Day three of being based in London consisted of taking a fairly long day trip to the countryside. Needing a break from the city life, we boarded a bus through the Evan Evans tour company early in the morning to set out for Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Bath! We booked the tour through Viator.com which then serviced the trip to Evan Evans. Before you read what we did for the day, I highly recommend that anyone wishing to take a tour outside of London use this company. The Blue Badge Tour Guide we had for the day was outstanding, the free time in each place was more than enough to see the main sights, and it was a group of about 15 people!
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
Salisbury was about a two hour journey outside of London. I had done the town in 2010 with Syracuse, so I was looking forward to going back and showing my Dad the place. We ended up only having time to see the famous Cathedral, yet inside the Cathedral, there are tons of treasures. We were able to see the famous stained glass windows, one of the oldest surviving working medieval clocks, and saw one of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta.
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| The Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral |
After a quick mid-morning coffee break, our tour group was off the short distance to see Stonehenge. Again, I did this in 2010, so I was more interested in having my Dad see the weird wonder. Although, I had thoughts of my econometrics class and the idea of valuation running through my head as we used the public highways to get there. It was windy at the top of the hill as we made our way around the weird wonder. And, no...Dad did not let me steel any of the sheep.
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| Stonehenge |
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| Dad and Me at Stonehenge |
From there, we took the drive to Bath. Now, I have had Bath on my to-see list for years. In 2010, I was away for the weekend when Syracuse took an excursion to the city. We only had time to see the town centre and the Roman Baths, so I know I will be headed back to do the Jane Austen activities.
The Roman Baths exhibit consisted of an audio tour that described what it would have been like to live in the ancient city. A lot of ruins had been discovered throughout the years, so the exhibit contained a lot of information and artifacts. After having visited Rome in 2010, the ruins at the exhibit rivaled some of the ones I saw there-especially with the explanation of what life would have been like.
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| Head of Mirvena- Goddess |
Eventually, we found ourselves at the bathes level. Some of them have been drained, but the large one was still supplied by the underwater hot springs. You are not allowed to go into the water, but the experience is the same. I imagined what it would have been like to live in the ancient times as well as the times of Queen Victoria when many of the royals traveled to use the cleansing water.
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| The Roman Baths |
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| About to Take a Dip! |
Our day ended with a two-hour drive back into London and an early dinner! We had a lot to accomplish on our last full day in London. Again, you can see why I would highly recommend the Evan Evans tour company. It was an amazing day seeing a lot of the fascinating places- some of them World Heritage places!
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