Day Five - Bath, Lacock & Stonehenge
Aug. 7th, 2003 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfsbrideWe go to Stonehenge today! Yippee!
Went to breakfast at 8:30am. Brilliant as usual. Then we went back to the room since we don't actually have to leave til 10:00am. Will go to the internet cafe before we leave.
The day continues...
Went to the internet cafe and bought 100 minutes for two pounds. Checked the mail and the price of admission at the Tower of London. Site says twelve pounds for adults. Wonder how current that is.
Left the cafe at about 10am. Caught the tube to Victoria station and found the Thistle hotel pickup point without too much trouble. Got there with time to spare.
We're supposed to leve at 11am and it's about 10:45am now. There's a few other people waiting for the same tour as us.
We got on our way late. Had to wait for one group of people. Stupid idiots! We left at 11:30am
We're going to Bath first. It's 300 miles away from London. The bus is nice. Air conditioned. But again the seats are designed for people who are 5', 110 pounds.
>__< Yuck. Am all cramped.
Our tour guide's name is Ross and our driver is called Jane. Jane looks scarey but is rather nice.
The drive to Bath was fantastic. Lot of rolling hills, sheep, cows and horses. They have fields with huge rolls of hay.
We saw the horse carved into the mountain. Our tour guide, Ross, said that it is one of fourteen or sixteen horses that are carved into the mountains around Britain. He also said in the summer school children come and clean up the trash that other people have littered over the horse.
Can I just say that people are idiots? People are idiots.
We arrived in Bath at 3pm. It's a cute little town. The shops and houses are built in a quaint fashion. Lots of tourist appeal.
Outside the doors of Bath Abbey, there was a statue. At least that's what I thought.
It turned out to be a person in full makeup. Wow. I thought it was a guy but Ross said it was a girl. She was good. Hamming it up for the crowd. Viccy went to talk to her but she indicated that she was not allowed to say anything.
Then we went into the actual baths. Apparently, they've got them working now for the first time since 1972. We started at the upper level so that we were looking down at the baths themselves. The water is a lovely green color. Not sure if I'd wanna bath in Bath :D
The had audio tour thingys where you pressed numbers to hear about the displays with corresponding numbers. I didn't realize that the baths were part of a temple. Makes sense though.
Again with the feeling of desecrating a sacred place. I guess I'm just too sensitive.
Anyway... My main complaint is the same one as with Madam Tussaud's. People milling every which way. I guess I'm anal retentive. I would have perfered a more orderly viewing. Still it was very impressive.
Saw the pipeping that would have originally supplied the water to the baths.
There is a story of a King that was cured of leprosy in the baths when he was a young man. I wonder how many people were miraculously cured and then died of lead poisoning.
After Bath, we went onto Lacock.
It's a really pretty little village. Apparently, some of Harry Potter was filmed there. The Diagan Alley and bits of the Chamber of Secrets. So of course Viccy was all SQUEE!!!
We got off the bus and went to eat at a little place called the Gregorian Inn. The place itself was quaint and historical but the whole dinner thing was badly executed.
The food was generous in portion but the way they served it was idiotic. On the way to Lacock, they had taken a list of what everyone wanted to eat and drink so that the food could be ready for us when we arrived. Which was fine.
The only thing I would have changed was to have people take note of the number next to their name and then when their order was ready, announce the meals by number.
Instead, they had someone come out with five different dishes and yell "chicken! beef! fish! and so forth...
Bah!
After that, we got on the way to Stonehenge. Just before we got there, we passed a hill with pigs. There was also little huts all over the hill. Apparently, those are houses for the pigs. Looked like they were made of metal. Must get hot for them.
As we drive up to the parking lot, Stonehenge is on our left. It's a lot smaller than I expected. Viccy is having a nervous breakdown because some of the other tourists are being idiots. I guess people forget this is a sacred place to a lot of people.
Anyway, we've arrived near sunset. On the the bus, Ross talked about the ditch that surrounds Stonehenge and the heel stone which seems to be some sort of compass connected to the position of the sun and the moon.
When we arrrived there the sun was setting just above the tip of the heel from one direction and the moon was rising on the other side. Was very awe inspiring.
Ross had us go into the center of the circle and then he talked about the entrance stones and the slab that was now called the slaughter stone. Then he had us come out and go back in again to the center circle the way it would have been done back then.
He talked about how it wasn't built all at once but in the three separate phases. And he also talked about where the stones came from. He talked about how they would have transported them and raised them into place.
It was very interesting but it could have been handled so much better. I would have talked about Stonehenge on the way there while still on the bus and I would have tried to impress upon people that it's a holy place and certain behaviour is expected. I would have tried to make people feel the presence of the place.
Also, I would have brought people inside the circle the way it would have been done back then so that it would have had more impact. I would have also had people observe a moment of silence and THEN they could go taking pictures.
At least no one sat on any of the stones. There was a guard there that apparently was saying derogatory things about druids. I didn't hear him but Viccy did. She was naturally upset and when to complain to one of the other guards, who kinda brushed her off.
