AnglOrony

In the first day of August 2008, we had set off to Wiltshire to experience first-hand the strange phenomena of ' crop circles '. Hardly any simple 'circles' in recent decades - the pattern became more complex and ornamented. The term 'crop pictograms' or 'crop formations' are more suitable. Wiltshire is the world-capital of crop circles. Hundreds, if not thousands, appear there every year, and the debate continues - how, by whom and why they are being made. One interesting connection is that Wiltshire is home to Stonehenge and many other stone circles and ancient monuments - in a quantity, quality and antiquity - not met anywhere else in the world. Archaeologists have established that those monuments were built by the people who introduced farming in Britain. In the early morning hours, we started our stay in Avebury , home to the largest stone circle in the world. In the centre of the village, there is an idyllic rural pub next to some of the larg...

The most interesting areas in central London can be enjoyed by foot. Everything is in close proximity. Of course, you will need a few days to cover many other places of tourists interests but to get the real quick feel of London , this is what we recommend. The area covers a large part of London's West End : Covent Garden and Leicester Square, the historic sites of Trafalgar Square , Buckingham Palace , Downing Street , Palace of Westminster . Covent Garden is associated with sophisticated leisure time. There are theatres, numerous pubs and bars, an exclusive shopping area, a craft market, floral market and regular street performances. We popped in there in the early hours and in some parts it was already busy, in others still very quiet. Covent Garden For centuries, Covent Garden had been a market where Londoners had been buying fruits and vegetables. Before that, since around 1200's it served as a garden for the needs of Convent monks, hence the name.   Pu...

Southwell Minster,  a cathedral, in a small town-like-village? Yes, near Nottingham .  The building had survived the English Reformation - the dissolution of the monasteries and looting them down to the state of ruin - by the State. It was in 1530s. Some things has changed - the looting is less obvious now. Anyway, fully workable church from the Medieval times is quite uncommon in England. Here are some charming ruins additionally, too.  We have found ourselves in Southwell, knowing very little about, just that it is quite a posh surround in Nottinghamshire . We were not surprised. A few elegant streets with chic and sleek small business for the posh people. A shop that sells edible sweets   memorabilia in a lovely colonial style, for example (below, lower, right). You do not go for a Cadburry chocolate in Southwell (which is not very nice, anyway), you go for a colored sugar bubbles as they were seen by the poor and eaten by the posh in the 1920s. Still, it is qu...

  The arithmetical clipping of shrubs into hedges is present in many English front and back gardens. However, the idea is pure French . The notion of a proper English garden does not comply with the neat, geometrical outlines. The front gardens of so many English households often represent the true spirit of the 18th-century invention - to let nature simply 'be' - with the emphasis of a  least landscaping effort . The first purpose of a garden is to give peace of mind and joy, this is the English philosophy. Less is more.  Let the flower bloom in Spring in a wide and wild variety of colours - after the archetypal floral cottage gardens. As suddenly as they come to be, as quickly as they are gone later on.   And when the Spring bloom is gone, we are getting back to the roots of the garden design - let the man take control over nature - in the fashion of the French . The Spring can be indeed abundant with the contrast of colours in the English villages ....

York has been voted as one of the best cities in Britain and is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in the UK. Its location allowed it to prosper through time and to retain the old historic character. York proximity to the Great North Road, made it a major trading centre in the Middle Ages and the English kings used it as a base for wars in Scotland . A one-day breakaway trip will cover much of the city, the centre may be walked in one hour, honestly. This of course will not be enough to experience it full-heartedly.  The way of doing things in York is in a complete chilled-out zone - if you want to unwind and de-stress from hectic tourism, and still enjoy a variety, this is a place to escapade. York architecture is nowadays one of the city's major assets, it is designated as a conservation area.    Medieval city walls , gateways and towers (lower left) enclose the centre and are the best preserved in the country. Somehow, the walled cities and towns make us feel...

The megalithic sites such as Stonehenge invoke a completely different time-line . People have been building, developing and using the structure for about 2,500 years. This is 1000 years longer  than the written history of our civilization.  They have buried their ancestors around for about 2000 year. Our oldest cemeteries are no older than 200 years . Our oldest buildings survive less than 500 years. What does it mean? Are we the superior ones to those ' primitives '? Of course, we are simply different, based on the ever-changing demands of the economy. We pay less attention to the flow of time as the ancients did, as well. We don't need it as much, operating on a completely different mindset. Stonehenge built begun almost 5,000 years ago with a ditch and earth bank. Next was the circle of bluestones , that one hardly notices because they seem like a cripple from the big megaliths. The bluestones were brought from the Preseli hills in west Wales. The big sarsen stones th...