Stonehenge
The second day in London was an early one for us, we woke up to take our connecting bus to Stonehenge, Roman Baths, and Windsor Castle.
We booked our day trip through Expedia. You have to email or call the company that you book about 2 days before. Our tour guide was okay, he told us some interesting facts before we got to each location, but at each place we explored on our own. I usually prefer doing everything on my own, but when I pay to take the tour I prefer to be taken around the entire time and shown everything by the tour guide.
Windsor Castle, the queen was in attendance (we did not see her)
The tour started with a stop at Windsor Castle. It was an interesting castle to see with Queen Mary’s Doll House, and all of the treasures from around the world (crowns from Africa to Japan). The castle also has a room with paintings from all of the leaders that participated in beating Napoleon and one of the participants commissioned all the portraits, but did not actually participate in the events (see if you can spot him). The castle is big and has a lot to see, not as rich as the Italian tradition with wonderful paintings covering ceilings, but still worth a visit. They have a St. George’s Chapel that is on castle grounds and holds the last sleeping location of British monarchs.
Roman Baths, still popular
The next stop was at the Roman Baths located in the city of Bath. This is a very interesting stop and deserving of a full day trip. We only had a few hours. Our guide took us to the Baths and gave our trip inclusive passes. The spring in the Baths has been there earlier then man has been in Britain. It is dedicated to Roman goddess Minerva (or the Greek equivalent Athena). In the Baths there are examples of life of Roman nobles, soldiers, servants, and slaves. It is in great shape, you can take walkies that will give you the history as you go around the place. The Baths also have models that show what it would have looked like at the height of its use in the Roman era. Going throughout you can see a large collection of Roman gold coins, artifacts, and other treasures. One of the most interesting things is that they have at the end of the Baths a faucet that has filtered water from the Baths that is safe to drink. The water tastes very metallic with a lot of minerals in it. After, we wanted to eat at Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House, the oldest café in town from 1483, but the line was very long and not moving. On the way to look for food, we stopped by Fudge Kitchen and got some souvenirs. We ended up eating very fast at the Burger King (I know, horrible, but it was actually better than most BK joints), and ran to the bus, because we spent so much time in the Baths.
Stonehenge
Scientists believe ancient Britons lived near the site if Stonehenge
The last stop on this tour was Stonehenge. It is a quite a way to get to it. First the bus stops away from the “museum area,” and then we take their bus to the location of Stonehenge. We have walkies to tell us about it, what time period each was built, the hypothesis of why it was built, and other information. In actuality this predates the druids by many centuries. It is still a mystery why it was built. An interesting revelation is that it is like a clock of sorts. That even through the druids did not build it they can still have access for their religious event. The general visitors cannot go into the middle of the formation, they have a small barrier, so as not to tamper with anything that may be under the ground. At Stonehenge they also had some people that were buried, at least one was murdered. The visitor’s center has more interesting information to visit and the reconstruction of what the humans that were buried there looked like. Next to the visitor’s center they have small huts to show how life was back then. There is also one huge slab of stone, and when you pull it, you can see how many people pulling at your exact strength would have been needed to pull one of the slabs. After, the tour bus took us to London and we ate at one of the close locations to our hotel.
Till next post!
London, England: Chapter 5 Last Day
More pictures from Bath
Model of how the Roman Baths, looked in their heyday
Projection show how the pediment looked to the Romans
Bones found on site show the reconstructed Ancient Roman slaves features
Some of the coins uncovered at Bath
Tiling from the baths
Head from a bronze statue found on site
Found in the Roman Baths
Roman centurion in the Baths
Roman Baths
Bath Abby