We fell asleep last night at 5:30pm and Ev woke really early at 5am then used the internet and arranged a skype conference with Mum, Dad, Colin & Karen. Ev still hasn’t worked out how to get the microphone going on the computer, but fast typing has worked well. Ev had a quick ‘show and tell’ of our Egypt and African stuff, but we have a lot to post back. It was good to be in touch again.
Dan woke from his restful sleep and by 8:30am was functional enough to ring reception to ask if they had a printer to print the tickets. We were directed to the Business Centre of the hotel which we can use. We decided it was getting too late to go to the post office today as our tour will start soon.
Breakfast was all inclusive and we couldn’t wait. It was about 9am and the restaurant was pretty much empty. We took a seat near the window and had a great view of the gardens outside. Our waiter approached and asked for our order, we had no hesitation in saying ‘Full English breakfast, please!’ And away he went. Complimentary tea and coffee were on their way as well. While our breakfast was being cooked we helped ourselves to some croissants with jam and juice at the buffet table. Man it was nice to have a buffet table of good food. Breakfast was served, we had sausage, scrambled eggs for Dan, fried for Ev, baked beans, bacon, mushrooms, toast and black or blood pudding, which we had never tried before, it was beautiful. It tastes like savoury sausage. Ev also had strawberry, blueberry and raspberry fruit salad. We gorged on breakfast and were ready to tackle our first full day in England, we were excited.
Back in the hotel room we prepared ourselves for the day ahead. Stonehenge and a tour of Bath were on the agenda. Ev made a couple of sandwiches for lunch and then we moseyed on downstairs to wait for our bus. Our tour guide met us in the lobby at about 10:40am and led us toward the bus. It was already full but we managed to find a seat on the very comfortable, mid sized, tour bus. It turned out that half of the people on the bus were going to Windsor Castle and we would be joining another tour group to go to Stonehenge and beyond. We found it un-English that the tour guide for Windsor Castle was a German woman, who was strange regardless.
It took about 30 minutes to reach Windsor Castle and on the way passed an apartment building that Alfred Hitchcock used to live in. We knew this because there was a sign indicating this fact. Pretty handy we thought. Once we reached Windsor Castle the people going to Stonehenge got off the bus and walked towards the one that would take us the right way. We had no clear direction so we just hopped on the bus assuming we were about to leave. To our surprise the bus quickly filled up of people we didn’t recognise who had just finished touring Windsor Castle. It looks like we have joined another tour half way through. We’re getting good at this.
Anyway, the tour guide, who was an American (aren’t there any English people in this country!) told us to move to the back of the bus because we were in somebody’s seat. We grabbed our stuff and headed to the naughty corner as the bus was finally full. The vehicle eventually revved its engine and departed Windsor Castle. We chatted with an American guy from Texas who was pleasantly surprised with Windsor Castle. This didn’t go down too well with the American tour guide with the weird crossed English accent because he wanted complete silence when he was talking into his mic. Apparently if you missed a single word he said it meant that Armageddon was imminent. The guy was an absolute tool and his accent was grinding, too.
Stonehenge
The drive from Windsor Castle to Stonehenge took 1 hour 30 minutes but the scenery made it feel like 10 minutes, winding through traditional English villages and towns. Everything was so lush and green, it was very relaxing. We were to stop off for lunch at nearby Salisbury after Stonehenge and Captain America took our lunch orders. Ev ordered the chicken pie with potato and Dan ordered the fish pie with chips. As we approached our destination we could clearly see the stone structure in an open field next to the highway. We had always imagined Stonehenge to be hidden away in a secret, hard to get to location, but it wasn’t. It was hard to miss if you drove past it. We arrived at around 1:00pm and were given just 40 minutes to take in the magic and mystery that is Stonehenge. This is the thing we dislike about tours, you’re unable to take your time and do things at your own pace, oh well.
