September 10, 2010

London, partie trois

Blue Lipstick Samurai subtlely reminded me that I had promised Stonehenge yesterday (oops). Have no fear, my bloggy friends, today is the day!

Bear and I went on a small group day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath, which I thought would be a highlight of our trip. Unfortunately, my shoes rubbed massive blisters on my feet, so I spent most of the day in pain, and our tour guide (who could not actually guide us in any of the places, but gave us information on the bus between stops), spent way too much time at each place repeating things he'd already told us before releasing us to see the sights. (In retrospect, I should have walked off since it wasn't like we were on a school field trip and he was wasting my money and time, but I was trying not to be rude...)

Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath were breathtaking, and even though I know now these squished-together, rushed tours aren't my thing, I'm glad we went.

Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, and one of the Queen's official residences.

The moat, which, according to our overly talkative guide, never actually held water.

Changing of the Guard
Yep, they have this other places than Buckingham (there was too much to do and see at Buckingham Palace to even worry about the Changing of the Guard there).

The scarf was to protect me from the constant rainy mist

We had 45 minutes at Stonehenge, and I'll just say this: while Stonehenge is magnificent, 45 minutes is plenty of time to walk the perimeter of the rocks (they are roped off for safety reasons/to prevent vandalism) and get your fill.

The odd thing about Stonehenge is that, while the rocks are massive, the whole structure isn't nearly as large as you might imagine. Stonehenge is certainly large, but I imagined it the size of a castle, and it's not nearly that big.

The George Inn, which dates back to 1361
We ate lunch at a medieval pub in the town of Lacock, where many TV shows and movies have been filmed, including scenes from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, WOLFMAN, and HP1, 2, and 6!


After lunch, we visited the city of Bath, which was originally a Roman settlement built around the area's natural hot springs. We only had an hour in Bath, so instead of paying to get into the Roman Baths, we explored a little of the city, which is quaint, beautiful and reminded me of something you'd see in Italy.

This look says, "He's wasting our time again..." (The tour guide, that is.)

A lovely garden in Bath. The lion in the background is composed of plants!
 Oh, and while we've been talking about HARRY POTTER...

Platform 9 3/4, King's Cross Station
No trip to London is complete without a trip to King's Cross. If only I could've trained my Muggle eyes to spot the Leaky Cauldron...

PS - I know I said I'd include pictures from St. Paul's today, but I think this post's long enough and I'll leave it for another day.

4 comments:

Pam Harris said...

Awesome pics--thanks for sharing! I only got to spend a day in London, so I didn't get to do nearly as much. Seems like you had a great time. :)

Glenna said...

PLATFORM 9 3/4. OH MY JONAS.

Fangirl moment right there.

SUPER awesome picks- you guys look so adorable! Funny, they all have that tourguide is wasting our time face in that photo. Teehee.

Odd- a man from near Bath came in to the Ritas while you were away! Trading places? Maybe.

, said...

i went to all those places! :D sounds like you had a blast.

See you May or June..... (or march?? ssh, more details later)

Abby Stevens said...

Pam - Oh yes, a day in London wouldn't be nearly enough, but one day is definitely better than none! :)

Glenna - I know it! I was so excited to be there! In actuality, platforms 9 and 10 aren't adjacent at King's Cross, so this was really just a sign in a brick wall, but still - PLATFORM 9 3/4!! :D

Heidi - Ooooooh. Now you've got me wondering! Can't wait!

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