Today, Jeff, our driver, picked us up and we drove a couple hours until we reached Stonehenge and met our guide Cheryl. We started off at the site’s museum, which was very cool. We learned that Stonehenge is about 5000 years old and that is was partly used as a burial site. We also learned that there was a village of huts nearby that was only discovered eight years ago. After touring the museum, we headed up to the stones themselves.They are massive and they fall in line with so many natural phenomena, it’s no wonder the ancient people found them magical. They are aligned with the sunrise and sunset on the solstices, and they follow “lay lines” or energy fields. Our guide brought divinig rods, and we were able to feel the energy ourselves when the rods crossed each other when we were in the field, and separated when we weren’t. It was unbelievable!
After spending quite a while walking around the stones, we headed to Bath.
The Romans built a spa using the natural hot springs in 60 AD. They are incredibly well preserved and the water is still flowing. An entire city was built on top of the abandoned spas in the 16th and 17th centuries and it wasn’t until the 1800s when one of the houses had a leak in the cellar that the baths were discovered. The excellent Roman engineering kept the original water system running for all of those years.
This picture is at the current town’s street level looking down on the baths at their original level.
This is where the natural hot springs flow into the bath.
After touring the Baths and their museum, we headed up to the Royal Crescent.
The Royal Crescent is a beatiful row of 30 terraced Georgian style homes by John Wood the Younger in the 1700s. When constructed, the purchaser bought the facade length, and then had their own architects design the interior. So, each townhome is identical on the outside, but completely different on the inside. From here, we headed to the Circus.
These are three separate townhouse buildings, also Georgian, that form a circle following closely with Stonehenge’s dimensions. There are intricate carvings above the doors which represent all different arts, sciences, and masonic symbols.
It is a truly unqiue place and we are so glad we saw it. Today was another great day, and a long one. We just have to power through because after our 11 hours on the go today, tomorrow morning we have to get to the train station early to head to Paris.