Happy Birthday to me! Part I

I have a ton of ground to cover here and only half a battery on the ole netbook...so let's get started. It was another lovely, warm, sunny day and I am thankful that my weather luck is holding out.  I even have a mild sunburn from the day.  Yes...a sunburn in England in the spring...weird.

I woke up at the crack of dawn (ok, not really, but 6:30) and got myself ready for the day.  I put on my new outfit that I bought yesterday and got out the door with minutes to spare.  I was supposed to get picked up at 7:45 and had instructions to be out 10 min early.  I forgot my sunglasses, but was afraid to go back in to get them...who knew they'd be 15 min late.

There were only 5 of us in this lil tour group, all Americans.  I was the old lady in the group as it appeared that the rest were in their 20's.  Our Tour Director gave us our itinerary and we were off!  It was about a 2 hour drive to our first stop Avebury where there is a HUGE stone circle with a village inside.  Once we got outside of the city, it was a lovely ride.  Spring flowers everywhere and entire fields of yellow flowers that I have to identify (they are rape flowers and the source of canola oil).

After driving down windy country roads at frightening speeds, we arrived at Avebury.  It was a lovely little town much like many others we had driven through, with one exception...the huge stones partly surrounding it.

 The road through town goes right through the circle.

 The cool thing about this circle is that you could get up close and personal with the stones

These are two of the biggest remaining stones.  Those little markers you see are where stones originally stood, but are now missing.

 Of course, there is a town in the middle of the circle.  Here is a little bit of it.  The round building is the dove cote.  Hundreds of doves lived here and supplied the manor with fresh meat in the winter months.

Here is the church.  Like many historic churches in Britain, there is still a congregation and weekly services. If you didn't know this already, I adore old churches and graveyards.  More photos upon request...LOL.

After we had all spent about 45 minutes exploring the area, we piled back into our minivan and headed to Stonehenge.  I wasn't expecting to be really impressed as several people had told me how disappointed they were.  The first thing that struck me was that the road was awfully close to it.  There is no driving down a long entryway to the visitor center...WHAM! There it is, right on the road.

 Proof that I was there.  Only one picture of me actually on this trip.  You really can't get close to the stones, but they are so HUGE that you really don't miss anything.  The thing that impressed me most was the sheer size of the stones. 

 I was pleasantly surprised at how NOT disappointed I was. It was really amazing and I'm happy I went.

Even though Avebury was larger in circumference, the stones here are larger.  I did not want to leave.

Of course, I had a field day in the gift shop.  I got a nice poster and a t-shirt proclaiming "Stonehenge Rocks!"

OK, running out of battery now, so I'd better post this.  I'll do Part II - Glastonbury tomorrow.