Spoiler alert: Stonehenge was totally built by aliens!  (Just joking)

How I got to Stonehenge almost requires a post all to its own, but since I can’t remember everything with crystal clarity I can cram a lot into a post.  The truth is that even though our class was studying in Harlow, which is a hell of a lot closer to Stonehenge than Newfoundland, our teacher did not have a trip planned for us to go to Stonehenge.

But the Business/English students studying abroad did.  Their teacher had planned a trip to Stonehenge and Bath sometime in January, which myself and 3 friends found out about.  So we decided to see what we could do about getting in on that.

It was more complicated that we thought.  There were 4 of us, but only spots for 2 people for Stonehenge (Bath had no group limits).  We did a draw and myself and S (my roommate) won, meaning that we could join the group to walk around Stonehenge!  J and K were sad, but S and I convinced them to join us anyway.  After all, the students going on the trip were planning to spend the evening before drinking in London.

I’ve always maintained that I did not have the proper-college-thought-process while I was in school.  The though of drinking all night before leaving at 5am to drive to Stonehenge and Bath was inconceivable!  In the battle of Alcohol vs Stonehenge, Stonehenge totally wins!  But alcohol won for so many other people, which meant that there was more than enough room for the 4 of us to join the Stonehenge group tour!  (good for us, bad for them).

So at 5 am myself and 3 friends found ourselves on a bus, headed to the most awesome collection of stones in all of England (probably).  We arrived at the site by 7am.  Since we were a school group we were allowed to cross the tiny rope barrier that surrounded the stones (but we had to do so before the site “officially” opened for other tourists).

Yes, I stood in Stonehenge.  I touched the stones, walked around the inner circle, and generally geeked out.  If I could go back in time, I’d totally relive this experience over and over again.

There was probably some kind of a tour with interesting information, but I barely remember it.  I mean, seriously, I was in Stonehenge!  There’s a stone that looks like a face, and the locking mechanisms that they use, carving the stones so that they fit into one another, and then the stone with the dagger and axe indentations…  Awesome.

After our tour was finished we went out for breakfast and then on to Bath!  I now know of Bath (after reading a bunch of Jane Austin), but back then I pretty much only knew of it as a place with hot water springs that the Romans had built.  The bus dropped us off in the middle of some kind of main-street-area, by Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths, and a place that sold awesome fudge.

The tour was pretty interesting, even if my headset went on the fitz and I had to go back and get a new one.  I will say, though, that I’d rather listen to an actual person rather than listen to a pre-recording.  But there were some nice mosaics and objects to look at.  The statues around the top of the bath are really nicely carved and the inner bath seems like a whole different thing (it’s a cold bath inside). 

I will say, however, that I did not touch the hot water.  The steam rising off the water was proof enough to me that it was warm (especially since it was January).  And after my friends touched the water and said it was kind-of gross, I really didn’t want to take a turn.  But even though you can’t really spa at Bath, it’s still fun to wander around.