Stonehenge and Bath

Saturday I got to go to Stonehenge and Bath with the programme I am studying abroad with. It was nice to get away after being extremely stressed by school the past week. The bus ride was a bit long, and I got a little travel sick, but the trip was a lot of fun! When you first look at Stonehenge, it seems like a bunch of big rocks in a field with sheep. The rocks actually have quite the history and predate the Egyptian pyramids. No one is quite sure why they were brought here from Wales or how they were transported all this way. The heaviest rock weighs 45 tons, which is the weight of seven large elephants! And a third of the rocks are actually buried underground. So how did people get such heavy rocks to stick in the ground like this so long ago before we had the machinery to do so? No one knows.

There are many myths and stories told about how the rocks got to their resting place. One is that the devil flew them there, and to explain the few rocks scattered around the area, he dropped some along the way. There were other myths described in our audio guide, but it was so cold and windy, and I stupidly forgot my gloves, so I couldn’t stand around and listen any longer. But I am glad I got to see Stonehenge.

The next stop was Bath and even though it was grey out, the English countryside was beautiful. It looks as if there is a green quilt blanketing the earth for miles. I hadn’t seen sheep in a very long time, there were so many of them! We didn’t stay in Bath too long, but we got to see some of the main attractions. We went to the Jane Austen Centre, which is located in a house she used to stay in for long periods of time. I am embarrassed to say I have not read any Jane Austen, but I love the movie Pride and Prejudice (the newest version) so I bought it while we were there and I plan to read it before leaving London.

 


                

First building we saw

We also saw the Circus, which is a perfect circle of Georgian style houses, and the Royal Crescent, which is semi-circle shaped and looks out over Victoria Park. Both places are rare because of the curved architecture not seen many other places. 

The Circus 

The Royal Crescent 

We couldn’t go to Bath and miss seeing the Roman Baths. They were discovered a long time ago and many aspects of Roman Britain culture were built up around the baths. Much of the original architecture of the building and statues surrounding the baths still stands and a museum was created to teach the public about the time period. I found bits of it pretty cheesy, e.g. the videos of people dressed as Romans acting out silent scenes as they think the Romans would have acted projected on the wall. However, the audio guide was well done, even politely letting us know that we didn’t need to listen to all of it.

The hot spring from above 

Oldest stones from the Roman Period 

Bronze head of the Goddess Minerva 

The Hot Spring (we were jealous of a bird swimming by!)

Located adjacent to the Roman Baths is The Pump Room. This room is mentioned in Jane Austen’s books and many important functions happen in this room (in her books as well as now). It will be cool to read about The Pump Room now that I have been there. We wanted to get afternoon tea but didn’t have time. We were however able to get a peek inside during lunch and it was smaller than we expected but rather stunning.

The Pump Room 

Bath is a beautiful, historical city and the pictures don’t do it justice. Partly because it was so cloudy and cold when we visited. 

Most of the city resembles this street

I would recommend it to anyone visiting England! 

Have a wonderfully marvellous day, cheers! ~Laura