February 18th: Stonehenge and Bath

Our entire group met up and boarded a "coach" for an hour's ride to Stonehenge, early Friday morning. It was actually really strange - the highway passes within a few feet from the heel stone (just 20 feet from the henge itself)! Stonehenge isn't quite as austere or grand as professional photographs make it appear, but was nevertheless amazing. To image people bringing these huge bluestones (whether all the way from Wales or not), probably across the Avon River, and then standing them upright and laying another several ton stone on top is astounding! Once out of London it began to look like the green, picturesque English countryside that you hear about and see in books or movies; London, though impressive in its own right, is rather dingy.

After Stonehenge, we drove another two hours to Bath. Bath is 99 miles west of London, so we almost drove all the way across southern England in just three hours. I always forget how small England really is. Bath was wonderful. The city is built on top of the only natural hot springs in the United Kingdom. Though people were in the area before the Romans, the Romans built baths and a temple in the area. People flocked to the "spa" from all over the Empire until the Romans left in 409. Saxons moved in, but the Romans buildings disintegrated and were largely forgotten until they were rediscovered in 1880. Beginning in the Elizabethan era, Bath was considered a resort city for the wealthy. In the 1700s there was a conserted effort to build Bath into an elegant and fashionable pleasure resort. Aristocracy and gentry came from all over England to Bath for entertainment. The city was supposed to set a model of proper behavior and manners: the city's Master of Ceremonies even drew up a code of behavior for the city. It is the only planned city in England: the streets are laid out in blocks, more or less, and the palatial Georgian buildings (which were primarily all designed by John Wood and his son) are all built from a golden brown stone. The Circus and Royal Cresent are particularly incredible. Notably, Jane Austen lived in Bath for five years and set a number of scenes for her novels in the city (Persuasion especially).

We had an hour for lunch on our own when we arrived in the city, so after eating quickly the group I was with went exploring. We went to the Jane Austen Centre, but didn't have time to go inside the museum, but I've heard that the museum itself is disapointing. After walking around a bit more we met up with the whole group and went on a walk with Martin around Bath. He took us to The Circus, Royal Cresent, Assemly Rooms and other such places around town. We then went to Roman Baths and the museum there. Both were really impressive. The baths! I'm still in awe. I felt like I was in Rome, actually. A colder Rome, but Rome nonetheless. The museum was very informative and had a good collection of artifacts.

All in all it was an excellent day. I really like the group excursions the program has planned for us. They're always so interesting and give us a taste of England that we probably wouldn't get on our own.