Day 8 - Stonehenge, Avebury, Bath, & Southern Wales

May 9, 2008

This morning I got up around 7am to start getting ready and to have time to write about yesterday. At just before 8am, we headed down stairs to the breakfast area which was a very comfortable enclosed patio overlooking the backyard. There were cereals and fruit already out and we poured ourselves some orange juice.

Then Brenda greet us and took our orders. I had the fried egg breakfast and Jeremiah the scrambled egg breakfast. Each came with sausage, bacon (not American style), mushrooms, tomatoes, and fried bread (yes, the bread is literally fried); this is what is considered a full-English breakfast. I got regular toast because I wasn't sure at that time what fried bread was.

A little bit later, she brought out our tea and toast on a rack (first time I had seen that). We ate some fruit and toast and enjoyed the tea and the scenery. The dishes were beautiful and I know my dad would have liked them; they reminded me of their poppy flower dishes. The silverware was made in England - we thought that was out of the ordinary but neat. Brenda then brought out our breakfast and it was very good. It has been a while since we've eaten such a big breakfast but it should help get us through most of the day. The other couple staying here came in while we were eating and we said our good mornings. Afterwards, we signed the guest book, paid our tab, and said our goodbyes.

The other couple was English and were very nice. They asked about what we were doing today and we did the same. They are headed for Salisbury and they were kind enough to give us directions to Stonehenge, although I don't think we'll have much trouble finding it with our maps and GPS. We said goodbye and finished getting ready to leave. Oh, one thing of note, I started noticing the different English accents coming into this area - very fun! Okay, now we are off for the day!

(Night entry)
We encountered the man from the other room at the B&B as we were heading down the stairs from our room and he gave us some more directions on how to get to Avebury. After a few minutes, we were in our car and saying goodbye to the B&B. (Note: this was a nice place to stay and was probably good for its price as it was pretty near Stonehenge and its other claim to fame: crop circles - but I'm not sure that we would stay here again if we were in the area, esp. after having been to other nicer B&Bs for cheaper prices.)

We turned right out of the B&B to Stonehenge. We travelled back the way we came and found Woodhenge after a bit. We quickly stopped and walked around for a bit. There wasn't much to see but it was history and we took pictures. We were the only ones there. We then headed on towards Stonehenge. The stone circle was very impressive from the road when you first come upon it.

We found the car park, got out of the car, and found the nearest toilet (first order of business - hope that isn't too much information :) ). We bought our tickets (£13.99 for the both of us) and grabbed our audio guides (included). We walked under the street through a tunnel to get to the area with the stones. You were required to stay on a path a certain distance away from the stones at all times. The audio tour was informative and helped us to enjoy it more (although, a lot of the "facts" were speculative and, therefore, a bit cheesy).

The area was very crowded with tourists. When we were done with the tour and with taking pictures, we headed back to the tunnel. We dropped off our audio guides and went in the gift shop. (We bought a few postcards). On the way out, you could touch some smaller stones so at least we got to touch something while we were there.

Then we headed back the same way we had come, through the towns, and past the B&B once more. With the help of the GPS, we found our way to Avebury. (Oh, and on our way back from Stonehenge, I did manage to get a picture of the tank crossing sign; still trying to get the Elderly People Crossing sign.)

We found a car park and paid £5 to park - a little outrageous if you ask me. We half walked, half sped-walked the footpath to the town as we were very limited on time (it was 12:50pm and we wanted to leave at 1:30pm for Devizes). We got to the fields with the stones and started walking through them. There were sheep, including babies everywhere. Only problem was that with all those sheep, there was tons of sheep pooh as well ("Please mind the pooh" - spoken in an English accent of course). We had to keep our eyes peeled to not step in any.

We took some pictures, I touched a stone, and quickly enjoyed our time. Jeremiah really wanted to go here to see the man-made Silbury Hill and a burrow (Long Burrow - a.k.a. ancient burial ground from 4,500 B.C.). He wasn't quite sure where it was so we started walking in one direction. The time was ticking and he thought it may be faster to get back in the car and start to drive to it. So we got to an opening in the fence and stepped out on the road. We just had to follow the road down a bit and then we would hit the car park.

We ran down this street, jumping onto the side grass when cars came. We made it back to the car and started driving in the direction Jeremiah thought it was in (the way we had been walking) while I tried to find it on the GPS. I finally did and we had to turn around to go the other direction (good thing we weren't still trying to get there on foot!).

After a little bit we arrived at the hill (it was still a little ways down on the right hand side of the road - the A4, I believe). We parked on the side and saw where the burrow was. We changed into our running shoes and found our mini-flashlight. We went through a gate and started our jog down the path (we jogged to save time as it was after 1:30pm by now, I believe). We jogged most of the way up the hill but walked at certain parts as well (we were both very glad we had started running again a few weeks before the trip or we wouldn't have been able to do as much as we did).

