This morning we got up and headed straight out to Heathrow to get on the tube. Taking the Elizabeth line into the city with our final stop at Paddington station. This is where we picked up the train to Bath. Before boarding the train we grabbed some breakfast a the trainstation. The trip took us about an hour and a half with only three stops.
We got to Bath, and it was raining so we grabbed a cab to the B&B. (₤6). We dropped off our bags and then headed into the city to explore for a while. We walked around until noon and went for our first fish and chips from a restaurant that has been serving fish since 1908. It was good, and they serve haddock, where lots of places serve cod.
After lunch we visited the Abbey before joining our tour of Stonehenge. The abbey has one of the most interesting ceilings we've seen in a chuch since the sagrada familia in Barcelona.
The tour guide picked us up at 2:00pm just behind the Abbey. The tour was quite small group on a small bus which was great. She took us through the country side rather than just the highway so we got to see some interesting things on the way including a free range pig farm where the pigs each have their own shelter. We also saw the worst reviewed hotel in Bath, its a very small castle and apparently the owners are so arrogant that they will not allow guests into it if they are wearing jeans.
It took about an hour to get there but we did get to Stonehenge. They have a reception center where to you buy the tickets to visit the site, this was included in the tour fee. From the reception center they have busses that take visitors to the stones.
The weather was not great. It was raining, and windy, so wet and windy on a cool April day made it quite miserable temp was about 5oC, but that did not distract from Stonehenge. The monument is quite spectacular. Its hard to understand how this was constructed as are many other structures built during this time frame (3000 BC) like the great pyramids at Giza.
We couldn't get close enough to touch it, which make sense, but there is a clear path that takes you around the site so you can get a really good look at all sides of the henge of stones. The rain did make it a bit difficult but at the same time worth it.
We then returned to the reception center where they have a interpretation area describing what they believe how Stonehenge was built and why including each stage and how its come to the state its currently in. We finished our stay with a stop at the cafe to get a hot drink and a quick snack.
Returning to Bath took an hour following a similar path except for one change where we got to see the inspiration for Peter Gabriels song Solisbury Hill. We got back to Bath at 6:00.
We returned to the B&B to get out of our wet clothes and figure out where to have dinner. We checked with the people running the B&B and went to a local pub a which was not far from the B&B, The food was great, Krista had the risotto and I had the lamb.
Tomorrow we expore more of Bath