As a slightly spontaneous mini-break, Paul and I headed down to Somerset on Thursday for a couple of days of fresh air, relaxation, sunshine and sight-seeing.
The weather has been fantastic for the last month and we have had high summer temperatures pretty much all over the UK. There's been a party atmosphere over the last week or so too as much of the UK had 11 consecutive days holiday - for Easter and the Royal Wedding. I wasn't lucky enough to have all three days between the two four-day-weekends off work, but the one day I did have I made the most of.
We started by visiting Cheddar Gorge and completing the surprisingly tough 6.2km long walk up and down the inland cliffs either side. Rising to a height of 450ft above the gorge below, the route is pretty rocky and steep in places. We both felt a huge sense of achievement at the end.
We then visited Weston-Super-Mare, which I have to admit is a lot smarter than I had imagined. They have a new pier and have completely refurbished the seafront and promenade making it quite an attractive seaside resort.
Our base for the night was The Oakhouse Hotel in the very pretty Georgian market town of Axbridge, just two miles from Cheddar. We were back in time to enjoy a glass of wine in the last few rays of the evening sunshine.
Friday was spent looking around the majestic town of Glastonbury and marvelling at (and looking around) the number of witchcraft, healing, eco and herbal shops and cafes in the town centre. It was incredibly quiet - more people must have been engrossed in the Royal Wedding than we'd thought. It did feel quite strange though - being very aware of the wedding taking place (it was on on numerous shop radios and was impossible to ignore the patriotism dotted about in the form of Union Jacks and garlands), but not being a part of it. I felt oddly distant.
Whilst the wedding celebrations were taking place, Paul and I had made our way to Stonehenge in Wiltshire. It was probably the best time to visit - though at least 100 other people had the same idea as it was far from quiet!
Stonehenge was fantastic. I can't believe I hadn't visited before. I bought a book in the gift shop on the way out and read it aloud for the remainder of the journey home. What an incredible place - there are so many questions left unanswered though and much of the information in the book is speculation.
Photos from the trip can be found on my Flickr.
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