Free in England

Now, one really beautiful thing about England is the possilbility of going from one beautiful site to another, without paying a cent. Most of the major galleries in London -- the British Museum, the National Gallery, the National History Museum, the Science Museum, the National Portrait Gallery are free to everyone. Also, as part of the wonderful "National Trust", you can visit most of the sites in the countryside, without any charge.
Maybe it is the sheer number of sites that are present, that they can't police all the sites, but I really love the way the National Trust works.

(Maybe that the Trust have just given up on policing the sheep, which are free to roam around all the sites, so they decided not to be hypocritical, and allow people to roam as well -- : ).




You can walk right up to most sites, without any gate or fence barring your way. In the case of the Uffington White Horse, most countries would have surrouded it with barbed wire -- considering that it is truly a valuable national resource. However, in Britain, there was only a sign saying -- "Please don't step on the horse -- it would cause it to erode faster, and prevent other people from continuing to enjoy it."

I just love the word: "Please" -- Where else would that work, but in England?

At another National Trust site, Avesbury, the public is allowed into the stone circle (with the sheep). I guess, the word Trust in the name was put there to signifiy the trust that the organization would have in the people.