Wednesday: Day Tour; Stone Henge, Bath, Stratford on Avon

Wednesday saw us on our first day trip in since being in the UK.
We got up at 6am and headed into the city to catch our bus and after a short wait we were on our way with 21 others to see Stone Henge.

(1) Stone Henge with Mikey & Margie. (2) Me looking chuffed to be there.

It was a beautiful day and there weren't too many visitors there when we arrived which made the viewing extra good. The history of the place is pretty amazing, There has been a Henge (Henge just means circle) in the same spot for more than 5000 years! First was a lump of wooded ground 8000 years ago, then a man made hill and ditch 5050 years ago, then a wooden circle 4600 years ago, then the first stones arrived all the way from South Wales (240 Miles away!) 4500 years ago. They were changed many times over the next 1000 years.

Recently a king was found buried near by with the earliest ever recorded gold artifacts and it is thought to be one of the Southern Welsh kings who oversaw construction of the first stone henge.

But you're not all here for a history lesson.

Next came "The George" an 800 odd year old pub with a license that dates from the 1300s. We had lunch and a cheeky pint here, the beer was good but the roast tasted like it was cooked sometime in the 1300s.

The George (with original Oak beams from the 14th century)

After the George we headed into a beautiful city called Bath. No photo we took of Bath gives credit to how beautiful it really is. We were visiting the Roman baths here but couldn't help feeling that we might need to come back for a weekend soon.

The Roman Baths were fascinating and I think that Mr Lanham will be proud of the interest I still have in Roman history (it is his fault I love it so much).

(1) The view from the roman baths to the Bath Abbey nearby (2) Me looking chuffed again, this time in front of the baths

After Bath came a 2 hour drive to Stratford on the Avon River. This is the birthplace of John Shakespeare and more relevantly his son William.

The house he was born in is still standing and is now a museum devoted to him, it is also rather beautiful.

We finished the day with a farewell for our flatmate Kylie at a pub called the white horse. There are photos after this point but they are best not put on the blog I think ;)