We quickly exited the bus and followed Mr Awesome to the ticket office. We gained entry, grabbed an audio guide and set off to the other side of the road via the underpass. It was a dreamlike sensation the first time we saw curiously positioned stones. It took a few minutes to fully comprehend exactly what we were looking at. Despite the crowds, (which weren’t that bad really) and spots of rain that thankfully held off, it was easy to lose yourself in the history and wonder of Stonehenge courtesy of the audio guide. We took photos from every vantage point making sure we didn’t miss a thing.
Not surprisingly, the 40 minutes flew by and we still wanted to get to the gift shop. (It’s an illness, we know.) We bought a guidebook, pen and a magnet and hurriedly made our way back to the bus. It was time for lunch.
The Cloisters pub was only 5 minutes from Stonehenge and everyone got off the bus and headed inside to the dining area. The seats at the table were very close together, which made things very cosy. Lunch was all good to go and the bar staff were already serving our group. Our lunches were beautiful and for dessert, a traditional English treat, strawberries and cream and complimentary tea and coffee. Oh yeah! With lunch over the group boarded the bus as we set a course for Bath which is about another hour north west of Salisbury. We chatted with a few other members of the tour and spoke of our travels so far and heard their stories, too.
Bath
To be honest, we didn’t know too much about Bath or its history so we were keen to see what all of the fuss was about. Once again the scenery on the way to Bath, much like everywhere else we have been so far, was amazing. Bath itself is a wonderful town with its predominately Georgian architecture, Roman Baths and its beautiful Abbey, Bath was also briefly the home of author, Jane Austen. The tour guide pointed out that some of the windows on the houses were blocked up with boards on the inside. This was because citizens were actually taxed if they had more than 3 windows. This is were the term ‘daylight robbery’ comes from.
The bus pulled up beside the magnificent Bath Abbey at 3:45pm and we were given until 5:15pm to explore the town. The main attraction of Bath was of course the Roman Baths which was our first stop. We took a few happy snaps while we waited to get inside the Roman Baths of the Abbey and Cathedral which was beautifully decorated with the 12 Apostles and even a stairway to heaven.
A small coin token was given to us as our entry ticket, unfortunately we couldn’t keep these. When we finally got in we were given an audio guide and our self tour was under way.
The entrance had light bouncing all around illuminating the angels carved in the ceiling, then through the smaller corridor to the balcony overlooking the Bath. You can imagine many people wrapped in their robes sitting on the stones or happily swimming in the warm water. Each room we passed through had numbers corresponding with our audio guided tour that told us about the Roman culture at the time and the makings of the bath. We felt very privileged to finally walk into the elite hot steam chambers which trapped the natural heat in the tiles, then finally to walk into the large pool area where hundreds would come from miles away to take a dip. We were advised not to touch the water as it is natural, unpreserved water that doesn’t flow. We each tossed a coin into one of the springs and made a wish.
Time flew by and our tour was almost over, but not without a visit to the gift shop. You can’t go to Bath and not get bath stuff... We bought some souvenir Bath chocolate with scenes of famous bath sites from across the street then it was time to board the bus again.
The 3 hour drive back seemed pretty long, but we read our Stonehenge book to pass the time. One of the bonuses of staying at the hotel we were, was that it was 1 of 3 locations it would dropping people of at, not this time. There was a massive traffic jam which took up a lot of time. The tour guide was initially going up and down the bus making arrangements with all on board where they would like to get dropped off at. We expected to be home around 7:30pm but due to the traffic jam the bus stopped at Hammersmith Station (which is a few kilometres from our hotel) and everyone was force to get off and take the train because the driver was only paid up until 8:30pm. We arrived back to the hotel at 9:00pm and were very hungry, so ordered room service of burgers, chips and rocky road ice cream.
We felt like we needed more time in London so went downstairs to reception and booked another night. Due to the late notice we would be staying in another room though. Sam called us at 10:00pm and we were keen to tell her all about our trip so far. We told her we’d be staying an extra night then heading on up to Liverpool then staying with her and the boys. We’re really excited to see their place and look around more of England.
