Stonehenge and Bath

Saturday 1st April

Today with Sally, Kelly and Saoirse , I visited the Stonehenge which is just a few hours drive out of London. It was a fantastic place to go and the rocks are cooler than I imagined that they would be, they are just so impressive and standing a few meters away from them is even more so. It was a nice clear day and their was actually sun but the wind was still chilly, it came with a free guided commentary which was great, I liked the few explanations to how they came to be there in the first place (aliens, giants and wizards, the usual suspects) and the speculation to what its

true purpose was...no one really knows!! I think what gives Stonehenge a lot of its appeal is that is has so much mystery!

After Stonehenge we went for Lunch at a nearby pub The Royal Oak which was nice and quiet and had good food for good prices!

We continued on our way to Bath and then went and visited the Roman Baths which is quite extensive (and expensive) to go through but well worth the effort on both counts because it also gives a guided audio tour.

The spring was mostly celebrated by the Romans who came there when they tried to conquer England, they thought it was a holy place that bordered this world and the spiritual one and though used it to socialise and to enjoy they also beleived it held great healing powers and people would (and still do) throw in offerings anything from coins and hair pins to pots and pans. The offerings were made mostly to Minerva the goddess of Wisdom.

A lot of the original architecture is quickly melting away despite all their efforts to keep it well restored. You can no longer swim or touch the water you can still feel the heat it has radiating from it and see it bubbling and although we now understand the science of it its not hard to understand why people centuries before us were so intrigued by it and even why we still are today!

Our last stop in Bath was the Royal Crescent which is a long line of adjoining houses, which I think some very wealthy people still live in. Its cool to just go and look though the houses do spread further over than the ones in the photos these are the ones that are the most spectacular. It was a photo opportunity and who would miss that?

Anyway I am glad I have been able to come out of London and see some of the English countryside, it was just gorgeous and the endless plains of green that we drove past were beautiful! It seems to me amazing that we saw so much fantastic stuff in one day, I hope I have more days like that!

xxoo

Emily