The scenery was so beautiful all around us. We made it to the top and were the only ones up there. We read the sign nearby and then went inside. It was pretty errie (not sure if I spelled that right) and I didn't quite like being in there. Jeremiah had read that people do Satanic worshipping in this burrow still today.

We didn't stay inside too long as we both felt the same (there was also a lit candle inside on the floor and that was the "last straw" for creepiness that I could handle). We walked above the burrow and took some great pictures. The we jogged back down the hill and back to the car. We got situated and plugged in Bath on the GPS. We took a left to continue on the A4 ad were off. It was now 2:21pm and it said we should get to Bath by 3:00pm. (We were going to go to Devizes to a museum where artifacts fro Long Burrow were located but we cut this out as we needed to get to Bath to have time to look at the Roman Baths before they closed.)

We had to go through a few small towns, which slowed us down a bit. We finally got to our exit and it was completely backed up with traffic; it took at least 30-40 minutes just to get off the freeway. We went through the center of Bath and it is a much busier city than I had expected. As you drive down one of the main streets, there are house (or flats, I couldn't quite tell which) that lined the streets on both sides. They were at least 4 or 5 stories high and looked like one long building that followed the curves of the road. It was quite a site to see.

After a bit of winding through the city, we found a car park. We paid for our parking pass and started walking through the town. There were cobblestone streets and old buildings everywhere. It wasn't too long before we saw the Roam Baths building (actually, I first saw the sign for the Pump Room and went inside there as it reminded me instantly of Persuasion).

In the Pump Room, you can sit down for a nice cup of tea with sandwiches and scones (I believe they had Cream Teas available). If we had had the time and didn't mind paying the £15 each for the full Cream Tea, I think we may have. If you are traveling here and want a very nice atmosphere to go with your Cream Tea, I would recommend this place, especially if you are a fan of the Jane Austen movies because it definitely transports you back in time - just be prepared to pay a pretty penny for it.

Through some windows you could see one of the baths; this one is called the Sacred Bath as it was believed to have been one where people offered sacrifices to the healing go Minerva (people wrote messages on the items they threw in to the bath and they were rather mean. One lady wished a horrible death on the thief who had stolen from her and others were similar).

Around the corner was a fountain where you could try the natural mineral water (cost 50p per glass or was free if you paid for an admission ticket to the museum). We followed the hall and found the entrance to the museum. We debated about paying the £10.50 each to go in. We had about 1 1/2 hours left before the museum closed and before our time expired at the car park. Signs around the museum stated that the audio tour took 90 minutes so we decided to just go ahead and do it.

The whole thing was much bigger than either of us had imagined. They took you to the Great Bath (overlooking it from a walkway above and on ground level with it), through the Temple area (underneath the Pump Room), the East and West baths, and all around where they had models of what the area used to look like and excavated artifacts they had dug up. There was a ton of audio to go along (and some of it very cheesy as it was speculative) and Bill Bryson did some commentary along the way (also partially cheesy - eventually, after listening to him talk about the meaning of this stone carving of a sun and the images around it and what it meant to him, I just stopped listening to what he had to say).

There was, as I said, much more than we had anticipated to see and listen to. We had to hurry through the end to at least see everything and we didn't listen to all the audio. You really need around 2 to 2 1/2 hours for the whole thing to not be rushed. We took lots of pictures and touched the water in the Great Bath which was very warm and very green from all the algae.

We tried to exit in time to get to try the mineral water but it was closed by the time we got there (I was a little disappointed by this). We then hurried back to the car as the paid time expired. We wanted to extend the time a bit so we could find place to eat (it was now 6:00pm and this was the first we had eaten since breakfast) but we didn't have any coins on us (Note: Make sure to have plenty of coins in different amounts on you when travelling in England as you really need them just about everywhere.)

I stopped at a Fish & Chips shop to ask for change but they wouldn't do it. I then walked a few doors down to the Boston Tea Shop and asked a man behind the counter. He said they normally don't but, as I was flashing him a big smile, he said he couldn't say no to me (it really helps being a girl and having a nice smile; the American accent may have helped as well :) ). Apparently, they have received fake money in the past in exchange for change so they started making it a policy of not doing it. I said Thank You and returned to the car park. We had trouble with the machine not accepting our money so we went down to the other end and used that machine which like our money just fine. We now had another hour.

