I am writing this on August 26th and we got the news about Dolly Parton's passing last night. Lovely to read the tributes and imagine such a profound impact on the world. I picked this up at a Dolly-themed art show in Waxahachie Texas in 2015 (remember that trip G?). Let's all be a little more like Dolly (if you aren't already!). 👱🏻♀️
Back to our travels ... after sitting with Buddy, we took a few days to explore a few famous sights between Reading and Heathrow. 👀
Reading
We took a walk over to the Ruins of Reading Abbey and saw this unusual sculpture - Interpretation of the Ruins (Balls Head) by Jens-Flemming Sorensen (2000) 🤔
The ultra modern Blade building behind the ruins. ⚔️
Banksy's Create Escape appeared on the side of the Reading Prison in 2021 and was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment there in the late 19th century. While he was there, Wilde wrote De Profundis and afterwards, the Ballad of Reading Gaol. ✍️
Jane Austen spent 18 months (1785 - 1786) at the small school inside the Abbey Gateway. 🎓
Stonehenge
Hard to describe our visit inside the circle where we walked among the stones. It was a magnificent experience. My hot take? It was a cult. Not sure how else you mobilize 6k people to work over 50 years at a time when most communities were less than 100 people. What do you think? 🗣️
Windsor
We went to Windsor Castle to visit the Venus Garden which was redesigned and opened in July 2026. 🌺
A lonely guard in the interior park. 💂🏻♂️
The Moat Garden was only open during August so we got to take a peek. It has always been a dry moat. ⛫
Pretty sure we saw Queen Camilla. 👑
Got a tip from a Moat Garden volunteer to check out Savill Gardens so we did. 🌺
On our last night, we got to catch with another Band of Heathens superfan, Gail. She was a native Brit who first saw them in 2006 when they toured in the UK. What a fun connection! Thank you Angela (again!). 🙏
