Day 4 – Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circle & Bath

Just an aside: not only do Brits drive on the other side of the road but people walk that way, escalators are laid out the reverse of ours and the hot and cold taps are switched around. If that doesn't keep you confused enough, sometimes these “rules” don't hold (except the driving part...)

Jackie had planned a Saturday trip to Stonehenge for those students that wanted to go and she timed it so Chuck and I could be included. The bus ride was a breeze; we left early enough to avoid the incredible crowds that were surging in as we were leaving. Stonehenge is amazing and you get the chills just standing there. They're not sure why it was built but we do know it was a lot of work and all done by hand. Really impressive. It would be fun to be there on the summer solstice, if not to see the sun come through the arches at sunrise then at least to see all the wacky people celebrating!

Jackie had a nice picnic lunch for everyone that included sandwiches, crisps and fruit. The Brits put some pretty odd stuff on their sandwiches...

At any rate, we then walked around the stone circle at Avebury which is very, very large and well preserved, much bigger than Stonehenge. It is a much older circle but the standing rocks aren't carved and they don't form arches, they are just rolled into place and then stood up. A village and two roads pass right through it, so it is more of a “living” circle.

From there we went to Bath to tour the Roman Baths. The National Trust controls most of the historic sites in Britian and seems to do a pretty good job of controlling the flow of humanity. In most of the places we toured, you pay your admission and are given a hand-set that tells you about the things that you are seeing and walking by; these seem to pace the crowds and keep everyone moving at about the same rate. Everything we've seen has been well preserved when you consider the numbers of people that tour them everyday. Everything in England closes at 5pm. Bath was crowded in the extreme but standing on ruins over 2,000 years old makes it well worth the wait and crowds.

We returned back to Oxford around 8pm, tossed in two quick loads of laundry and called it a night.