Our Stonehenge and Bath trip started with a feeder bus to the main bus terminal. We got a bit of a free tour along the way.
I never thought I'd ever see Stonehenge in person. During the ride out from London I couldn't help but think of the Spinal Tap song by the same name, but the words failed me and I had "Rock and Roll Creation" stuck in my head instead.
I was glad that the (tasty) chicken tikka pasty I had for breakfast wasn't causing upsetting my stomach, and I enjoyed the picturesque English countryside while picking up some tips from the tour guide, a genial man named Michael who had never left anyone behind at a destination. "If you want to anger the pub keep," he said with a wink in his eye, "ask him why he has warm beer. In England, we have cool ale, not warm beer."
Yes, that's it. A barrow stands in the foreground.
As a first-time uninformed visitor I thought we might have to park the bus and hike a mile or two into the countryside to an isolated location, but Stonehenge sits in a fork along a country highway - a bit anticlimactic.
The site is not as open to the public as it once was - it is surrounded by a chain link fence. You can purchase tickets to get inside, but the Sarsen circle is itself roped off. Too many "souvenirs" were chipped off the Sarsen stones, which were also rumored to be able to clear fouled wells. It would have been nice to stand in the circle - of course, a replica in New York would just be asking for trouble. The audio tour was helpful and informative, but I took too long and we were the last people on the bus.
For more information on Stonehenge, try this page on Earth Mysteries.
The cathederal at Bath
We then headed to Bath, known for its Roman influence, predominant limestone architecture, and unsurprisingly, its Roman baths. Determined not to be the last ones on the bus this time, we sped through the Roman baths and skipped the audio tour before walking around the city. There were quaint cobblestone-paved streets, pie shops, a refreshing park with its own lawn chairs (with an entrance fee), and one of apparently only two bridges in the world that has shops along its roadway.
Yoo Mee's silhouette is repeated by the archway across the bath.
The bath at Bath. Despite warnings to the contrary, people couldn't resist dipping toes in.
I spotted my first SmartCar here. I wish they had these in New York. As it turns out, someone was left behind at Stonehenge. Luckily, she was able to make it to Bath by another tour bus. What I'm wondering is how the rest of her family failed to notice she was missing.
Going solely on size, the SmartCar makes the MINI look like an El Dorado.
A smartly appointed interior boasts funky gauges, a replica of the SmartCar in a small tray, and a color coordinated Hong Kong Phooey.
I had grand plans to go out to Brick Lane for some Indian food, but by the time we returned to London I was too tired and wanting a bath that I couldn't take in our tiny shour. We ate at Bombay Palace in Hyde Park Gardens. The food was quite enjoyable and the service was impeccable, but it just wasn't the experience I was looking for. I had it in my head that Brick Lane was sort of London's equivalent of East 6th St and maybe a little bit of Chinatown thrown in to boot, and a lot of British accents. I'll have to wait for another trip to see for myself (and take some pictures at Borough Market).
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