Stonehenge and Bath

On the weekend February 28th, we didn't really have anything to do, and looking at the weather it was going to be nicer than it had been recently, so we took the opportunity to see a bit of the English countryside. We'd been wanting to see Stonehenge and Bath, but wanted to wait for nice weather, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. We figured we could do it all in one day, so we hopped on an early train (7:15) on Saturday morning.

Salisbury/Stonehenge


First, the train ride actually left something to be desired. We'd heard a lot about the train having these great views. It may have been because we're still coming out of winter, so things aren't the brightest green, or it may have been that the train ride through Switzerland was just ridiculously amazing, or maybe a combination, but either way we were a little disappointed.

We arrived pretty early on in Salisbury, which is the village that is closest to Stonehenge. We'd heard some good things about the town from our Dallas friends who visited there, so we spent a little while walking around the village, which I guess you'd say was "quaint". We then took a bus to the famous Stonehenge. The weather turned out to be a little cooler than we'd hoped, so we walked around it fairly quickly, took a few pictures, and I guess took it all in. It is pretty impressive, and it is pretty cool to see the models of what it originally looked like and hear about how the guys (or aliens...) built it. Anyway, there isn't exactly a lot else out there, so we were mostly finished in about 25 minutes. The bad thing is that the bus only comes every hour, so we had to spend over half an hour wandering around the gift shop. I guess I'd say "questionable" as to whether it was worth the trip, since if you've seen the photos you've mostly seen the thing itself. It would have been nicer if it was a little warmer outside, we could have spent more time outside and enjoyed it more. 

After finally making it back to the town, we went to visit the main cathedral, which was very nice. It has the tallest spire in Britain, and it one of the first one's we've seen that had a large green space surrounding it. All the others generally have some kind of plaza or are even just backed up next to other buildings, so this did seem a little more set apart. Other than that, it was still pretty much like all the others (and we didn't actually even take the time to go into this one!). We then took one last stroll through the town on the way to the train station.

Bath


Next stop was for the city of Bath, about a 2 hour train ride west of London. The city was built at the only natural hot spring in all of Britain, and became a popular spot when the Romans built baths there (hence the name). We were pleasantly surprised with the city. It still feels very old, with most of the streets still made of cobblestone and the buildings being hundreds of years old.

We visited the Roman Baths, which was very interesting. There is one pool that has stayed in great condition, so it was pretty cool to see that, as well as the ruins of the rest of the building. Since we had gotten there a little late, and the main sites closed early, we weren't able to go into the Abbey or see any of the Jane Austin sites (much to my chagrin, to be sure!!).

We were able to go to the only spa in the city. It was sort of like a public pool, but hot. They had three main attractions - one large pool, a sauna, and a rooftop pool - all of which are heated by the thermal waters. We had 2 hours to enjoy the pools, and it was pretty cool. The rooftop pool was definitely highlight. From this pool you could look out at the lit-up Abbey, and since it is a smallish town outside of the city, we could see the stars. It was pretty cold outside (probably around 50), but it was amazing to be sitting in the warm water (next to 100 other random folks) and stare at the beautiful skies. (By the way, everyone was wearing swimsuits, there was no nudity.)

By the time we left the spa, it was about time to head back to the train station. The bad thing was that it was 8pm and we hadn't eaten since about noon. Also, as it turns out, the city pretty much dies after dark. There were no restaurants on the way to the station, and when we got there the guy at the ticket booth told us that the only thing nearby was McDonalds. Now this is a pretty big deal, because I have not eaten there in about 5 years. I was never a big fan, but then like many others that movie "Super Size Me" turned me off completely (not just from McD's, but really most fast food in general). But, we were hungry and out of options, and I broke down and suffered through 3 Chicken Selects and Jenna had a chicken sandwich, and we're still living, so I guess it wasn't that bad. After so defiling our bodies, we headed back to the station and got back to London just before midnight, tired from our long day of travel.