What can I say... People are idiots.
We got home 10:30
Went to breakfast at 8:30am. Brilliant as usual. Then we went back to the room since we don't actually have to leave til 10:00am. Will go to the internet cafe before we leave.
The day continues...
Went to the internet cafe and bought 100 minutes for two pounds. Checked the mail and the price of admission at the Tower of London. Site says twelve pounds for adults. Wonder how current that is.
Left the cafe at about 10am. Caught the tube to Victoria station and found the Thistle hotel pickup point without too much trouble. Got there with time to spare.
We're supposed to leve at 11am and it's about 10:45am now. There's a few other people waiting for the same tour as us.
We got on our way late. Had to wait for one group of people. Stupid idiots! We left at 11:30am
We're going to Bath first. It's 300 miles away from London. The bus is nice. Air conditioned. But again the seats are designed for people who are 5', 110 pounds.
>__< Yuck. Am all cramped.
Our tour guide's name is Ross and our driver is called Jane. Jane looks scarey but is rather nice.
The drive to Bath was fantastic. Lot of rolling hills, sheep, cows and horses. They have fields with huge rolls of hay.
We saw the horse carved into the mountain. Our tour guide, Ross, said that it is one of fourteen or sixteen horses that are carved into the mountains around Britain. He also said in the summer school children come and clean up the trash that other people have littered over the horse.
Can I just say that people are idiots? People are idiots.
We arrived in Bath at 3pm. It's a cute little town. The shops and houses are built in a quaint fashion. Lots of tourist appeal.
Outside the doors of Bath Abbey, there was a statue. At least that's what I thought.
It turned out to be a person in full makeup. Wow. I thought it was a guy but Ross said it was a girl. She was good. Hamming it up for the crowd. Viccy went to talk to her but she indicated that she was not allowed to say anything.
Then we went into the actual baths. Apparently, they've got them working now for the first time since 1972. We started at the upper level so that we were looking down at the baths themselves. The water is a lovely green color. Not sure if I'd wanna bath in Bath :D
The had audio tour thingys where you pressed numbers to hear about the displays with corresponding numbers. I didn't realize that the baths were part of a temple. Makes sense though.
Again with the feeling of desecrating a sacred place. I guess I'm just too sensitive.
Anyway... My main complaint is the same one as with Madam Tussaud's. People milling every which way. I guess I'm anal retentive. I would have perfered a more orderly viewing. Still it was very impressive.
Saw the pipeping that would have originally supplied the water to the baths.
There is a story of a King that was cured of leprosy in the baths when he was a young man. I wonder how many people were miraculously cured and then died of lead poisoning.
After Bath, we went onto Lacock.
It's a really pretty little village. Apparently, some of Harry Potter was filmed there. The Diagan Alley and bits of the Chamber of Secrets. So of course Viccy was all SQUEE!!!
We got off the bus and went to eat at a little place called the Gregorian Inn. The place itself was quaint and historical but the whole dinner thing was badly executed.
The food was generous in portion but the way they served it was idiotic. On the way to Lacock, they had taken a list of what everyone wanted to eat and drink so that the food could be ready for us when we arrived. Which was fine.
The only thing I would have changed was to have people take note of the number next to their name and then when their order was ready, announce the meals by number.
Instead, they had someone come out with five different dishes and yell "chicken! beef! fish! and so forth...
Bah!
After that, we got on the way to Stonehenge. Just before we got there, we passed a hill with pigs. There was also little huts all over the hill. Apparently, those are houses for the pigs. Looked like they were made of metal. Must get hot for them.
As we drive up to the parking lot, Stonehenge is on our left. It's a lot smaller than I expected. Viccy is having a nervous breakdown because some of the other tourists are being idiots. I guess people forget this is a sacred place to a lot of people.
Anyway, we've arrived near sunset. On the the bus, Ross talked about the ditch that surrounds Stonehenge and the heel stone which seems to be some sort of compass connected to the position of the sun and the moon.
When we arrrived there the sun was setting just above the tip of the heel from one direction and the moon was rising on the other side. Was very awe inspiring.
Ross had us go into the center of the circle and then he talked about the entrance stones and the slab that was now called the slaughter stone. Then he had us come out and go back in again to the center circle the way it would have been done back then.
He talked about how it wasn't built all at once but in the three separate phases. And he also talked about where the stones came from. He talked about how they would have transported them and raised them into place.
It was very interesting but it could have been handled so much better. I would have talked about Stonehenge on the way there while still on the bus and I would have tried to impress upon people that it's a holy place and certain behaviour is expected. I would have tried to make people feel the presence of the place.
Also, I would have brought people inside the circle the way it would have been done back then so that it would have had more impact. I would have also had people observe a moment of silence and THEN they could go taking pictures.
At least no one sat on any of the stones. There was a guard there that apparently was saying derogatory things about druids. I didn't hear him but Viccy did. She was naturally upset and when to complain to one of the other guards, who kinda brushed her off.
What can I say... People are idiots.
We got home 10:30
