Stonehenge and Bath

Hey there! On my first free weekend at Regent's, I went on a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. When I first tried to buy a ticket a few days prior, they were all sold out and I was really bummed. Luckily, we have a great Student Services department that managed to get another small bus last minute. When I saw the flyer posted saying there were a few more seats available, I pretty much ran to my laptop. The trip was £29 (about $45) which included entrance to Stonehenge, entrance to the Roman Baths, the tour bus and tour guide commentary. The trip began by meeting at the Regent's College entrance at 8 a.m. to board the doubledecker bus. Of course, I was one of the last people in line. Whoops! So, of course I got the bad seat squished in the back row. Less room and longer legs, not a good combo. Especially when the girl in front of me reclined her seat. Let's just say I could smell her shampoo she used that morning.

First stop, Stonehenge! It was a two hour ride from Regent's to Stonehenge. So basically, a two hour nap. It was a beautiful ride, though. It was my first time really seeing the English country side full of rolling green hills and farm land. A little about Stonehenge: Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in the English county of Wiltshire. It is a ring of standing stones forming a circle. There are many different myths as to what it was used for. The easiest to understand is that it was used to tell time by the shadows it left. There are also remnants of ancient burial grounds, believed to be constructed as early as 3000 B.C. Wouldn't it be bad if I pushed them over?

The thing that surprised me the most about Stonehenge is that I didn't realize how big the stones were. They're over 4 meters tall and weigh over 150 tons! No wonder it's a mystery how the ancient people moved and formed the towers. We spent an hour at Stonehenge walking around the outer circle path taking pictures from every angle possible, along with the essential selfies.

Roaming sheep just outside of Stonehenge.

Next stop, Bath! It was an hour ride from Stonehenge to Bath, then a ride around town with the tour guide pointing out some destinations we could check out on our free time if we wanted. We were dropped off and headed into the Roman Baths. A little about the Roman Baths: The temple was originally built around 60 A.D. It has been destroyed and rebuilt within the last 2000 years, but there are still remnants of the originally structure. The bath was once simply where people came to wash themselves and socialize until it was abandoned years later. There's a story about a man who was exiled from his village because of a disease and was sentenced to Bath. He would bring his sheep to the bath for a drink, but soon realized the water had a healing effect on them. He started to bathe in the water until he was cured of the disease. Word got out and people from all over started coming to the Roman Baths again.

The Roman Baths and Bath Abbey in the background.

The Roman Baths were absolutely beautiful. They've done a great job maintaining the original structure; it was really cool to know you were walking on the original 2,000 year old stone. The tour started on the top deck of the original bath where there were statues overlooking the healing waters. 

After the top deck, we made our way through the museum part of the tour. They had so many artifacts ranging from things related to daily life in the Roman times to the original structure that had been destroyed many times. 

Next, we were able to go out onto the lower platform to the bath, where people would step into the water. From here, you were able to see the steam coming off the warm water, like an all natural hot tub. From here, there was also another warm bath and a cold bath used like a wishing well. 

 The Roman Baths.

The Roman Baths.

 A smaller warm bath.

Wishing well!

At the end of the tour, they had the option to let you taste a filtered version of the bath water. I didn't drink  it, but it smelled like my water at home. Nice one, well water! After the Roman Baths, a group of friends and I went to explore the city. It was beautiful because they have laws in place that prevent people from changing the look of the 18th century buildings. I felt like Jane Austen taking a walk through town on the cobblestone roads and detailed architecture. 

We were all getting hungry, so we went into a small take away (to go) restaurant with a line out the door. Must be good! I had a ham and cheese panini which was delicious. We went in a few cute stores including a milkshake place where you can combine almost any flavor into a milkshake, so cool! Next, we went to find the Assembly Rooms. 

These rooms are where they used to have matchmaking parties. Groups of unmarried men would host a party and invite all the unmarried women in town in order to find a wife. The parties could get as big as 600 or 700 attendees. Bath is also where Jane Austen lived for the majority of time she wrote her novels. It's neat to think these rooms were talked about in her stories. It was £2 admission to get into the Assembly Rooms, which was quite expensive since they were just rooms with no informational guides whatsoever. What surprised me about the rooms were how small they were, to fit over 600 people. 

We explored Bath a little more after the Assembly Rooms by going into a few stores. There was an antique store that put American antiques to shame. The store had thousands of items with history older than the United States. We checked out an indoor market, too. Vendors were selling tapestries and all sorts of knick knacks. We tired to get into Bath Abbey, a beautiful church with stairs to the top of the tower, but it was closed for Saturday mass. We also tried to get a Bath Bun (Sally Lunn Bun). Bath Buns are like a big roll with different flavored glazes and sugar in the middle of the bun. The line was out the door and you needed to have table service for a glazed bun, but they did sell regular ones in their gift store. 

The Sally Lunn House.

 Ye Old Water Fountain in front of Bath Abbey.

 Bath Abbey looking down on me.

 Beautiful architecture.

 The streets of Bath.

Covered Bridge. 

We then boarded the bus for a three hour ride back to London. Fortunately, someone took my back of the bus seat, so I was forced to get one of the best seats on the bus. I sat in the second row on the top of the double decker. It was like a panoramic view of where ever the bus was facing. Beautiful for cruising the country side! The closer we got to London, the more it reminded me of my rides from Tiverton back to Boston. From a small town to the skyline and craziness of a big city. Well, that was my day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Thanks for reading!