Stonehenge Redux and Not Enough Bath

Today is my birthday.  It is also the only day I really need to get up early and be somewhere on time. Silly me.  Then again, was going to Bath.  All of the tours I found to Bath did not only go to Bath. They all included Stonehenge and maybe one other place.  So...it seems that I was destined to revisit Stonehenge.  What a trial.

Stonehenge is two hours from London, but our tour guide was a pretty entertaining Welshman, so it went quickly.  There have been some updates since I was there last.  It used to be that the visitor's center and parking lot were right up by the stones.  Now, it's further off and you have to take a shuttle there.  Part of the old parking lot is the drop off point for the shuttle.  I suppose it's more aesthetically pleasing, but having to wait in a line for a bus...annoying.  You can walk if you want, but it's at least a 20 minute walk.

Oh the one annoying thing about our amusing Welshman...he kept threatening to leave us behind if we were late back to the bus.  I've never had that happen before and I actually felt pressured, which had never happened either.  Regardless, I set the alarm on my phone to make sure I was back on time.

It was cold and windy and I was under-dressed.  However, I did dress in layers so when I buttoned up the cardigan AND the denim jacket, I was fine.

As you walk up to the stones, you notice there are tons of sheep that hang out in the fields surrounding the stones

Here you can see one of the audio guide markers

Just like the last time, I opted to go around the stones backwards.  The way the path is designed, you start to the left and go around, which takes you from a distance from the stones, to a closer view.  Actually it seemed that most of the tourists were going through backwards and the path is narrow to the left...so it would be swimming upstream.  It seems that everyone wants to start out close to the stones.

This is the tallest of the stones still standing. It's partner and lintel are no longer where they were set originally.

This is the heel stone, the only stone not shaped and smoothed, but set in the ground shaped as it was found.  It's the stone that lines up with the stones for the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

This is the infamous "Slaughter Stone" originally thought to be the site of Druid ritual sacrifices.  It turns red in the rain due to a high iron content in the stone.  No blood was shed here.  The stones and the henge (the circular ditch surrounding the stones) predate the Druids by about 2000 years.

Proof I was there

Ok really me without sunglasses.  I traded camera time with a nice family from Kentucky.  I am pleased that I found someone who is actually a pretty good photographer.

I then braved the madhouse that was the gift shop.  I resisted getting a new t-shirt (nothing tops my "Stonehenge Rocks" shirt anyway) but I did get a snowglobe and a Christmas Tree ornament

Back on the bus on time, so I could be sure to get to Bath, which was another hour.  It was scenic as we went down country roads.  

Bath is in a valley between several hills.  One is the famous "Solsbury Hill" where the city lights below were Bath.  Our bus drove around a bit while the guide pointed out several places of interest including the house Jane Austin lived in the longest with her sisters and parents.  The Austens moved around a few times, mostly after her father died as they were strapped for funds.  Mr. Austen is buried in Bath at St. Swithin's Church.

We were advised that we would not have time to visit both the Jane Austen Centre and the Roman Baths.  ARGH!  So we were dropped off at Bath Abbey a the center of town and left on our own for a little over two hours.   I headed right to the Jane Austen Center.

I'm assuming that is Jane standing there (it's a statue) and it's kinda creepy.  However, I did find the centre very interesting.  You buy a ticket and you are guided through by a Jane Austen Character in costume.  Usually, this happens every hour in a group; however, that hour I was the only person in the tour so I had the exclusive attentions of Edward Ferrars.  Unfortunately, the portrayal was not done by Hugh Grant...but the young man was very nice and really wanted to be helpful.  

The whole tour took about an hour and I did learn a little more about Jane...

There is no accurate, contemporary portrait of Jane Austen, This is a modern attempt by a police forensic artist who used descriptions from her contemporaries.

This is a waxwork of Jane in the Centre loosely based on the portrait painted by her sister. Cassandra.

I liked the costumes.  They did have some you could try on, but doing it alone was not appealing.  

An hour later, I hit the gift shop, briefly considered going to the Georgian Tea Room upstairs, but headed out for some shopping and gawking.   I really wanted to visit the Circus and the Crescent (famous architectural areas of the city) but I didn't have enough time to go that far. 

I headed back toward the touristy area and took a few photos of the architecture.

There are several lovely churches in Bath, most impressive of them is Bath Abbey.  I didn't take the tour because I thought I wouldn't have time.  

Still pretty impressive from the outside, flying buttresses and all

And I was excited to find

The Pump Room where Austen contemporaries went to "take the water."  It's a restaurant now, and I didn't have time for lunch, so I could only peek in the windows.  It does look remarkably like it does in the movie Persuasion, only with tables...

And this plaque was there proving it's the same Pump Room.

Almosts done, but tired.  Will try to add the end tomorrow morning.  Nite nite.

And more....

Possibly the worst part of the day was the traffic.  The bus was a few minutes late arriving in the morning, but it was horrendously late picking us up in the afternoon.  Now, this has happened to me before (in Delft, during my Amsterdam adventure) but, as we had been admonished so strongly against showing up late for the bus, it kind of pissed me off this time.  I could have done the Roman Baths...or at least poked about Bath Abbey, but I ran into a sweet shop and stood by the side of the road with my group munching on jelly babies for 30 minutes. 

For most of the day, I only ate sweets, and not much of that.  I did have some amazing ice cream in Bath that was made in a local creamery.

Anyway, we finally got our bus and headed back to London.  Of course, we got caught in some more traffic, so it took us a bit more than 3 hours.  We were dropped off near Tube stations, I chose the closest, which was near a Waitrose grocery.  Got myself some treats for birthday dinner and headed back. 

And that was the rest of my day...