There was a grocery store on the corner that I had seen adverts for at the Hambletons on TV so I wanted to go inside to check it out. While I did this, Jeremiah looked around for a place to eat. I ended up on the sweets aisle and picked up some new chocolate we had not tried yet. After buying it, we went up the street a few yards to a hamburger going that was reasonable priced. We each got a Hawaiian Chicken burger, fries, and a milkshake. It was pretty good but too many fries. It was take away so we found a bench in a nearby square to eat on. (We fed a few of our left over fries to the pigeons - My Trafalgar Square :) )

We went back to the car to head for our next B&B, Lugano in South Wales. As we approached our car, someone had just gotten out of the car next to us and asked us if parking was free after 6pm (it was now 7pm) and I told him that it was not, not until after 8pm. I then let him know to use the far machine to pay as the close one was broken (again, we apparently look like we know what we're doing to even the locals!)

We sat in the car for a bit and enjoyed one of the chocolates (Aero Bubbles - chocolate and mint...yummy!) Then we plugged in our new destination into the GPS. We headed back through town and onto the M4, I believe. We then went on to the M48 and went over the bridge over the River Severn (toll £5.30). We quickly exited to the A466 and headed through a few small towns. This journey was absolutely amazing and breathtaking (oh, and just so you know, it doesn't really get dark here until after 9pm so we are able to enjoy a lot more into the late evening). It was so beautiful; it reminded us of driving in Hawaii and at Hume Lake all at the same time. But this drive surpassed them. We highly recommend it to everyone.

We found the B&B (after driving down a very small lane that we later discovered we could have avoided - that is one problem with the GPS we've learned: it doesn't take into account the size of streets and whether they are small or main roads - it just sees a road that will get you to your destination and takes you down it).

We were so pleasantly surprised with the beautiful gardens i the front of the B&B (we took lots of pictures) and birds were singing everywhere. We rang the doorbell and were warmly greeted by Rosemary. She promptly took us up to our room and showed us around. This place was amazing! It far exceeded our expectations. She showed us our private entry from the front garden and where we could park. We couldn't believe we had found this place online. We went outside and got our bags from the car and could hear running water a little ways off. We were in the Wye Valley between some mountains. It was so gorgeous.

We went inside and situated everything. Jeremiah went back outside to move the car into the street while I waited inside for Rosemary as she was going to be bringing up some tea. while Jeremiah was outside, Rosemary came in and I asked her a few questions: 1)about the running water (there is a waterfall through the trees and the stream runs behind some houses across the street and under the only pub in town until it hits the river - she said we could walk up the road a bit to see it and to get a good view of the river) and 2) about the ruins of what looked like an old abbey a few miles back that we had passes (it is Tintern Abbey; they are trying to preserve it. They had already tried but the cement they used was not authentic so they are redoing it now - you can walk around it with an audio tour).

By this time, Jeremiah had come back inside. We just looked around the room and the area in awe; this was such a beautiful and charming place. We grabbed the camera and started taking pictures all over. As we were doing this, Jeremiah told me of what happened to him while he was parking the car.

He parked it on the side of the street near our room and there was a couple sitting on their porch in the house across the street. Jeremiah was careful to park the car well to make sure nothing could happen to it. When he got out he remembered that people in London would turn in their side mirrors so they wouldn't be hit by cars that were passing by; so he did the same. As he did this, the couple on the porch laughed and shouted, "Don't worry. You don't need to do that. No one around here is going to hit your wing mirrors" He chuckled and said to his wife, "Towny." (It was rather funny.) So he quickly moved the mirror out again and came inside.

We then walked on the main road of the town and called the Hambletons to let them know we were safe and everything was going well. Then we tried to find a Pay Phone to call our parents. The only one we found wasn't working. So we headed back to the B&B. On the road up to it, we saw a sign for another B&B called "The Old Farmhouse." Jeremiah recognized it instantly as the place we were originally hoping to stay at in this town but had never heard back from them when we inquired about a room (in actuality, their email had ended up in our Junk Mail so we didn't see it until after we had booked Lugano; we had really wanted to stay in this first place as the pictures online made it look so nice but we decided to keep with the new one we had booked on the phone because that felt like the right thing to do.) We looked at this place and realized that the picture online was a little deceiving and that we were so glad that we did what felt right and stayed with Lugano as it was a much nicer place with a prettier garden and better view (it was also a bit cheaper); God really blessed us (it was just so funny, though, that our place was across the street and up one house from this one - who would have guessed?!)

We got back inside and I timidly asked Rosemary if I could use her phone with my calling card as the pay phone was broken. She said that would be fine and I called my dad. We talked for a while which was really nice. We were going to call Debbie as well, but as we were using the B&B phone and as it was getting late for us, we thought we would wait and call another day (Sorry Debbie). Then we headed back upstairs to enjoy the rest of the night.

Soon afterwards a thunder and lightning storm came and we sat down with hot chocolate and biscuits at our window in our little sitting area and enjoyed the show. It was rather spectacular and the first storm we had been in together. We got ready for bed and started a movie, Calendar Girls, but didn't get very far into it before we fell asleep (it was now about 12:30am).

We slept very well and it was hard to get up the next morning.

More to come...
Love,
S&J