Stonehenge and Bath

This Saturday DJ and I boarded a Premium Tours bus and ventured off to the English Countryside to see two English Heritage sites - Stonehenge and Bath.

It is estimated that Stonehenge was built between about 3100 BC and 2400 BC. The problem with being so old is that we have no good historical preservation of what the site was actually used for.  We know that it is perfectly aligned with the Summer and Winter solstices.  Depending on the month of the year the sun would shine through a different one of the stone structures.  Thus, the only definitive use that our walking tour would confirm for us was that it was some sort of a calendar for the neolithic people who build the structures. All else, stories of worship or sacrifice, is speculation.  

The stones are clearly enormous, but what we can't see is that a full one third of the stone is placed in the ground.  What's more, some of the stones were hauled from distances several hundred miles away.  Whatever it's use, it must have been something important enough to inspire these people to put forth great effort to build these structures.  

 Boarding the bus for another adventure!

 Yes, we were here

Just hangin' at the 'henge

After Stonehenge, our bus took us to Bath.  Bath is famous (to me, anyway) for two reasons: It the site of an ancient Roman Bath, and Jane Austin lived there for a time, and used it as the setting for many of her books.  

Bath was built by the Romans sometime around AD 60, about 20 years after they arrived in Britania. They discovered a natural hot spring (it must have been a real treat after arriving in such a chili country!) and built a bath house around it.  A temple was build adjacent to the bath for the goddess Sulis Minerva.  The site was used both as a public bath house and as a place of worship.  

In the early modern era the city underwent a significant amount of development during the Georgian era, and it now sits as a very pretty Georgain city in the middle of the hills of the English countryside.  Because we were on the tight schedule of the tour, we only had time to see the Roman Bathhouse, though I look forward to going back to see the Jane Austin sites and take in more of the beautiful architecture and pretty scenery. 

 When we got in to town I was starving!  It was nearly 1:30 and we hadn't eaten since breakfast.  First order of business was to fill our empty stomachs.  We ate in the pump house adjacent to the bath.  We weren't supposed to have cell phone inside the restaurant, so I tried to slyly snap this picture on my way back from the bathroom - hence the very poor framing.  The cool part is, doesn't it look like a ball room where Jane Austin's characters may have come? The food was quite nice and the atmosphere was very fun.

 The Bath abbey.  Next time we'll try to go in.  No time this time around.

 The main bath.  In Roman times there would have been a high vaulted ceiling over the bath.  

 Where the hot spring runs in to the bathhouse.

 The sacred pool for the goddess Sulis Minerva.  People would write curses against other people who had done them wrong and throw them in to the pool as a sort of prayer to the goddess.  So much for forgiveness,  sometimes you just need a good curse on your enemies ;-p

The Bath countryside - more to come, we (we meaning Michelle, DJs not so interested in the Jane Austin aspect of the city) definitely want to come back!

Friday night shout-out to English food.  How about pizza, a slice of fig and proscuitto, or leak and potato, on cornmeal crust?  It was amazingly good, we practically licked the platter clean.  Definitely going back for more, who wants to join us?  :)

Yesterday (Saturday), we donned our walking shoes, boarded a train, and headed for Paris for an all day adventure.  True to DJ & Michelle travel form, we walked 11+ miles through the city of Paris, seeing as much as we could of the city on foot and enjoying every minute of it.  By the time we boarded the train for the return journey our bodies were exhausted and I couldn't help but sleep through most the 2 hour train ride home.

We had to leave at 4:50 to catch the train.  No alternative but to have breakfast in Paris.  DJ had this yummy looking crepe and I had a french omelet.  I love the water pitcher and glasses!

After breakfast, our first point of destination was Arc du Triomphe.  This monument is familiar to DJ and me because the final stage of the tour de France is in Paris and takes a 7 lap route that passes this monument.  The arc stands 126 feet high and honors those who fought and died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.  It was commissioned to be built in 1808, but wasn't completed until between 1833 and 1836.  Laying the foundation alone took 2 years! In 1840, Napoleon's remains were brought back to France from Saint Helena, passing under the arc on it's way to his final resting place. It is now the rallying point of French troops after military victory.

