Day 8 (Part Three): Stonehenge (and countryside)

I originally didn't even plan to go visit Stonehenge, as to me it really isn't all that interesting, but ultimately decided that it was something I should see since I was in the area anyway, if for no other reason then to be able to say I've been there when I'll inevitably asked. As expected it is terribly touristy, and everything is roped off so all you can really do is walk in a circle around the outside and take pictures. Like the first two places on the tour there is an audio guide that gives you some information, but there wasn't anything terribly groundbreaking.

(A couple on the tour got me to take a picture of them and offered to take one of me in return. The one I took of them was much better cropped :p)

After Stonehenge we headed back to London. Here are a few pictures of the country side, although I don't remember exactly what stage of the trip they were taken at.

So once back in London I grabbed some dinner and sat around waiting for 4 hours to take a night bus to Chester. Where is Chester and why am I going there? It's a city of about 80,000 right on the border with Wales up near Liverpool and Manchester, and my reason for going there specifically is purely random for the most part. I basically wanted to go somewhere smaller and less busy and just relax for a few days. I originally planned for York (which I may go to yet, still debating) but there were no late buses there. The ride to Chester was from 11:30pm - 5:00am or so, so I figured I could grab some sleep on the bus and then check out the town until I checked into my hotel in the afternoon. I thought it sounded like a decent plan, but in practice it was a bit rough. (see next post!)

Day 8 (Part Two): Bath

Bath was known historically as a type of spa that was based around natural mineral springs that were supposed to have a healing effect. It was a posh venue in Roman times for the rich to show off and gossip, and after a period of decline the city had a revival sometime in the 1500s. Although our focus was a tour of the ancient Roman Bathhouse there was also a large amount of old architecture in honey coloured stone that Bath is famous for.

There were quite a few street performers around, such as musicians and a juggler, and the bathhouse itself was right across the courtyard from Bath Abbey.

I didn't spend too much time at most of the displays as they seemed geared more towards kids (or at least people who haven't studied Roman history and culture) but some of the information on the engineering of the building was very interesting. We were all warned not to drink from the central bath itself (as the water is untreated and ducks hang out in it) but there was a fountain at the end of the tour where the water is safe to drink. It was warm and you could definitely taste the minerals, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I've had a bit of a sore throat since around then though, but I'm not sure if it was because of the water or just coming down with a bit of a cold since it has been damp and chilly for the last couple days now.

After the tour I grabbed a couple Cornish pasties from a shop for a quick lunch before the bus got back. On the way out of town I managed this picture of the city below which I'm quite proud of. The bus had two rows of two seats, and I was on the far right taking a picture out the left window, arcing my arm up to try to get over people's heads and timing things for a clear shot between trees as we drove by. (Of the 5 pictures I took, this is the only one that's even remotely decent)

Day 8 (Part One): Windsor

Going to be a big string of posts here, to bring my account of things up to present. Breaking my tour from yesterday into the 3 stages, begining with Windsor Castle.
After my experience almost missing my walking tour the other day I was a bit paranoid a bit catching this one, especially since it departed at 8:30 in the morning and I was also checking out of my hostel, so there would be some overhead. To make things worse, apparently Sunday night is when the all older gentlemen of the neighborhood come to the hostel pub and get rowdy. It was an interesting evening as this room full of 60 year old+ men drank, sang (constantly and loudly), swore and danced while all us 20-somethings retreated away to the sleeping rooms early to chat quietly and get away from them. Ultimately I got up around 4:30am and used my computer for a bit (this is where I left my charger *sigh*) before checking out and heading to Victoria Station to catch my bus. The group was a pretty mixed-bag. Most people were in couples and families, and I am pretty sure I was the youngest of the non-families, but not by so much that I felt terribly out of place.

Once we got to Windsor we worked our way up the hill and after waiting in the queue for a bit got let into the walls. Because of the nature of bus tours we had designated times we had to meet back at, so there was unfortunately not much time to wander and explore, but that's the nature of bus tours. From the walls you have a nice view of the city down below, as well as the nearby Eton College, which is probably considered the most prestigious public school in the world.

The outside of the castle and the few gardens that were visible were pretty nice. Since it's the Queen's active home there is obviously a lot of security around and most of the grounds are off-limits.

The really interesting part of the castle is the state apartments, but unfortunately there's no photography allowed inside them. They are by a good margin the most lavishly decorated rooms I've seen. Highlights for me were Queen Mary's Doll's House and some of the rooms with elaborate weapons and armor displays. The Doll's House is impressive for the detail it contains. All objects in it are actual functioning miniature copies of real things. The silverware is real silver, the paintings are done in actual paint, the book's are bound with real paper and have actual stories written in them and the little miniature wine bottles contain real wine. There is even a set of crown jewels that are made as miniature copies of the real ones, using the same materials just to 1:12 scale.

Also on the grounds was St. George's Chapel, which again you couldn't take pictures in. It is filled with intricate hand-carved wood and stonework, and there is quite a lot of history in it. Since it is chapel to the Order of the Garter there were a fair number of displays relating to the order as well, and you could go into their main chamber and see all their heraldry.

We also happened to be there at the right time for the changing of the guards, which only happens every other day. Personally I don't happen to find it terribly exciting, and there were a lot of crowds around, so I just caught a few random bits as I wandered by.

After that is was back onto the bus to continue on to Bath.

Quick Notice: Update

Minor crisis averted. The fallout will be that from now on (even when back in Canada) I'll need to use an adaptor to UK plugs, and that it set me back another unwanted expense. Could have been worse. Now I'll to write some updates on the last two days. They've been busy ones.

Quick Notice

So because I forget things a lot I've apparently now lost my tablet charger and my outlet conversion thing, and so I have very little battery left and no immediate way to recharge it. I'm going to see if I can find any where I am now to buy, but the odds aren't the greatest. I have a few other options, but basically I might be out of touch for a bit.

Day 7: Last Day in London

A bit behind schedule on this one. Sitting here at 5:00am while I wait to head out on my bus tour, but probably won't be able to post this until later.

For my last full day in the city I went to a few of the big London museums, the British Museum and the V&A (Victoria Albert). Both had some pretty amazing things although it was a bit sad as well knowing the history of how they came ot have a lot of those things. I stuck to the free parts, as none of the paid exhibitions were so important for me that I wanted to pay the cost. The highlights of the British Museum for me was probably the Greek areas, especially the Parthenon room, and the rooms dedicated to watches and clocks, which had some incredible clockwork devices. Seeing the Rosetta Stone was also pretty cool. The V&A is a museum of art and design, and like with the British Museum the part I loved the most was the sections on statue as well as architecture.

The Rosetta Stone (British Museum)

Statuary from the Parthenon (British Museum)

Clock that uses gravity and a rolling marble to keep time (British Museum)

Truth overcoming Falsehood statue (V&A)

Samurai display (British Museum)

Day 6: More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from the Street Art tour as well as a picture of my fish & chips lunch and the vintage flea market. Will do a post later tonight for todays activities.

One of many Pablo Delgado pieces in the area. He puts tiny little paste ups along the bottoms of buildings so that they are hard to spot, then paints shadows for them on the ground to give them a 3D feel.

Forget the name of the artist for this, but that was our guide standing next to it.

Alexandre Fato. His work isn't created by adding paint to a wall, but by chiseling out the wall to create a relief.

Fish & Chips

The Vintage Flea Market