Fly Tipping: £2500 Fine
(One of the few things Bath taught me. Also, treacle sponges are amazingly delicious!)
Friday morning came with the earliest wake up call I've ever had in London - 5:30am. The entirety of our flat arrived at the London Center right on time at 7:15, ready to head to Bath and Stonehenge via Avebury and Glastonbury for a couple of days. I lost my morning high when I sat on the bus, a pattern of exhaustion that descended upon me every single time I sat in that seat. We took nearly one and a half hours to arrive at our first stop, Avebury, which is the largest Neolithic 'henge' monument in Europe.
Supposedly, it rivals Stonehenge in impressiveness, though I must say, I can't agree. It was certainly worth going to, but the fact that it rained (and I'd left my umbrella on the bus) probably didn't help the flow of positive feelings toward it. The rocks were big as were the ditches; take away the rain, mud, and cold temperatures, I think you have yourself a very nice henge.
I couldn't shake the cold and, upon our arrival at Glastonbury Abbey, Erin and I eagerly went into the gift shop to gain some warmth and escape the rain, leaving the exploring for a bit. Once the shivering subsided, we ventured out into the Abbey, home of King Arthur's grave. We looked around one building for just a minute before the whole group left for the Tor, some 521 feet up to the top. Memories of the White Cliffs came flooding back to me as I struggled for breath and my legs wobbled up the many many steps. I really need to get in shape. Once I could breathe again, the view from the top was spectacular. St. Michael's Tower stood above us, where legend has it Guinevere was imprisoned. I had enough of the wind and headed down to the bottom where I waited for the rest of my flatmates to make their way down too. Glastonbury, as a town, is extremely interesting and I really wish we'd had more time to explore it, but such is the nature of cramming so much sight-seeing into two days. Erin and I went back to the Abbey to actually explore. The Abbey is in ruins, but I don't think it could be any more gorgeous than it was. The ceiling-less buildings seemed all the more majestic and overwhelming than they would have otherwise. We found King Arthur's grave, some Roman mosaics, a tower, and the remains of a dining hall in which I leaped from stone to stone almost successfully. It was fun. We headed back to the gift shop to collect some souvenirs and boarded the bus for Wells.
Our destination at Wells was the Cathedral. I don't have many pictures and none of the interior as there was a fee to take them and we started the tour before we had a chance to pay. You'll just have to take my word that it is the most glorious and beautiful cathedral I have ever seen; both the inside and outside were beautifully ornate and, unlike so many other cathedrals, had a central theme of life rather than death which shone in almost every detail. Our tour guide was fabulous, bringing so much of the cathedral to life saying adorable things like "running out of puff" that amused me greatly. Pictures wouldn't have done it justice and neither can I. Just see it if you ever get the chance.
From Wells the near-100 of us travelled to the Bath YMCA to stay the night. We arrived at 6, had quite the confusing time getting checked in, and split off to find our rooms. Jessie, Meg and I had a triple across the hall for Paddy and Erin's double. The beds were comfortable but I was wholly unprepared for a dorm-style bathroom. Ugh. Ten of us - the girls downstairs and our entire flat - went in search of dinner, getting lost several times along the way and requiring help from Bill's group as well as some locals. Finally, we found a good pub and filled up. Dessert! Erin and I split a treacle sponge which was the best thing I have ever had, though I don't really know what it is and, therefore, can't really describe it to you. Just trust me and eat one. Or twelve.
In the morning, the bunch of us went to the Roman Baths Museum. We had nifty audio things to explain everything; I especially loved the children's option on them. Meg and I took pictures galore and touched the water we were apparently not supposed to. We didn't taste the one you could taste though, mostly because we couldn't find it, but luckily we didn't because reports were that it tasted like eating coins. Yummy. We perused the souvenir shop and wandered the streets a bit before becoming engrossed in a most interesting display of street-performance. I'll leave it at that. Bill took the group up to Queen's Square with a big obelisk, the Royal Circus, and the Royal Crescent. Afterwards, Meg and I went in search of food and got lovely cheap baguette sandwiches and continued around the rest of Bath looking for gloves. I also bought slipper-boots!
We hopped back on those welcoming buses and drove the fun hour to Stonehenge! Erin had a script of the audio tour and we congregated around the markers as she read to us all about it. We took picture after picture, including some of eating Stonehenge (only a few of which were successful). Then, we came home.
