I've been waiting all summer to go to Stonehenge, and on the last Sunday of the program, my wish finally came true. After two long days of train stations, queues, and sightseeing, I was overjoyed to be taking a lovely air conditioned, tour guide-ed, bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath. Our tour guide, Lucy, pointed out significant buildings our entire way out of the city and gave us some historical background on Stonehenge, Bath, and random factoids about London, the British monarchy, and English expressions. Having her point out buildings of interest - Harrod's and the hotel where Kate Middleton spent the night before her wedding, for example - and explaining the significance of various statues and landmarks was so much nicer than our usual method of sightseeing: take pictures first, figure out what the heck it was we just saw later. We arrived at Stonehenge at about 10:30 in the morning. For once in our entire English experience, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, the fields were green, and the sheep were grazing. It was almost even warm out; I commend the sun on making a valiant effort. What struck me about the site as I looked around was the vast emptiness around it. The stones look small and almost out of place in the center of a landscape of highways and hilly, brown and green fields that go on as far as the eye can see. It was a bit surreal to see the crowds of tourists with cameras and headphones snapping pictures as they wandered slowly around the still, stone circle.
After about an hour of admiring Stonehenge and pondering about the ancients who built it, we were back on the bus and off to Bath. The lovely Lucy informed us we had three hours in Bath - plenty of time, we thought, until we got there. There is so much to do and see in Bath: the ruins of an ancient Roman Bath, an imposing, medieval church in the center of town, a Georgian circus at the top of the hilly city, several small museums, and a sizable shopping district. We went first to the Roman Baths, where we got to see the ruins of what was once an impressive spa, heated by the natural hot springs that run beneath the city of Bath. The main bath was the largest, a huge, rectangular pool still running with hot water. Surrounding the pool were columns and archways made from the same yellowish-tan Bath stone the entire city is built from. We even stuck our toes in the water just to check the temperature - perfect for a bath, even if the water's slightly murky, greenish appearance made it a bit unappetizing. After the baths, we ran to the other side of town to visit the Jane Austen Center. The author lived in Bath for several years, and even used the city as the setting for two of her novels. We had a great time walking through the museum and looking at mannequins dressed in the fashions of Jane's time, sitting rooms set up according to scenes in the novels, and reading about the life of the famous author. We even got to have our pictures taken as we tried on bonnets and parasols, and had some almond cookies that would have been served with tea in Austen's time.
Between the Roman Baths, the Jane Austen Center, and wandering through the beautiful stone city of Bath, we had used up our three hours of sightseeing time and it was time to go back to the bus. Although it was easier and more relaxed to take a scheduled bus tour where we didn't have to worry about transportation or directions, if I came back to England, I would definitely go back to Bath and spend an entire day there. I wish I could have explored and seen more of what the city has to offer - especially the Georgian circus and the wide and varied shopping areas.
When I got back to London, my busy weekend didn't end. I met up with my good friend Craig at the Shakespeare pub near Victoria train station. Over some delicious chicken and mushroom pie, I got to have a great conversation about school, life, and England with Craig, who was visiting London on a day off from his summer classes at Cambridge.
After such a long day, I was glad I knew the Tube system well enough not to have to think about how to get home. Maybe I'm almost a Londoner after all.
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