Stonehenge and Bath

7-17-10

This past weekend was the field trip to Stonehenge and Bath. The trip started with an early morning wakeup call followed by sleeping on the mini bus for 2 hours. The times that I would slightly wakeup I would look out and see more than the countryside. Sometimes I would see a beautiful church reaching towards God or a castle set back into the countryside. After one of these times I work up and then It was BAM!!!! Hi I’m Stonehenge sitting right next to the road. I thought it was out a ways in some remote location where you might have to hike out to… Nope it is right next to a road.

After Parking, we literally pushed our way through the crowds. It is a big tourist place and very busy. Basically they heard you into cues and then under the street, and finally up some ramps. At the top of the ramps there it is: Stonehenge. I was a little disappointed with myself. When I found out We were going to Stonehenge I was “That is so Awesome!!!” However once there my attitude changed to “it’s just a bunch of rocks….” Don’t get me wrong I loved seeing them; however there isn’t much to do there except walk around the rocks and looking at the same thing doesn’t really change. They are impressive but simple. After heading back to the tunnel we tried to go in the gift shop however it was o packed that I got stuck. I could not move.

I'm just going to lean against this rock....

 After grabbing a bite to eat, sandwich, tea and a rock cake, we all piled back into the van to go to Bath. On the way to Bath I am not sure if I slept or watched the scenery. Both probably happened. Once getting to Bath I was once again impressed the city, even on the outskirts. The city felt like it has been there for a while, where Brighton seems newer. I don’t want to say old or accident but has Been there, It has existed for a long time. It is really hard to explain. In Bath the first thing we did was walk past the Bath Abbey towards the Roman Baths. The Abbey unlike Stonehenge I could have stared at for hours!  There is so much detail and little things to see. Looking at the Abbey again they actually have a ladder of angels climbing against the church.

Bath Abbey

After getting away from the slight rain we entered the Roman Baths. Look I got to see a Roman masterpiece without having to go to Rome,, who would have guessed! The baths have exactly crumbled over the years but they have built a museum around the existing structures and whined you around all these all stones. They even used technology to incorporate what pieces of a broken arch way would have looked like. There is running water and the hot spring where the bath was built is still bubbling away.  After the Roman Baths we went exploring a little and at that point we were hungry. Since I had Brunch (I didn’t eat breakfast so I was hungry at Stonehenge…) I decided to get the Cream Tea. It was wonderful!! It came with a pot of tea, cream and scones with strawberry perseveres and English Cream (thicker than butter, but sweet). I thought it was wonderful.

The old pieces of a gateway completed with technology

After meeting up with Mary and Zoe again we headed over to Bristol for our hotel was. Since we had time to wait for dinner we played some card games. When we went to our 3 course dinner, Mary and Zoe surprised us with bottles of wine and a beer for Chris. After dinner we all went to the pool and then met Australians in the sauna. Once again we met up with Mary and Zoe just to talk about things and the two of them are very fun to be around!!!!

7-18-10

Leaving the hotel after a wonderful Breakfast we headed back to Bath to Explore on our own. Since the group as a whole wanted to do different things we split up again. I was with Hana, Chris, Emma, Jessica and Claire and we went to The Jane Austen Centre. Hana was a big Jane Austen fan and Jane was Bath’s most famous resident. It was nice to see what it was like during the author’s time and her life even if I have not read any of her books… After the Museum we walked up the street and saw houses that were basically built in a circle and then we saw the Royal Crescent.

The Royal Crescent

After walking around a little more past amazing gardens and old streets we walked past the Fashion Museum.  I had suggested going and was wondering if anyone would go with me (I was not going to ask Chris). I had decided not to go and stay with the group, but they convinced me to go since they could see I greatly wanted to go. The main reason was the Museum had Princess Diana Dresses! I was so blown away. I died. I was very happy!!!! We were not supposed to take pictures however…..

The Long Blue dress was worn by Princess Di who loved the ballet

At the end of the day we all had to hurry and find the mini bus. However we all got turned around in Bath and were somewhat lost before we found the right way. The drive home was about 3 hours long and somehow we drove past Heathrow and Gatwick airports…. But over all I had a wonderful time in Bath!  It always seems to stop raining and the sun comes out when we leave...Oh and I got James a sheep poo air freshener! I think it is fabulous!

English Lesson! Biscuit= Cookie however you can make cookies at home but they are bigger then biscuits, biscuits are like 2 bites of a cookie. Scone= biscuit