Edgar and I were settling into our favorite Saturday morning ritual...cup of coffee and the newspaper...when he looked at me and said, "Why don't we go to Stonehenge?" I said, "Of course!" I thought we could also combine it with a trip to Bath, so I got on the Internet, found a place to stay, and two hours later, we were on our way!
Stonehenge is only 1 1/2 hours from us. And the best part is....it's an English Heritage site!!!! That's right! We finally got to use our cards...and we got free parking! See the bottom of this post for the running tally of how much more we need to see in order to recoup our membership fee.
We set the SatNav towards Amesbury, the closest town, and off we went. It was a very nice drive, mostly on the freeway, but some nice country roads as we approached the site. We came down a hill and suddenly, there it was...perched on a hill on the side of the road. Being a Saturday afternoon in the summer, I expected lines of cars, but we found a parking spot easily. I think that most everyone arrives by tour bus. They have the expected headset audio tour, which was pretty dull, but I listened to about 10 minutes of it, just to get the basic gist of the place. It is reported to have been built in phases beginning in 3100 B.C....pretty old! The reasons for its construction are varied, ranging from astronomy to human sacrifice. No one really knows for sure, which I guess is what adds to its mystic. They have the entire site roped off now, so you can't actually walk amongst the stones, only see them from about 50-100 feet away on a circular path. The stones were very big and it was cool to see one of the most famous structures on the planet...
We then headed up the road to Bath. Although we made a slight bypass to Bristol on the way. Someone had told us that Bristol was supposed to be nice, but with no city map or guide, we didn't have a clue as to where to go or what to see. We weren't impressed with what we were seeing, so we quickly got back on the path to Bath. Maybe I'll do a little research so we can be more prepared next time.
Bath is famous for its ancient Roman baths. It was around 50 A.D. that the Romans discovered the natural hot springs and began building impressive temples and structures to enclose and worship the springs, and create a most impressive bath house. They believed that the springs held special powers because they had no other explanation as to why the water would be there, pumping out over one million liters of 45 C (113 F) water daily. People from all over made pilgrimages to the site to bathe and make offerings. The Romans were fantastic engineers. They created this massive complex with many different bathing rooms and used only the heat from the springs to make sauna/steam rooms. They even had a cold plunge pool, which is very common in spas today. The most impressive engineering feat for me was the system they created for moving the water around to the different rooms and then eventually out to the River Avon. They designed and built this system 2000 years ago, and it is still the same system they use today. In fact, much of the wood used in the system is still there and working nicely. Pretty cool.
Other than the ancient baths, there is not much else going on in Bath. The Avon River runs through it, they have a few museums, and the architecture of the buildings is gorgeous. It is a perfect town to just spend a day or two looking around and relaxing with a nice dinner and glass of wine at the end of the day. One thing that impressed me about the city is, other than the double decker tourist bus that I think is completely unnecessary, the town has retained some charm. While you will find plenty of shopping in chain boutiques, they have not resorted to tacky souvenir shops, which makes it a pleasant place to stroll around.
So now, the English Heritage tally...
Total membership fee: £69
"Spent" so far: £27
Left to break even: £42
We have discussed visiting Windsor Castle next weekend....guess we'll see how we feel when we wake up Saturday morning. Have a great week! By the way, we paid $8 per gallon for gas...still complaining much?
Stonehenge is only 1 1/2 hours from us. And the best part is....it's an English Heritage site!!!! That's right! We finally got to use our cards...and we got free parking! See the bottom of this post for the running tally of how much more we need to see in order to recoup our membership fee.
We set the SatNav towards Amesbury, the closest town, and off we went. It was a very nice drive, mostly on the freeway, but some nice country roads as we approached the site. We came down a hill and suddenly, there it was...perched on a hill on the side of the road. Being a Saturday afternoon in the summer, I expected lines of cars, but we found a parking spot easily. I think that most everyone arrives by tour bus. They have the expected headset audio tour, which was pretty dull, but I listened to about 10 minutes of it, just to get the basic gist of the place. It is reported to have been built in phases beginning in 3100 B.C....pretty old! The reasons for its construction are varied, ranging from astronomy to human sacrifice. No one really knows for sure, which I guess is what adds to its mystic. They have the entire site roped off now, so you can't actually walk amongst the stones, only see them from about 50-100 feet away on a circular path. The stones were very big and it was cool to see one of the most famous structures on the planet...
We then headed up the road to Bath. Although we made a slight bypass to Bristol on the way. Someone had told us that Bristol was supposed to be nice, but with no city map or guide, we didn't have a clue as to where to go or what to see. We weren't impressed with what we were seeing, so we quickly got back on the path to Bath. Maybe I'll do a little research so we can be more prepared next time.
Bath is famous for its ancient Roman baths. It was around 50 A.D. that the Romans discovered the natural hot springs and began building impressive temples and structures to enclose and worship the springs, and create a most impressive bath house. They believed that the springs held special powers because they had no other explanation as to why the water would be there, pumping out over one million liters of 45 C (113 F) water daily. People from all over made pilgrimages to the site to bathe and make offerings. The Romans were fantastic engineers. They created this massive complex with many different bathing rooms and used only the heat from the springs to make sauna/steam rooms. They even had a cold plunge pool, which is very common in spas today. The most impressive engineering feat for me was the system they created for moving the water around to the different rooms and then eventually out to the River Avon. They designed and built this system 2000 years ago, and it is still the same system they use today. In fact, much of the wood used in the system is still there and working nicely. Pretty cool.
Other than the ancient baths, there is not much else going on in Bath. The Avon River runs through it, they have a few museums, and the architecture of the buildings is gorgeous. It is a perfect town to just spend a day or two looking around and relaxing with a nice dinner and glass of wine at the end of the day. One thing that impressed me about the city is, other than the double decker tourist bus that I think is completely unnecessary, the town has retained some charm. While you will find plenty of shopping in chain boutiques, they have not resorted to tacky souvenir shops, which makes it a pleasant place to stroll around.
So now, the English Heritage tally...
Total membership fee: £69
"Spent" so far: £27
Left to break even: £42
We have discussed visiting Windsor Castle next weekend....guess we'll see how we feel when we wake up Saturday morning. Have a great week! By the way, we paid $8 per gallon for gas...still complaining much?
1 comment:
$8 a gallon for gas! Oh my heavens! No complaining from me - we are down to about $2.93 in some places on the outskirts of Austin.
Looks like you guys had a great time! Love to ya.
Post a Comment