This morning we piled onto the bus at 7:30am to start a long day of traveling. They called the bus our "coach" :) It was a really nice charter bus so most of us were able to sleep. We drove around 6 hours total today to see Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, and Bath. Here is a little bit about my adventure...
Salisbury Cathedral is a medieval English cathedral about 2 1/2 hours away from London. We arrived and had a tour guide waiting for us. Here is a little bit about it... The cathedral is so beautiful and it was neat to learn about the history of it. It was built in parts, and the tower was added later. They had trouble getting the tower to stand straight and it is still about 13" off near the top. Salisbury is still used for on average 4 services a day. So though it may look old, it is still in full blown use!
Below is the oldest working clock that does not have hands. It was originally placed in the bell tower to ring the bell on the hour that was located outside on the property, until the bell tower was demolished. The clock was then moved inside and in operated through a system of weights.
The cathedral was filled with stain glass window some dating back to the 19th century. Some windows have been replaced over time, and some were taken out and replaced with clear glass to give way for more light. Within the glass are stories from the bible and depictions of Christ!
We made our way into another room and saw one of the 13 original Magna Carta manuscripts. We learned so much in the hour we were there, and everything around the property is green and beautiful!
Next we headed towards Stonehenge! This is a worldwide known site that we were all really excited to see. I can't give you much information on it, because no one knows very much about how the stones got there. They know where they came from, but how they were transported and what for is a mystery. Their theories are that it was used for religious ceremonies, or for an astronomical purpose. I was surprised at really how small it is. It isn't very large and we weren't able to get very close, but we got tons of photos! And it was a neat site to check of my bucket list...Yep, I've officially been to Stonehenge!
After we started taking pictures, it starting pouring rain, and it didn't stop until we arrived back in London! So the rest of our experience was in the mud and rain. I feel very fortunate and blessed because it hasn't rained much at all here. Yes, it is cloudy and cold, but it has only rained two days since we have been here!
Bath was our last stop. This was just as equally as fun! First we stopped at the Assembly Rooms. These were rooms used for dancing, poker, socializing and tea by many of the locals. At the particular site we stopped at, some of the films depicting Jane Austen novels were filmed there. The ballroom was gorgeous and the chandelier had unbelievable detail!! I thought of my mom the whole time because she just LOVES Jane Austen novels (I love you mom)!
Just down the street was the Roman Bath. We took an hour audio tour of this historic site. This goes hand in hand with what we are studying right now in English History about the Romans ruling England and the lasting effect they had. It was so neat to see the Bath. It is "original" water, meaning they have never drained it. So even thought it evaporates and replaces itself, it is original. It's not treated so it was green, but we felt it and it really is the perfect temperature for a bath! We also saw sacred waters that belonged to a Goddess that the people worshiped. The bath was meant to heal illness, and it was said that if you bathed in the water you would be healed. Queen Elizabeth II (the one currently in reign) bathed there many years ago and was able to have a child after being barren.
Here is a picture of the architecture in Bath. It feels like a very different city than London, and it was neat to see the country! I loved how green it was and Bath was so different and gave me a whole different view on the unique cities of England.
Our day was successful! It was long with driving, but we saw so many neat things, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way :)
I didn't blog yesterday, but yesterday was the first day of class. It was so neat finding out how things will be structured this semester. We will spend most of our time outside the classroom, learning through TONS of museums and field trips. After my first history class, we all went to the British museum. We will be spending a lot of time there, which is good because it is so large it was very overwhelming at first! After a long day of classes and dinner with the group, five of us girls went to the broadway production of Dirty Dancing! Lets just say this made our night...but not in the way you would think! We had so much fun laughing with each other because it was so corny and not very well done. We were disappointed, but it definitely created a memory! :) So I wouldn't recommend it...
More fun things about London:
There are very few trashcans, and yet the streets are cleaner than streets in America (how?...I will never understand).
They play a ton of American music in all of the stores and restaurants.
The stop lights turn red, then yellow, then green, not just straight to green.
The only diet soda around is Diet Coke.
The only fast food chains they have here is McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King.
I LOVE how they say cheers and brilliant and call each other love.
England is a whole new world, and I am definitely learning a lot! Love you all!
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