Early yesterday morning I found myself once again sitting in a large coach, this time hurtling down the M3 motorway through the English countryside. We were headed West towards Stonehenge and Bath for a class day trip, taking a private coach with a tour guide the entire way. As I have a strong disdain for buses and organized tours this would not have been my choice method of travel, but it turned out to be very informative and one of the most fun days I've had here yet.
The coach picked us up at the house and took us through London, while the guide pointed out various landmarks, most of which I have already seen. But before getting too far out into the country, we took a detour through Windsor where the queen is currently staying (as evidenced by a royal flag that was flying over the castle when we drove by). It was a gorgeous town.
The ride to Stonehenge was a little over 2 hours long, and took us through gorgeous countryside and farmland, over narrow hilly roads and through beautiful forests and hunting grounds. That part of England is very much as you would imagine it, and seems like it literally has not changed since about the 19th century.
As we got closer to Stonehenge, we started seeing these mounds in various fields. These are the burial mounds of the Beaker People who built Stonehenge. There is one person under each mound, buried with various artifacts.
And then out of no where, there's Stonehenge! It's in the middle of hundreds of miles of plains with a highway running past it.
There is a sheep field next to it as well, with some of the happiest looking sheep I have ever seen. I suppose I would be a happy sheep too, if I got to live at Stonehenge.
And at last, the rocks, famous for various reasons. They were moved here from hundreds of miles away around 2500 BC. This in itself is pretty impressive, but furthermore the rocks were erected to stand in a circle so that the sun shines through a different slot at the middle of every month. During the summer solstice it shines through the largest rocks in the middle, and in the winter, it shines through the shortest.
Most of the rocks at Stonehenge are actually underground, and the main circle is partially collapsed, so this is only a fraction of what it used to look like. There is also a large trench around it, in a perfect circle. No one really knows what it was used for, besides as somewhat of a giant calendar, probably for ritual purposes.
Just outside of Stonehenge is apparently a large British military base. There were 2 large helicopters flying low overhead, which was a little disturbing but kind of cool. Also nearby was an entire abandoned town that was used solely for British Army urban warfare training.
In addition to a few cattle crossings, they also had some tank crossing signs!
This is the Westbury White Horse, the oldest of 14 white horses carved in the ancient hill forts around the area. This one was really far away, and we only got a glimpse of it from the bus on our way to Bath.
Town of Bath. Many famous people live and have lived there in the past, including Jane Austen, Thomas Gainsborough, and Johnny Depp, who currently lives there and whose house we actually walked passed.
The Roman Baths. I would NOT want to bathe in there, especially considering there were signs that said not to touch the water...
Cool statues and architecture!
The baths were quite extensive and the path led in and out between outdoor pools and enclosed excavated portions of the facility. Although the actually building was built in the 1800s, the baths themselves were built by the ancient Romans who discovered a natural hot spring in the area. The water stays at a constant of about 114 degrees at the surface.
You think we find interesting stuff in our pool drain sometimes -- this is the stone from a Roman-era ring or jewel of some sort, with a carving of a discus thrower. The picture looks deceiving, but it is actually about the size of your pinky fingernail!
Standing in front of the main pool.
More of the interior. I wish we would have had more time, but we had about an hour and a half to see the whole thing and have lunch. It was definitely a cool visit though!
The town of Bath was just gorgeous and it was a beautiful day. Sunny, warm, and absolutely perfect.
After lunch, our tour guide took us through the town, pointing out various landmarks and giving us tons of information.
The River Avon
All too soon we had to leave for a 2 1/2 hour drive back to London. The scenery was spectacular though, and the day was clear enough we could see all the way to Wales (on the horizon in the picture).
It was an exhausting day, but just incredible in every way.
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