Skip Stonehenge. Do cathedral in Bath. Got it.
(I think Peter Gabriel has a Bath connection.)
Believe it or not, I've never been to Stonehenge. It certainly seems like something I'd be dying to see... but, for reasons that escape me, I just can't get excited about a bunch of rocks, no matter how fantastic their arrangement and mysteries. Besides, I've been to the Stonehenge in my home-state of Washington and it's in much better condition. But, alas, it's one of those things that people kind of expect a traveler to have visited, so I went ahead and arranged a tour booking. Since I hate f#@%ing tour groups with the burning passion of a thousand suns, this was a kind of big deal for me... but away I went.
An interesting aside here... when you get to Stonehenge, you can't wander through the stones and go wherever you want. Instead you are confined to a roped-off area that keeps you at a fair distance from the attraction. Unless you book an "Inner Circle Tour" from a licensed agency. In that case, you get to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn and be bussed out to the site with 25 other people. These tours are very hard to get unless you book way in advance, but I got lucky on a cancelation when I had to change my trip to Edinburgh...
And yes, you can touch the stones. Here is what I expected to happen...
And here is what actually happened...
Meh.
Feels like a big rock.
Far more exciting was the tour stops in the towns of Lacock and Bath. Especially, Bath, which was wonderful. I've put some pretty nifty photos in an extended entry if you're interested...
The tiny town of Lacock (pronounced lay-cock) is quite famous for having changed very little over the years. This makes it a big draw for movie studios, as they just have to remove a few signs and slap some dirt on the roads to get an instant Olde English village. Harry Potter has shot here twice, along with a bunch of other period films. The reason our tour group stopped here was for breakfast at The George Pub...
The pub is fairly famous because it has a "dog wheel." Back in the good old days before gas stoves, people cooked their food in their fireplace on a spit. Problem was that if you had a big piece of meat, you'd have to turn it for hours in order to have it cook evenly and not burn. Since nobody wants to sit at a fireplace for that long, somebody came up with the idea of having a dog do it. The problem with that is that dogs aren't very motivated to do your cooking for you... unless you put hot coals behind them. Then they have to keep walking or else the coals will burn their legs. Personally, I'd like to shove some hot coals up the fucker's ass who dreamed up this kind of animal torture, but whatever. That's the wheel to the left there...
The town itself is quite nice. They have their own abbey, but it was closed until after we left. Instead, I wandered around looking at doors and stuff...
And then we went to Bath which, as one might expect, is famous for a bath. A Roman Bath over England's only hot spring, to be more accurate...
The spring is supposed to have miraculous healing properties, so I decided to try a glass of Bath Water...
It tastes like warm metalized toxic waste. Not exactly gag-inducing, but not pleasant to drink at all.
Bath is famous for many things, but a biggie is that Jane Austin lived here and wrote books about Bath high society that made her famous. This is kind of lost on me because I couldn't give two shits about Jane Austin, but her museum is supposed to be nice. I bypassed that so I could wander the streets and marvel at the beautiful honey-colored stone that all the buildings are made from...
And then there's Bath Abbey, which is absolutely amazing. I've seen a lot of cathedrals and churches over the years, but this was truly something special...
No, I don't get it either.
My favorite part of the abbey was all the cool burial tombs lining the walls. Some of them have sculptures that are mind-blowingly beautiful...
And that was the end of the tour.
We then boarded the bus back to London where a torrential flood of rain was pouring onto the city. Quite a change from the previous four days. Oh well... I need to pack my suitcase anyway.
A Brit I used to work with has a picture of himself sitting on one of the Stonehenge rocks. It was pre-fence, way back in the 60's.
I'm not the most religious of people, but I've got to admit, they used to throw together some spectacular religious structures.
Was the US flag the only one there?
Oh, you're so right. The pictures after the jump were amazing!
Posted by Atomic Bombshell on March 23, 2009 | Reply
I take it you're not a history buff like me? Visiting Stonehenge would be fascinating in my mind.
