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Happy Holidays Everyone!

As Liz and I enjoy the smells of the turkey dinner roasting in our newly-installed gas stove, I thought I would keep our weekly photo updates going and post about our day trip that we took while in the UK to Stonehenge and the village of Lacock. Stonehenge doesn’t need much of an introduction, but Lacock might.

The village of Lacock is almost completely owned by the English National Trust, which results in an unspoiled appearance. It is also home to Harry Potter’s house. This is the house used in the films when they show ‘you-know-who’ paying a little visit to Harry’s parents.

We took a Mad Max minibus tour out of Bath, trundling through the English countryside. We stopped at Stonehenge first. Be warned that if you visit Stonehenge, it can be underwhelming. After all, it is just a hill with some rocks on it. But for the curious at heart, it can be a lot of fun speculating about what it has been used for throughout history. The audio tour provides a lot of background, and reinforces what a mystery this site truly is. I can’t help but feel the astrological tie-in to the site, so my theory is that it was indeed used for marking time and the passing of seasons, along with providing a meeting place. I mean, it is a bunch of big-ass rocks on a hill. I can just imagine it… “Hey Bill, after work, wanna meet at the big-ass rocks on the hill?”

Works for me.

For those wondering, Sheephenge is what I dubbed the sheep-filled pasture that surrounds Stonehenge, heh. There are a few fun pics of it in the gallery.

By the time we got to the village of Lacock, the light was rapidly passing us by, so some of the pictures are a little dark. All in all, it was a really fun day. Liz and I really enjoy day trips like this to check out the sites.

Full Gallery: Stonehenge and Lacock (27 photos)

A few highlights:

Full Gallery: Stonehenge and Lacock (27 photos)

Cheers!

Robin

After our visit to London (see previous post), we decided to hop on a coach and head west to the city of Bath. On the way, Robin and I caught our first glimps of the English countryside. That first real slate-cottage thrill!

Bath is grand, and layered with Roman history, yet charming and serene at the same time. It is a gateway to the English countryside, and when you gaze out to the little houses spilling across the hills, you can just begin to see the overlap of the Cotswolds. The Georgian style buldings that can be seen everywhere in Bath were once stained black from coal fires. In recent years the buildings have been cleaned to reveal that milky stone that Bath was famous for.  The Roman baths, though no longer in use are an important part of a visit to the city. The museum has done a wonderful job preserving ancient crumbling rooms below ground level, and you can wonder amongst them, a catching a glimpse of the hot springs gushing along as abundant as ever. In the shopping areas of Bath, you can find oodles of fudgeries, Cornish pasty shops, and corner cafes, trinket shops and English souvenirs a plenty. Bath is a great place to stay especially if your planning on some day-trips to Stonehenge, and the village of Lacock (which we will post about soon).

Full Gallery: City of Bath (46 photos)

A few highlights:

We did have a fun adventure one evening, we had been given a tip that inexpensive and tasty dinners were to be found in many local pubs. So, Robin and I wandered until we found one with a couple of available chairs, and sat down. We both had a beautiful roast chicken dinner, Robin had some ale, and I had a Blackthorn Cider. Before long Robin said, “I don’t want to alarm you, but did you realize you are the only girl in this whole place?” Yes, indeed I had noticed that all around me men were glued to the “Football” game. Well, when our dinners were done, a friendly inebriated young man came up to us, said that he was hungry, and then asked if he could have a go at our leftovers (of which there were none- just the bones really.) It took a moment before we realized that this poor soul wasn’t joking, and then he turned around apparently too embarrassed to speak to us any longer. We did feel a little bad, but the man could have bought food instead of booze. Well, there is no shortage of adventures to be had in English pubs, and neither is there any shortage of chips.

Full Gallery: City of Bath (46 photos)

We would love to hear your comments,

Liz

Now that we are back from the UK, our pictures of London have been posted (over the coming weeks, we will regularly post about our tour of England and Scotland):

Full Gallery 1: London (49 photos)
Full Gallery 2: Tower of London (25 photos)

London is too big to see in one visit, too diverse to sum up, so filled with ancient history it leaves your head swimming, and frankly too bloody astounding for words. But, I’ll try to paint a picture for you; London is a bustling metropolis filled with layers upon layers of architectural wonders, world treasures, haunted pubs, umbrellas and tureens of clotted cream! Robin and I were electrified by London’s goings on! We took full advantage of one of those handy hop-on hop-off double-decker buses (and it’s our opinion but it’s the best way to see London in a day), and marvelled that we were actually there, in the middle of it all. In fact, my first thought coming into Kensington station on the Underground, was the “Chim Chimney…roof tops of London” song from Mary Poppins! There it was; that chimney sweep world of enchantment.

We stayed in a little hotel in South Kensington with scented toilet paper and a shower tap mechanism previously unknown to us. We enjoyed English breakfasts at a spot called “The Muffin Man” and puzzled that every bloody plate came with a whithered tomato, and explored as much as we had time for. We ate fish and chips, and cream teas, we found Turkish delight, and lamb and mint flavored potato chips. We also managed to master the Tube, listening to countless announcements to “Mind the Gap between the platform and the train”.  I was desperate to get all the haunted information I could, and on Halloween night, Robin and I not only found the Sand Witch, but met up with a ghost tour complete with limb-less live action.  We toured the British Museum which is amazing, and equally exhausting, the National Gallery were we both fell in love with Turner’s paintings, and The Tate Modern, where some installations actually made my stomach turn.

As I am ever on the search for the world’s greatest chocolate, I made a special trip to Chelsey to visit Rococo chocolates, where my lovely friend Christine had found me a rose-flavored bar. Rococo is known for their unique flower flavored chocolate, and the violet was almost as nice as the rose.

The Tower of London is worth an entire day, that’s time enough to go up into all the towers, see the levels of museums inside, have a lovely pricey little lunch at the cafe, and view the dazzling crown jewels (don’t miss out on the little cannonettes or the arms and armour, codpieces included!) The London eye is also a must-see to appreciate the enormity of the city, but ration your liquids it’s a 30 minute ride! London is truly beautiful and wondrous, exceeding expectation.

Full Gallery 1: London (49 photos)
Full Gallery 2: Tower of London (25 photos)

Here are a few highlights:

Liz