Time for more ice-cream! Mmmmm.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
Dan woke from his restful sleep and by 8:30am was functional enough to ring reception to ask if they had a printer to print the tickets. We were directed to the Business Centre of the hotel which we can use. We decided it was getting too late to go to the post office today as our tour will start soon.
Breakfast was all inclusive and we couldn’t wait. It was about 9am and the restaurant was pretty much empty. We took a seat near the window and had a great view of the gardens outside. Our waiter approached and asked for our order, we had no hesitation in saying ‘Full English breakfast, please!’ And away he went. Complimentary tea and coffee were on their way as well. While our breakfast was being cooked we helped ourselves to some croissants with jam and juice at the buffet table. Man it was nice to have a buffet table of good food. Breakfast was served, we had sausage, scrambled eggs for Dan, fried for Ev, baked beans, bacon, mushrooms, toast and black or blood pudding, which we had never tried before, it was beautiful. It tastes like savoury sausage. Ev also had strawberry, blueberry and raspberry fruit salad. We gorged on breakfast and were ready to tackle our first full day in England, we were excited.
Back in the hotel room we prepared ourselves for the day ahead. Stonehenge and a tour of Bath were on the agenda. Ev made a couple of sandwiches for lunch and then we moseyed on downstairs to wait for our bus. Our tour guide met us in the lobby at about 10:40am and led us toward the bus. It was already full but we managed to find a seat on the very comfortable, mid sized, tour bus. It turned out that half of the people on the bus were going to Windsor Castle and we would be joining another tour group to go to Stonehenge and beyond. We found it un-English that the tour guide for Windsor Castle was a German woman, who was strange regardless.
It took about 30 minutes to reach Windsor Castle and on the way passed an apartment building that Alfred Hitchcock used to live in. We knew this because there was a sign indicating this fact. Pretty handy we thought. Once we reached Windsor Castle the people going to Stonehenge got off the bus and walked towards the one that would take us the right way. We had no clear direction so we just hopped on the bus assuming we were about to leave. To our surprise the bus quickly filled up of people we didn’t recognise who had just finished touring Windsor Castle. It looks like we have joined another tour half way through. We’re getting good at this.
Anyway, the tour guide, who was an American (aren’t there any English people in this country!) told us to move to the back of the bus because we were in somebody’s seat. We grabbed our stuff and headed to the naughty corner as the bus was finally full. The vehicle eventually revved its engine and departed Windsor Castle. We chatted with an American guy from Texas who was pleasantly surprised with Windsor Castle. This didn’t go down too well with the American tour guide with the weird crossed English accent because he wanted complete silence when he was talking into his mic. Apparently if you missed a single word he said it meant that Armageddon was imminent. The guy was an absolute tool and his accent was grinding, too.
Stonehenge
The drive from Windsor Castle to Stonehenge took 1 hour 30 minutes but the scenery made it feel like 10 minutes, winding through traditional English villages and towns. Everything was so lush and green, it was very relaxing. We were to stop off for lunch at nearby Salisbury after Stonehenge and Captain America took our lunch orders. Ev ordered the chicken pie with potato and Dan ordered the fish pie with chips. As we approached our destination we could clearly see the stone structure in an open field next to the highway. We had always imagined Stonehenge to be hidden away in a secret, hard to get to location, but it wasn’t. It was hard to miss if you drove past it. We arrived at around 1:00pm and were given just 40 minutes to take in the magic and mystery that is Stonehenge. This is the thing we dislike about tours, you’re unable to take your time and do things at your own pace, oh well.