Triumphant at the arc du triomphe

Behind me is the Champs-Elysees.  The bikers in the tour ride up this street, around the arc, and back down again in the 7-lap course on the final day of the tour. This, apparently, is on of the most famous streets, and most expensive real estate, in the world. You can kind of tell from the pictures - the trees are all trimmed to be square.  Kind of interesting.

Walking from the arc, you approach this plaza that leads to the Eiffel Tower, the most iconic Paris landmark. It was erected in 1889 as the entrance arc to the 1889 World's Fair (the World's Fair was to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution). It is the tallest building in Paris, at 1,063 feet tall.

Yes, we were here :)

Parisian bridge spanning the Seine. 

The Louvre Museum.  Hopefully we'll make it back to Paris and actually go inside.  Today was for walking and seeing the sights, though.  This building was originally a fortress, built in the 12th century.  It became the royal residence in the 14th century and remained such until Louis XIV chose Versailles as the royal residence in 1682.  It is quite a magnificent structure with a huge park like area leading to the building full of statues and sculptures.  Quite impressive, can't wait to go in!

Notre Dame Cathedral. We took a river cruise up the Seine.  At one point you round the corner and there is the cathedral, quite an impressive sight from the river!  Construction began in 1163 and was completed in the mid 1240s. Much of the religious imagery was damaged or destroyed during the french revolution.  The lines were too long for us to have time to go inside, but we will be back and we will go in!

This is a picture of my very-good-sport-husband.  After sight-seeing all day we found a lovely french restaurant, looking forward to a delicious meal.  The menu was in french, but had english translation.  DJ found a dish that was translated as meat pie, sausage, and other tasty type meat dishes (so it sounded).  The picture above shows what they brought out.  The "meat pie" tasted like spam.  The sausage looked like it they used the pork intestine for the casing.  One of the meats tasted like un-cooked bacon (according to DJ; I never would have tasted it).  The only saving grace was the cheese and baguette that came with it.  I would have sent it back for something else, totally willing to pay for two dishes.  Not DJ.  He bravely tasted all of it and ate what he could choke down.  What a good sport!  We ate some yummy french pastries (crepes, macaroons, and cheese cake) to make up for it :)

Cleopatra's Needle, an Egyptian Obelisk dating back from 1450 BC.  Now that is old!  Where else would you find a ancient Egyptian treasure than in the heart of western Europe?  It's not really Cleopatra's needle, by the way.  That is just the popular name.  It dates back to 100 years before her time. It was erected by Thutmose III in 1450 BC.  It was inscribed upon by Ramesses II about 200 years later to commemorate military victory.  It was moved to a temple in Alexandria by Cleopatra. The ruler of Egypt gave this obelisk to France in 1826, and King Louis-Philippe had it placed near the spot where Louis and Marie Antoinette were guillotined in 1793.

At the train station ready to go back to London.  What a long, adventurous day! 

Our 11 mile trek through the city.  

DJs Temple Trip

Last Wednesday DJ took a trip to the LDS Temple.  It's called the London Temple, but perhaps should more accurately be called the temple south of London - because it's not even remotely in London.  After a 20 minute tube ride, a 45 minute train ride, and a 3 mile rainy walk through the English countryside (people less frugal than us take a taxi), he finally arrived.  It was an all day event, but totally worth it.  He spent some time walking the grounds - the temple sits on 32 acres of very beautiful English countryside, and then attended a session.  I can't wait to be able to attend with him next time!

Short video of the temple grounds, produced, filmed, and narrated by DJ Shelton

So pretty!

 Beautiful!  I think this calls for a day at the temple with a picnic lunch on the grounds after a session

Another fun week in England!  Michelle's work is going well, and DJ gets closer each day to having the edits ready for his paper to resubmit to the journal for publishing.  Life here is good.  Here are some clips from this week's adventures. 

