Salisbury—a sister city?!?!

Prior to this trip—and more specifically today—I knew little about Stonehenge and/or Salisbury because they didn't often occur in the Brit lit I've read or top the must-see lists suggested to me by other international travelers. It was very cool to see Stonehenge, but unlike many of the other tourists I overheard while there, it wasn't "exactly as I imagined it would be." The scale of the structures, the magnitude of moving and creating them from those huge stones, and the very isolated setting do present an intriguing mystery. Still, I somehow was imagining it much larger than it actually is. Of course, visitors cannot actually enter the stones, so that impacts the perception of scale, and the thought of moving and erecting the formation is astounding considering that our guide said the formation is 5000 years old. Nonetheless, like many other sites we've visited, my pre-imaginings of size have been completely off, but that's turning out to be nothing new. :) I suppose I was thinking it would be this huge acres-wide complex set on a hilltop or something, but misjudging the size/scope does not diminish the impact, especially when driving up. The real surprising find of the day, though, was Salisbury and it's special connection to my own home library and city!!!! (pictures and explanation behind the cut)

I mentioned in my blog profile that I work for a public library and provided a link to our library's blog/website. What neither of those postings explains, though, is that Lakeland is a swan city. By itself, this fact is unique but not apparently relevant to my travels or England at all. However, the Lakeland swans boast a direct English connection as a pair of mute white swans from the Queen's royal flock on the Thames were donated to the city back in 1957 to repopulate after the original flock was gone (read more here). Accordingly, swans are a big deal in Lakeland, particularly around Lake Morton, which also happens to be home to the Lakeland Public Library. My library isn't technically on that lake, nor do we have real swans near us, but the swan love and swan insignia are part of the city identity.

Imagine my surprise, then, to be following our wonderful guide, Hugh, through Salisbury on the way to the cathedral only to discover swans in their little river. There were about 8 or 10 total—I could only capture 8 on film at any given time—but I was immediately reminded of Lakeland. Add to this surprising discovery the realization that the swans in the river were swimming right in front of the Salisbury library—the perfect parallel. I, of course, took tons of pictures because swans sightings are an everyday occurrence at LPL, and then noticed a random little sign just across the bridge from the library and swans the completely sealed the deal. Even though it appears to be some kind of business, there was a "Lakeland" sign literally next door to the library and also facing the same swan river. Unfortunately, the swans were going with the flow of the current and wouldn't hover underneath the Lakeland sign long enough for a photo op, but what an amazing coincidence! I think Lakeland needs to apply for sister city status. :)

Swans at the library!

It's Lakeland in England!