Posted by Michael Merritt on March 23, 2009 | Reply
First of all; thanks for taking the time to take us along and for sharing everything with us, Dave. You might inspire some of us to get up off our butts and go there, sometime. I love the pix, too. You've got a great 'eye'. I'm so glad you went to Stonehenge which has always fascinated me. It almost seemed like one of those "Twilight Zone" moments as the National Geographic channel had a 2 hour program on it last nite. I learned all kinds of things I never knew like there is a Woodhenge about 2 miles away & other interesting stuff. (BTW: Rerun next Sunday)
Posted by ETinNY on March 23, 2009 | Reply
Stonehenge was much better before they fenced it off, and you could take a walk around without paying a penny... but I guess it was an opportunity to cash in just waiting to happen. Happy Birthday... I'll be in the UK at 6pm, so will give you a Birthday wave!
Posted by serap on March 24, 2009 | Reply
more reasons for me to be jealous....I've always wanted to go to England, and of course Stonehenge.
Bath looks lovely and maybe someday I will get a chance to see it all....
for now I will settle for seeing you in 2 weeks! :)
Posted by Cissa Fireheart on March 24, 2009 | Reply
Beautiful photos!
P.S.Here in France, it's march 24! Sooooo...
P.P.S. Happy birthday! :)
Posted by FirstLadyPatate on March 24, 2009 | Reply
Happy birthday!! :)
The doors look amazing, as do the rest of your pictures (as always)...
(BTW it's Jane Austen and not Austin...)
Posted by Yun-Huei on March 24, 2009 | Reply
I always love your photos! These are fantastic!
Happy Birthday!!!!
Posted by floating princess on March 24, 2009 | Reply
Ha, I think I love you. I can appreciate anyone that "walks around and looks at doors and stuff". Dig the humor.
Posted by Gabrielle on March 24, 2009 | Reply
When I touched the stone it did turn green and I got teleported to Bournemouth and I cant find my way home!
Posted by PaddyInEngland on March 25, 2009 | Reply
Despite having lived in England until 21 I didn't go to Stonehenge until a couple of years back. I think the colossal hangover didn't help but I was somewhat disappointed. Plus it was raining. Yeah, hangover and rain - not an ideal combination.
Never been to Bath, the photos are amazing though.
Posted by Kevin Spencer on March 25, 2009 | Reply
for some reason i am strangely outraged about not everyone being able to walk around at stonehenge. although i bet a small group tour makes for better photos and a more quiet experience.
dave, i absolutely love that blue door photo. it is absolutely stunning. thanks for sharing all of these wonderful photos!
Posted by hello haha narf on March 25, 2009 | Reply
That ceiling..... gorgeous.
Thank you for sharing your travels. It makes me feel like I've seen moor of the world then I will ever be able to travel to myself.
Posted by Kailey on March 25, 2009 | Reply
I know it's foolish, but I can't look at the angel statues without being creeped out.
Seems like the 'Blink' episode of Doctor Who has the same effect as 'Psycho' does for showers.
Damn you Stephen Moffat!
Posted by carlos m. hernandez on March 26, 2009 | Reply
When you placed your hand on that rock at Stonehenge, were you playing "I Have The Touch" by Peter Gabriel? If not, then that would explain why nothing happened.
Posted by martymankins on March 26, 2009 | Reply
Gorgeous photos Dave. I have to admit I was a bit 'under awed' by Stonehenge also.
RMB
Posted by borysSNORC ™ on March 29, 2009 | Reply
So, I'm poking through your blog, and I get to this section here, on Stonehenge. I'm reading along, too-tee-doo, and then I see your pictures of what you _expected_ to happen vs. what actually happened. Now I have water all over my paperwork from laughing. I blame you.
Posted by Michael on March 31, 2009 | Reply
Some BEAUTIFUL pictures here. Super jealous of the opportunity you make in your life to travel like this. I often imagine what kind of images I could create should I be able to travel like this. It's been years since I was in Europe and I didn't do photography back then like I do now.
I'll keep living vicariously through your meetups and pictures.
Posted by Justin Scott on April 10, 2009 | Reply
Great photo's. I would love to see stonehenge.
Posted by samsonite luggage on November 03, 2009 | Reply
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