 Dinner Friday night at a Lebanese restaurant near our house.  Hummus and falafel for starters, then really delicious lamb and chicken.  Tasty!

 We attended Evensong at Westminster Abby Sunday.  The choir was beautiful, and it's always fun to learn about how other religions worship and show their devotion.  The Abbey inside is beautiful.

 Saturday we went on a London Walks tour of old Westminster.  Edward the confessor, an early king of England, lived on "old London," east of the Abbey.  In his desire to ensure his entrance into heaven, he decided to build a place of worship, or minster, west of where the heart of London was in that day - and this became Westminster.  He built a palace and a monastery on what is now Big Ben (the site of the old palace - since burned down) and the Abbey (the original monastery Edward the Confessor build was torn down a couple hundred years later by a King who wanted a more ornate and fancy building).  During the tour, the guide told many fun stories about the area.  This one I thought my mom would appreciate, since she is such a Dicken's fan.  The above church was much hated and publicly criticized by Charles Dickens.  He thought it was the ugliest thing he had ever seen, describing it as a huge beast on it's back with it's legs flailing in the air. I, personally, don't think it's that bad :)

 Anyone have 50 pence for a call?

Racing the sun home after a fun day in the city.  We got caught in the rain with no umbrella (seriously, we've been lugging umbrellas all around England with us since we got here, all for a bunch of sunny days.  The one time we didn't have it with us....)

Cambridge

Monday was a bank holiday, so we decided to take full advantage.  We ventured to Cambridge for another fun day of sightseeing.  Cambridge started as a university in 1209 when students from Oxford, fleeing the hostile villagers, sought another, safer place of study.  The two colleges are now the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country and I sensed there was some competition between the two.

By the time we visited Cambridge we were a little fatigued with paying tons of money to get in to places, so we did our own walking tour.  We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because we found ourselves wandering through the quadrangles and common areas of some of the colleges, and when we exited back onto the streets we passed the entrance gate charging people 5 pounds to get in.  Luckily they didn't charge us 5 pounds to get out, and we got the view for free :)

 Cambridge achitecture.

 The round church in the city streets.

 Fun architecture in the city streets.

 The backside of Cambridge.  You have to pay to get closer up :(

 Ooops, maybe you don't have to pay!  Inside the college, after our wrong turn.

 Inner quadrangle and corridor with cool archways.

 Another view of one of the inner quadrangles.

Hey Whipples, did you know we're famous?  We have our own science museum in Cambridge.  We couldn't go in because it was closed for the bank holiday, but I'm sure it was super cool ;)

Windsor Castle

This weekend we visited Windsor Castle.  Buckingham Palace is the Queen's London home.  She also resides in this castle, as well as others throughout Britain.  It claims to be the home of royalty for over 900 years.  For those of you not planning to own a castle some day, this might seem like a lot of pictures.  But for my little nephew Eric: maybe these pictures from a real life castle of a real queen will give you some ideas for your castle.  

 Approaching the castle from the city streets.

 Again, outside the outer castle walls from the city streets.

 Inside the outer wall of the castle; one of the many wings of the caste,

 The Keep of the castle, the innermost portion designed to be the safe place of retreat, if needed, during a battle.  It's surrounded by a moat that has now been turned into a beautiful garden.

 An inner courtyard, not accessible to visitors.

 These window-like structures are where the archers would shoot their arrows.  The wide inner-opening allowed them to shoot from various angles, while the narrow outer-opening protected them from enemy weapons.

 A better view of the moat-now-garden.  Looks like a wonderful place for a walk!  If only i were a royal...

 St. George's Chapel, the place of worship at Windsor.  We attended a service here.  The music was absolutely beautiful.  We really enjoyed it!

 Another view of the chapel.

We seem to have our best luck with pub food.  This pub, The Three Tuns, is the oldest building associated with Windsor still standing.  There are passageways (now closed) leading from this pub to the castle.  These passage ways were used by King George (I think?  I'm getting all these kings confused) to visit his mistresses. Not only was it a place of historical significance, the food was quite good - a traditional roast dinner with our first taste of Yorkshire pudding.