We quickly exited the bus and followed Mr Awesome to the ticket office. We gained entry, grabbed an audio guide and set off to the other side of the road via the underpass. It was a dreamlike sensation the first time we saw curiously positioned stones. It took a few minutes to fully comprehend exactly what we were looking at. Despite the crowds, (which weren’t that bad really) and spots of rain that thankfully held off, it was easy to lose yourself in the history and wonder of Stonehenge courtesy of the audio guide. We took photos from every vantage point making sure we didn’t miss a thing.
 |
| Stonehenge from the bus |
 |
| The West Rock |
Not surprisingly, the 40 minutes flew by and we still wanted to get to the gift shop. (It’s an illness, we know.) We bought a guidebook, pen and a magnet and hurriedly made our way back to the bus. It was time for lunch.
The Cloisters pub was only 5 minutes from Stonehenge and everyone got off the bus and headed inside to the dining area. The seats at the table were very close together, which made things very cosy. Lunch was all good to go and the bar staff were already serving our group. Our lunches were beautiful and for dessert, a traditional English treat, strawberries and cream and complimentary tea and coffee. Oh yeah! With lunch over the group boarded the bus as we set a course for Bath which is about another hour north west of Salisbury. We chatted with a few other members of the tour and spoke of our travels so far and heard their stories, too.
Bath
To be honest, we didn’t know too much about Bath or its history so we were keen to see what all of the fuss was about. Once again the scenery on the way to Bath, much like everywhere else we have been so far, was amazing. Bath itself is a wonderful town with its predominately Georgian architecture, Roman Baths and its beautiful Abbey, Bath was also briefly the home of author, Jane Austen. The tour guide pointed out that some of the windows on the houses were blocked up with boards on the inside. This was because citizens were actually taxed if they had more than 3 windows. This is were the term ‘daylight robbery’ comes from.
The bus pulled up beside the magnificent Bath Abbey at 3:45pm and we were given until 5:15pm to explore the town. The main attraction of Bath was of course the Roman Baths which was our first stop. We took a few happy snaps while we waited to get inside the Roman Baths of the Abbey and Cathedral which was beautifully decorated with the 12 Apostles and even a stairway to heaven.
 |
| Bath's Cathedral |
 |
| Cathedral's Stairway to Heaven |
 |
| The Roman Bath token |
The entrance had light bouncing all around illuminating the angels carved in the ceiling, then through the smaller corridor to the balcony overlooking the Bath. You can imagine many people wrapped in their robes sitting on the stones or happily swimming in the warm water. Each room we passed through had numbers corresponding with our audio guided tour that told us about the Roman culture at the time and the makings of the bath. We felt very privileged to finally walk into the elite hot steam chambers which trapped the natural heat in the tiles, then finally to walk into the large pool area where hundreds would come from miles away to take a dip. We were advised not to touch the water as it is natural, unpreserved water that doesn’t flow. We each tossed a coin into one of the springs and made a wish.
 |
| Chocolates of Bath sites |
The 3 hour drive back seemed pretty long, but we read our Stonehenge book to pass the time. One of the bonuses of staying at the hotel we were, was that it was 1 of 3 locations it would dropping people of at, not this time. There was a massive traffic jam which took up a lot of time. The tour guide was initially going up and down the bus making arrangements with all on board where they would like to get dropped off at. We expected to be home around 7:30pm but due to the traffic jam the bus stopped at Hammersmith Station (which is a few kilometres from our hotel) and everyone was force to get off and take the train because the driver was only paid up until 8:30pm. We arrived back to the hotel at 9:00pm and were very hungry, so ordered room service of burgers, chips and rocky road ice cream.
We felt like we needed more time in London so went downstairs to reception and booked another night. Due to the late notice we would be staying in another room though. Sam called us at 10:00pm and we were keen to tell her all about our trip so far. We told her we’d be staying an extra night then heading on up to Liverpool then staying with her and the boys. We’re really excited to see their place and look around more of England.
Time for more ice-cream! Mmmmm.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
1 comment:
Lovely guys! I'm looking forward to visiting bath myself oneday :) great photos :) Bel x
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