Rain, Rain, more Rain, and a really big Bath

Dec. 31, 2012

Blog Post

I'm Annelise Frederick and in charge of the blogging for New Year's Eve. I'm a senior English Education student from Champlin, MN. I like plays and musicals, dark chocolate, warm jumpers(new word!), snow, and long walks on the Lakewalk. 

So this morning started pretty darn early. We were on the road by 8 and headed to Stonehenge and Bath in some pretty cruddy weather. It was a day full of rain and mud. 

On the way we stopped at Woodhenge which outdates Stonehenge. 

They found the bottoms of it on the peat preserved so they stuck concrete markers over top. There is also a child's grave in the center circle. We are unaware of why but can assume they were very important to the people/community that built it. Then it was on to Stonehenge! 

Stonehenge was where the rain picked up and we had to watch our footing in the mud and slippery grass. I had expected the rocks to be much bigger based on some of the stories I'd heard. The audio tour was handy, even though I missed part because I was focusing too much on not falling. (Handy of them to do that so the guides don't have to wander about in the rain, wind, and mud all the time.) I can't remember all the parts about the types of stone and layout of the stones and their importance, I just remember it was strange and interesting. The information about some being sarsen stones and some bluestones is one part I do remember and both types are significant. The one legend the audio tour mentioned about how Stonehenge got there was my favorite. No appearance of King Arthur really, but we still got some Merlin floating rocks around the countryside because he got impatient with the mere mortals. (Even those that don't watch BBC's "Merlin" can find that amusing.) It sounded like the Druids didn't have anything to do with it after all. 

One more bus ride later and we were in Bath. It's built into a hill kind of like Duluth is! A quick lunch was had then we loaded back onto the bus for a tour of the city. The streets of Bath aren't really made for tour buses (or "coaches" are they are called here in Britain) at all but European coach drivers are amazing so catastrophes were averted. We went around the town in the coach before faring it farewell until tomorrow (today by now) and went off on foot. Lucky for us, the rain seemed to have let up. 

We got to check out some of the shopping areas on our way to the Bath Abbey and Roman Baths. (There may have been some panic when a few members were...temporarily misplaced but their ingenuity and quick thinking led to them getting to the Abbey before us and the group was once again reunited.) the Abbey is full of stained glass artwork and plaques carved into the walls commemorating various people, including the first British ruler of Australia.  

After going through the Abbey, we went next door to the Roman Baths. The Baths were (Naturally centrally heated! Surprisingly dry!) very interesting. I really liked getting to walk on the original stones from early AD around the pool sized main bath and making a wish in one of the other, smaller pools. Drinking the water was a unique experience. Some thought it tasted very metallic others just thought it was really warm. 

Our group dinner was at Las Iguanas, a Brazilian restaurant in the middle of a tiny square surrounded by buildings, we had to go through a tunnel in a building to get to it. After dinner it was back to the hotel where Merry tucked us all in like little angels. (Paraphrased from Merry). 

... Except it was New Year's so that didn't happen at all. One large group went out, while the rest stayed in to have fun and ring in the New Year. (Some of us watched a BBC show "Old Jews Telling Jokes" for a bit, it was very bawdy funny. Like some of the Classic Greek plays.) Then 2013 hit Bath and those in the hotel congregated in the lobby to wish a happy New Year. There were even fireworks visible from the hotel! After that eventually everyone went to bed. And so it is now today!