Friday morning came with the earliest wake up call I've ever had in London - 5:30am. The entirety of our flat arrived at the London Center right on time at 7:15, ready to head to Bath and Stonehenge via Avebury and Glastonbury for a couple of days. I lost my morning high when I sat on the bus, a pattern of exhaustion that descended upon me every single time I sat in that seat. We took nearly one and a half hours to arrive at our first stop, Avebury, which is the largest Neolithic 'henge' monument in Europe.
Supposedly, it rivals Stonehenge in impressiveness, though I must say, I can't agree. It was certainly worth going to, but the fact that it rained (and I'd left my umbrella on the bus) probably didn't help the flow of positive feelings toward it. The rocks were big as were the ditches; take away the rain, mud, and cold temperatures, I think you have yourself a very nice henge.
I couldn't shake the cold and, upon our arrival at Glastonbury Abbey, Erin and I eagerly went into the gift shop to gain some warmth and escape the rain, leaving the exploring for a bit. Once the shivering subsided, we ventured out into the Abbey, home of King Arthur's grave. We looked around one building for just a minute before the whole group left for the Tor, some 521 feet up to the top. Memories of the White Cliffs came flooding back to me as I struggled for breath and my legs wobbled up the many many steps. I really need to get in shape. Once I could breathe again, the view from the top was spectacular. St. Michael's Tower stood above us, where legend has it Guinevere was imprisoned. I had enough of the wind and headed down to the bottom where I waited for the rest of my flatmates to make their way down too. Glastonbury, as a town, is extremely interesting and I really wish we'd had more time to explore it, but such is the nature of cramming so much sight-seeing into two days. Erin and I went back to the Abbey to actually explore. The Abbey is in ruins, but I don't think it could be any more gorgeous than it was. The ceiling-less buildings seemed all the more majestic and overwhelming than they would have otherwise. We found King Arthur's grave, some Roman mosaics, a tower, and the remains of a dining hall in which I leaped from stone to stone almost successfully. It was fun. We headed back to the gift shop to collect some souvenirs and boarded the bus for Wells.
Our destination at Wells was the Cathedral. I don't have many pictures and none of the interior as there was a fee to take them and we started the tour before we had a chance to pay. You'll just have to take my word that it is the most glorious and beautiful cathedral I have ever seen; both the inside and outside were beautifully ornate and, unlike so many other cathedrals, had a central theme of life rather than death which shone in almost every detail. Our tour guide was fabulous, bringing so much of the cathedral to life saying adorable things like "running out of puff" that amused me greatly. Pictures wouldn't have done it justice and neither can I. Just see it if you ever get the chance.
From Wells the near-100 of us travelled to the Bath YMCA to stay the night. We arrived at 6, had quite the confusing time getting checked in, and split off to find our rooms. Jessie, Meg and I had a triple across the hall for Paddy and Erin's double. The beds were comfortable but I was wholly unprepared for a dorm-style bathroom. Ugh. Ten of us - the girls downstairs and our entire flat - went in search of dinner, getting lost several times along the way and requiring help from Bill's group as well as some locals. Finally, we found a good pub and filled up. Dessert! Erin and I split a treacle sponge which was the best thing I have ever had, though I don't really know what it is and, therefore, can't really describe it to you. Just trust me and eat one. Or twelve.
In the morning, the bunch of us went to the Roman Baths Museum. We had nifty audio things to explain everything; I especially loved the children's option on them. Meg and I took pictures galore and touched the water we were apparently not supposed to. We didn't taste the one you could taste though, mostly because we couldn't find it, but luckily we didn't because reports were that it tasted like eating coins. Yummy. We perused the souvenir shop and wandered the streets a bit before becoming engrossed in a most interesting display of street-performance. I'll leave it at that. Bill took the group up to Queen's Square with a big obelisk, the Royal Circus, and the Royal Crescent. Afterwards, Meg and I went in search of food and got lovely cheap baguette sandwiches and continued around the rest of Bath looking for gloves. I also bought slipper-boots!
We hopped back on those welcoming buses and drove the fun hour to Stonehenge! Erin had a script of the audio tour and we congregated around the markers as she read to us all about it. We took picture after picture, including some of eating Stonehenge (only a few of which were successful). Then, we came home.
posted by Megan at
7:17 AM
1 Comments:
I loved the new pictures!!! Are you taking these pictures with the same camera I gave you!! If so, it is still doing a great job for you!! It's like we're right there with you!!
Love,
Dad
By
Dad Krzyske, at 5:05 PM
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