After several minutes (as I dried off one of my drenched shirts), we realized that Anderson tours goes to several pick up stations before actually departing, and we could have taken the tube later to a different station. Oh well I guess. During the ride, I sat next to a German gentleman and I found out that he was born in Berlin. He was a pretty cool guy, and he told me some places to go when I go to Berlin this next weekend. He was staying in London for his business to take lessons to improve his english speaking. I thought this surprising because he was actually quite understandable. Anyway, the bus ended up stopping by a rest stop, and I found a waterproof jacket for 12 pounds! The jacket was originally marked at 29 pounds, so I think I got a pretty good deal.
After an hour or so, we arrived in Bath, and it was beautiful. For anyone who doesn't know the area, it is the source of natural hot springs, and during the Roman Period the Roman Empire built elegant baths in the area. Apparently the water there has a mix of salt and iodine that is said to soothe and heal the body, and it has been a site for physical and medical treatment. There is also a vast array of 18th century architecture that remains preserved. One interesting thing to note about the buildings in the UK is that for the most part, they remain preserved from the time they were made and not much can be done to change or remodel them. This way the old and beautiful architecture remains intact. Anyway, the Roman Baths were amazing! It was an exciting experience to see ancient Roman ruins and artifacts for the first time. I have many pictures from this excursion that will hopefully be posted soon. After the baths, I walked around the city of Bath, and saw the Bath Abbey and the hundreds of beautiful old architecture. I also walked by the Fashion Museum there, which apparently has one of the largest exhibits of period fashion in the world. Later I stumbled upon a French and Continental Market, and bought some legit French wine and brie for only five pounds each (five pounds for four different cheeses of brie!).
After checking out the market, I quickly got some food at Burger King, and we were off to Stonehenge. We drove by several small towns, some that even had buidings with thatched roofs! We eventually got to Stonehenge, and what a site. Although I was surprised at the size of the ruins (they're not as big as you think they are), it was still an awe inspiring experience. I have pictures of the ruins from basically 360 degrees, so any fans of the area can let me know if they want to see them all lol. I learned some interesting facts about Stonehenge. For instance, many of the stones there are actually from Wales, and apparently 6,000-8,000 years ago, the Celts brought the stones over by barge, and moved them several kilometers to the site. They did this by putting the stones on tree trunks, and had many as 600 men moving the stones. This makes sense, as the stones range in weight from 5 to 50 tons! The stones are also a different color underneath the grey exterior. If one were to polish them, some stones would be a blue-grey, and others would be gold. Although not much is known about the purpose of Stonehenge, historians believe that these stones were used to shine in the moonlight and in the sunlight. There are two stones outside of the henge that when the sun hits them a certain way on a specific day, they show both the longest and shortest days of the year. Very fascinating I thought.
Well, that's enough of my history lecture. After Stonehenge we took the long drive back, and I took the tube home with a few members of our group. A very fun and tiring day if I do say so myself!
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