– Sir Richard Burton
Because of how tired we both were, I figured that getting up the next morning was going to be difficult - but it wasn't. For some strange reason I woke up at 3:30 AM like it was morning and time to get up. It wasn't; and what is worse is that I can't even blame it on the time change which would have put me at about 9:00 PM. This time change thing is a little more complicated that I thought. I managed to fall back asleep until 6:30 AM when Laureen was getting out of the shower. We had to get an early start as Stonehenge is about an hour drive from where we are staying and we had pre-purchased tickets for 9:00 AM.
A quick shower and we grabbed our stuff and headed out the door. We missed the breakfast at the place that we are staying at because it opens at 8:30 so we stopped at a place about half way to our destination and grabbed a hot breakfast. It's this little place you probably have never heard of called Subway (smirk). Breakfast hit the spot and we pulled the car around the one way to the gas station that was right close. We actually watched from the window in Subway to see if they had to pay in advance, insert a credit card or just start filling up and then pay at the end. It turns out that it's the latter of the methods. Better safe than sorry with the gas situation. It's interesting that all of the road signs are in miles, but we bought gas in liters. No wonder Brexit went through - everyone here is confused!
Driving today's seemed much easier. All of the advice I received from Laureen's cousin Lloyd regarding how to get acquainted with driving on the opposite side of the road that I am used to was spot on! Every once in a while, especially when I get to a right turn corner, I say out loud, "Left side. Left side". Even round-about's were easier today as I've gotten the hang of looking left, and if nobody is coming to step on it! The roads are very narrow, mostly just two lanes with no shoulder to speak of. In a couple of instances, when we were passing through some of the smaller villages, people would park on one side of the road and then that side would have to stop if the traffic was oncoming and wait so they could then pull out and pass the parked cars. Now I know why James Bond drives that way – it’s not because he’s trying to escape the bad-guys – it’s because driving like that is the ONLY way you can get onto some of the roads here! Man am I glad I’m driving a Ferrari!
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| Driving on the opposite - this is strange! |
The journey was much more relaxed and I only had to remind myself that I need to be driving on the left only a few times. We arrived at the Heritage site and fortunately for us, Laureen had read somewhere that it was best to go early. So, when we got there, parked and made our way to the ticket counter where we retrieved our pre-paid tickets for 9:00 AM, we found that it was nearly empty. We jumped on a transport bus, which is used to shuttle people from the park/gift shop to the Stonehenge site.
The structure is pretty cool. I wish one was still permitted to walk amongst the stones, but that practice was stopped in the late 1970’s. I seriously considered making a dash towards the closes stones, just so I could touch one. I’m not sure what it is about the tactility for me, but getting to put my hand on it seems to make it more real. I was certain I could outrun the guides/guards that were there – it’s just that I had no idea what the punishment would have been. So, I stayed on the path like all of the other minions.
We walked around the entire structure utilizing an app that Laureen downloaded. There were small signs with numbers on them that you just hit the number and a voice came on describing to you different information about the site. For example, they clearly state that it was not the Druids that built the structure as the structure has been dated to well before the druids even existed. There are about three layers of stones all of differing sizes and understood function. There is also a ditch (kind of like a small moat) that surrounds the towering rocks. It is believed that the ditches pre-date the structure itself. Listening to the information they have about the edifice, I am reminded of the ancient Mayans who also built structures in relation to the sun and the solstice (we’ve been to Chichen Itza).
We lingered at the site for a good hour looking at the structure from all angles and taking a plethora of pictures. It’s pretty cool to see something like this that we’ve only ever seen pictures of before. Especially something that appears to have been there for nearly 5000 years. A short trip to the gift shop saw Laureen purchase a little sheep (something we have seen plenty of around the area and in the countryside as we’ve been driving). This was well worth the drive on the crazy, narrow, speedy English roads.
The trip back to our B&B was uneventful, and I managed to stay on the correct side of the road for the entire time. Upon our return we dropped off some stuff, grabbed a small gift that we had purchased for the people we were meeting for lunch. Anthony and Sarah had come over from where they live, approximately 2 hours’ drive. It is interesting that for us, in Canada, two hours’ drive is not considered a big deal, but for the English, it’s a thousand miles. I guess that’s what happens when you live in a remote place like Edmonton.
We met them at the entrance to the Bath Abbey – where they figured it would be easy to find them. When we arrived, some event was taking place there where what appeared to be an entire high school had gathered in the square in front of the Abby. People were milling about and kids, dressed in their school uniforms were everywhere. How are we going to find Anthony and Sarah? As we wondered through the crowd we came upon Anthony close to the entrance to the Roman Bath’s. I hugged both of them and introduced them to Laureen. We lingered only shortly in the square before we decided to go for lunch to a local Italian place that Sarah had found previously (sounds like they were scouting a little before we arrived). The place was empty when we arrived, and we sat at a nice round table right in the middle of the fireplace that was towards the back of the facility. The food was one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been in, EVER. A three course meal was enjoyed and we talked about a range of subjects including our current/past travels, family and reminisced a little over the Camino. We even talked about Dave and Shirley (I’ll bet their ears were burning). At the end of lunch, we said our goodbye’s and they scrambled off to catch their bus to take them to the location of their parked vehicle. It was FANTASTIC to see them again. How lucky am I to have met them (thanks again Shirley for getting lost on the Camino).
We walked for a bit checking out the local stores and shops. It reminds me very much of the larger cities in Spain when I walked the Camino. I am thinking we will see much of the same in many of the countries that we will visit on this trip.
While walking along, we had a chance encounter with the Queen. Laureen shook her hand and passed on Margaret's regards (as we promised we would).
Our next stop was the Roman Bath’s. The place was really quite something. It was built roughly 2000 years ago utilizing a natural hot spring. The architecture is quite something to see and the main pool, which is lead lined, still holds water. One can clearly see what it would have been like back in its day. The stone used is a special stone that is acquired from local quarries and is similar to sand stone. They call it “Bath Stone”. We spent a good couple of hours in there on a self-guided tour and a digital guide. You could walk up to an area and on the sign would be a number you type into your hand held device and then you would hear a brief narration regarding the things in your vicinity. One item of note, you are not allowed in the baths any longer as the water is quite contaminated with bacteria and algae. One guide was telling us that if an individual actually slips into the water, they send them off to the hospital to be thoroughly examined. Maybe it’s possible to get the plague from here?
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| When in Rome...stay OUT of the water |
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| Roman Bath House from the outside |
After the tour we wandered around a little more, checking out the plethora of small shopping establishments in the area. Laureen found a Christmas store (if there is one in the city – she will stumble on it) and we, of course, wandered through it. For a bit of a break (we’ve been doing quite a bit of walking today), we grabbed an ice-cream and sat on a bench in the square by the Abbey and just took in what was going on there. We then went to an Italian Pizza place and had a great supper. The place was recommended by the B&B that we are staying in.
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| Laureen finds Christmas store. |
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| Couple of girls playing in the square |
Now it’s about 7:00 PM and we are both tired. We decide to head back to the B&B and get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow we will be returning the car to Gatwick and then taking a train into London where we will check into our tour’s first hotel. We’ll be wandering around London tomorrow night – so we had better be rested for that.
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| The view from our B&B |
Curt & Laureen in Bath
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