purchased our annual membership at the Stonehedge and were eager to try out all the free admissions and parkings. We did not find Walled Garden but did find St. Leonard's church in Semley. It had a scenic looking dilapidated gravestones at the surrounding cemetery.


We decided to keep it going and visited the nearby Wardour castle. Driving there through the overgrown tree tunnels we wondered if that was the intent all the way. One of the ways to protect it is to hide it. It is a pretty castle but unfortunately it was too early in the day and it was still closed. We tried to scale the wall, but just like in the Sleeping Beauty there were thorn bushes planted all around it. And we did not have the sword :)
 
The next stop was Shaftesbury, a small town with a beautiful hill views and a very steep hill. One other notable feature about the place was that it originally hosted the richest and largest Benedictine nunnery in the country. It became very powerful gradually acquiring more and more of the surrounding lands. Until one of the Henrys had dismantled it to the point of ordering to utilize the stones with which it was built for the surrounding construction.

On that happy note, we headed down to the Jurassic Coast. One interesting feature of driving in the more remote parts of the country is that farmers plant tall bushes on both sides of the road. They may be protecting the fields from the dust and poachers. But they obscure the view of the surrounding scenery and contract already narrow roadways. It is like driving through the winding green tunnels for miles and miles to no end. Some of them are also one way so one of the cars has to practically climb into the bushes to let the other one through. Cyclers add another note of complexity to the richness of experience. And it rained too!



We were not sure on the best point to start and so arrived to Exmouth first. A local at the fishing store there suggested to go to Sidmouth since it has more fossils and interesting things to look at. So we drove over there. The views are absolutely amazing and pictures do not do them justice. Just as we approached the town we parked and walked down the hill toward the beach enjoying the view. The rain had stopped and we spent about an hour and a half at the rocky beach to the right on the fortress.

We found fossilized corrals and some pretty rocks but none of the stuff sold by the professionals at the stores. It was very relaxing though. Next we decided to explore the left side of the beach and found that there is actually a fairly large town on the other side and they were having a folk festival there!

We walked through town watching different performances along the way. At some point Isabella ran out of power and went to sleep. We carried her back to the car through town and headed home.


Skye Terrier

As we deposited Isabella onto her car seat we told Georgia that she can play on the iPad. Isabella immediately woke up and requested her turn. We did not make it to Glastonbury again but will try again next time!! When we got into the town, the workers were still breaking down the barricades from the bike event.