Stonehenge

I love how all of our little adventures usually start off with us waking up before the sun rises and literally running to catch a bus. Our trip to Stonehenge and Bath was no different, but we thankful made it to the Coach Station just in time to leave for Stonehenge!

 

It was about a 2 hour long bus trip West of London to get there. I really had no cares to go and would have preferred to have spent the whole day in Bath, but Daniel really wanted to go and it was part of the travel deal, so why not?

 

Our tour guide was named Nigel and didn't seem too excited to be spending his Saturday with us. His lack of humor was humorous, but we did learn some interesting facts about Stonehenge. 

 

View when our backs are to Stonehenge

 No one really knows who did this. It had to be a large community of people, seeing some of the stones weighed 40 tons and can only be found about 250 miles away from where Stonehenge actually is (meaning they traveled far to pick the perfect stones for their...temple? burial ground? spaceship landing?) .

 The inner stones are called blue stones and were the stones that traveled 250 miles to get there. They are thought to have a special energy (because of the amount of heat that they radiate compared to other rocks) and healing powers. I got to touch one...let's see if it heals the crazy out of me!

This is just a remnant of what it used to be, and about 1/2 of it is missing. Stonehenge started being built 3000 BC (although took several stages and centuries to complete), so some rocks have fallen, while others have been moved and used by other people that have inhabited the area in the past 5000 years.

Me listening all about Stonehenge

 Something interesting- 1/3 of the rocks are actually underground! Also, Stonehenge used to be in a circle with the "tall rocks" being in a circle and horizontal, smaller rocks connecting them on top. I learned on my audio that the tall rocks were carved with a tongue and groove joint for the horizontal rock to balance on. Listen to me, sounding like I know what I'm talkin about!

 

 

 Some people believe that Stonehenge is at an "energy" hotspot and that is sits on a network of ley lines...seems a little cuckoo to me, but who knows! There is no doubt a bunch of mystery behind it.

One last interesting tidbit: It is built in a way that the rising sun of the summer solstice is exactly 180 degrees from the setting sun of the winter solstice. Also, it is thought that the community used the placement of the sun on the stones as their calendar.

 

 

 

 

 We were bummed that we couldn't get closer to the stones, but it is understandable. Before English Heritage had it roped off and set up as a tourist attraction, people would come up to the stones and carve a bit of rock off it to keep as a memento or for good luck!

 

 

Too cool for Stonehenge

 We were really blessed with sunny, albeit freezing and windy, weather. It was supposed to pour all day, and we didn't see a drop of rain during our whole trip!

For some reason, this picture cracks us up. It looks like I'm trying to sell the audio guide or a trip to Stonehenge or something. I look like a cheeseball!

 I wouldn't recommend JUST going to Stonehenge. It is too long of a drive for how long you can actually spend there. We were there for 50 minutes- just enough time to listen to the audio, take some pictures, and buy some souvenirs. However, after waiting 15 minutes past schedule, our bus did end up leaving a couple of people behind! Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere- there are no taxis or train stations! We hope those people aren't camping out at Stonehenge currently, and also that they learn the common decency to BE ON TIME!

That's better! I never thought I would need sunglasses!

 So, if you want to go to Stonehenge, I would recommend making a day out of it and also hitting up Bath like we did or the Salisbury castle. Don't go expecting to be totally amazed or wowed. I mean, it was amazing but...eh, I just can't appreciate it. Sorry!

Creepy...looks like the Stonehenge aliens made an appearance in our picture, too!

 I hope you all have a marvelous Monday! My next post will be about our trip to Bath!