Trip to Bath (all the rest)

So you are riding along in a car miding your own business and you round a corner and there it is up on the top of a hill. Stonehenge!
My heart picked up a few beats just at the site of it! So beautiful, so mysterious. And there it was right in front of me. We drove past the entrance to a farmers drive parked the car and then walked back. The actual gates were closed, BUT I don't think I would have paid to go in anyways. You aren't really allowed that much closer than the outside fence. So I just stared and took tons of pictures. The hardest thing for me was that I wanted to touch a rock


There was one that I might have been able to touch as it was really close to the fence. BUT although I was pretty sure that I would be able to get my hand through I wasn't sure that I would get it back. So I restrained EVEN thoug it was really hard. I can't really find the right words that would describe what it was like to be there, maybe astonding...Not sure But I really enjoyed the experience!

Rode was this beautiful little village. We got there dropped of our bags and I was intoduced to Dale and his dog Baxter (with matching hair -- long, blond and curly). Dale's wife Gail was to meet up with us later. We had dinner at Kings cross and I had local pheasant. It was good! With locally made ice cream for dessert. We walked back to their house where Dale light a fire with scrap wood from pallets of stones from his landscaping business. The reason I mention this is for my Dad the pallets instead of being made out of cheap pine they were made out of Magohany! WE had good fun sitting around the fire and getting to know each other. Very nice people!
The next morning Mark and I headed in to Bath. What a gorgeous city! It is stunning. The buildings are all (or basically all) made from this pale yellow sandstone and the arictecure is beautiful. This is the city were most of the new Vanity Fair (Reese Witherspoon) was filmed. In addition to being a huge center where alot of English Lit's used to wirte and hang out. My favorites being Jane Austin and Dickens...But Mary Shelly also...And the list goes on! We got a bus tour around the city and therefore got to see the majority of the city! WOW. Is about all I can say.
The high sidewalks were everywhere in Bath. Elevated so that hemlines would not get muddy and would provide a place for the members of high society to strut their stuff! It was neat just to see this, close my eyes and see the corseted, bustled, and gloved women promenading on the sidewalk!
WE also took a tour of the Roman Baths. I do beleive that this is the oldest stucture that I have ever been in! They were just leeting us wander around on the orginal stones that the romans used to walk on! Who knows what famous centurion had sat where I am sitting in the above picture. It was also neat to learn about the "healing powers" of the water! You could taste it for 50p BUT After smelling it and seeing the amount of algea in the water I decided against it. I did however put my hand in it. It was REALLY hot. It was also incredible to see and learn about the Roman ability to pipe water! First hand!! Stuff that I had read about in my history books right there under my feet!
From Bath we left later afternoon so that we could make it to the "secret" place before it got to dark. On the way to the secret place I actually got to see two of the ancient white hillside carvings of horse! They were incredible BUT as this was the speed tour of England we didn't stop and although I tired to snap a picture of the horses I was unable to was they were too far away and the light just wasn't right. Oh well. The secret place made up for it!


Avebury! Another circle of stons. This one was not as tight as stonehenge and was much larger. Also this one is open to the public so you can just wander in and out of the stones touching them if you wish...so I did! It was incredible. It really makes you wonder why these people whould have the stone circles and what they were used for. Outside of this ston circle there was a very obvious embankment. We walked along the top of it...I was busy dreaming different reasons why the embankment It was incredible. BUT it soon got dark and it had been a busy two days and there was about an hour and a half of driving before we would get back to Midhurst SO off we went!

(sorry about the color of this picture but it was almost dark so I had to play with the light settings of my camera in order to get this much to show up)