It was a rainy morning, and it took both of us so much efforts to get out of bed early at 6am, because rainy days are a great excuse to continue sleeping under the warm covers. But we’ve already paid for the tour, so we had to get up anyway, despite the lack of sleep. Breakfast was a chocolate pastry I got at Portobello Market yesterday. The hot chocolate in it was a great way to start the day after we’ve toasted it a little in the oven.
Headed out to the tube to get to Victoria’s Station. We were almost running late, but managed to make it in time to get onto the bus before it departed. Got good seats on the upper deck of the bus, and there were about 62 of us for the day tour. The journey from London to Stonehenge took about one and half hour, and when we got out of the bus, it was freezing due to the strong cold wind, and full of curious tourists like me. The guide also pointed out to us that the mounds near Stonehenge were actually Neolithic burial mounds, and the larger ones had group burials in it.
Probably after all these years of reading about Stonehenge, I had a ‘hmmmm’ moment, because, it wasn’t as HUGE as I had imagined it to be. Maybe you kind of unconsciously built up some sort of expectation towards it. Yet, it is still fascinating because the original purpose it was built for is still shrouded in mystery, and us modern people can only dispute what it was used for. Not to mention to mention the vast amount of burials near it, which also adds a hint of pre-historical culture, and maybe knowledge connected to the mystical world, which has been long lost to our modern society by now for all we know.
The only annoying part was the horrid weather at Stonehenge that day. The wind was too strong and chilly, so it was very tasking to actually stop and even try to take a decent picture of the monument without your fingers going numb from all that wind and cold. We wrapped up our audio tour as quickly as we could, for the comfort and warmth of our tour bus. Malaysians are terrible in dealing with chilly weather!
Leaving Stonehenge behind, we set out for Bath, which was about 45 minutes away. Most of the buildings were honey coloured, and the guide informed us that the stones used in building them were called Bath stones found in the same area. It was originally a Celtic settlement until the Romans came, and turned it into a grand bath house. They sure know how to enjoy life!
The first thing when we reached Bath was to make a dash for Sally Lunn’s Bunhouse. There was already a queue but it didn’t deterred us from waiting, and we finally got a seat upstairs, near the window with ample sunlight! Oh how I missed the sun!! Can’t help but to be appreciative of its heat after going through that chilly weather out in Salisbury plains.
Since it was just nice for lunch, we had savoury buns and I went for the chicken breast, bacon and cheese, and it was delicious beyond words. My friend ordered the salmon but I still preferred mine. After we wiped our platters cleaned, had a peek downstairs before heading out to walk around the town. My friend dragged me to a half-priced bookstore, and we got some good books at very cheap prices.
Wandered around the town, soaking in the atmosphere before gathering again at the square for the 2 o’clock walk up to the circus and the crescent, led by our guide. Both were magnificent for us, especially the crescent! There was a fair going on in front of the crescent, on a large stretch of field filled with inviting green grass, so we slipped out from the group to sit on it.
A nice and friendly man was playing old music from bygone days, so the atmosphere was just nice to enjoy the sunshine on the grass. It was windy and comfy, and my friend brought out snacks for us to eat while lying on the grass, writing postcards to our family back home. Felt almost like paradise.
Made a move back to the town to post them and made a stop at the Bath Abbey. It was beautiful inside, but they were having a service soon, so I couldn’t stay long in there, plus our bus was leaving at 3.30pm and we didn’t want to miss it.
Heading back to London, we were caught up in a jam, so it wasn’t till 7pm when we reached Victoria Station. For dinner, we decided to head to the Breakfast Club to have a full English breakfast for dinner to end our day.
この長い旅で 