Travels Around England

On Wednesday, I hopped on a tour bus with my friend who met up with me in London. The bus took us to three special places in London, and I will very quickly describe them here.

STONEHENGE

This place was very cool, and very old. Our tour guide seemed to have an encyclopedia in his head, and told us everything there is to know about Stonehenge. Unfortunately, my head is more like a drainpipe, and has the retention of such. So I will just try to summarize what I can remember from the tour.

Stonehenge was erected around 5,000 b.c.e, I think. No one has any idea what it was made for, and who built it, and how. There are lots of theories though. Our tour guide happened to have been involved in the most recent excavation on the site, so he told us what he currently believes. They call the first builders of Stonehenge (the ancient inhabitants of the area) the Beaker People. This is because in most of the uncovered burials and tombs, the people have been buried with their own beaker. Many many years ago, an initial version of Stonehenge was built as a huge ditch and a big bank next to it. A while later (maybe a thousand years or so?), a slightly bigger version was erected with huge slabs of stone brought in from very far away. Then about a thousand (or so) years later, a larger version was built around the smaller one, with even bigger slabs of stone. The slabs came from very far away, over on a coast of Wales. No one knows how they transported these 50,000 tons slabs, since the wheel wasn't invented yet and they didn't have efficient ships.

Archeological findings have given us a few facts about the Stonehenge-era people though. There seems to be evidence that there were in fact human sacrifices at Stonehenge. Archeologists have found three separate bodies at Stonehenge with skulls cracked straight down the middle, with an axe or sharp rock thing. But there are other beliefs that the rock circle was used as a hospital, since many of the skeletons buried nearby are not in perfect condition. But also, there are certain theories about its religious aspect, because the circle of stones acts as a perfect calendar. The sun rises and sets over a particular arch during one month, and then moves to the next arch in the next month. Some people think that this deals with some pagan religions, or something of the sort.

Another interesting fact about Stonehenge. Those beakers that were found with all of the buried bodies in the area - remember them? Well - scientists didn't examine them very closely before. But after they did tests and stuff on them, they discovered that the stone material of the beakers came from Tibet. TIBET!! This means that the ancient peoples of Eastern Britain were in contact with and in fact TRADED with other cultures around the world, specifically those in Tibet. Archeologists are thinking that the ancient people even had whole trade routes set up around the world. (personally, I don't think that the idea of extra-terrestrials is that far-fetched.. I mean, it would explain the easy transportation of the stone slabs, the inter-cultural trades/connection, and the worship of the sky. And hey, aren't there other theories about the aliens coming down and giving the same ideas to the different ancient peoples of the world - i.e, pyramids, farming, etc etc..).


BATH

Bath was a very pretty town. It was majorly built up during the Georgian period, so I believe it is now referred to as the "Georgian city of Bath." Everything is very Georgian in style: distinct stones and architecture, and wide 'promenade' sidewalks on which the citizens would parade through town to see and be seen. The city was originally founded around the Roman baths that used the natural hot springs for bathing. Now, there's still the "pump room" where you can drink the nasty old water and see the baths (I didn't do it - you have to pay to go in). But I walked around the town and saw the arboretum, some old buildings, and the Jane Austen Society (did nto actually go in - it required an entrance fee..). Also, we happened to come across Johnny Depp's house, without actually knowing it was his until afterwards when our tour guide told us which street he lives on. You can see the house in my pictures.

Also in Bath, we saw the Assembly Rooms - these were several rooms in a huge building, where ALL the social events were held in the 18th century. The Master of Ceremonies at the time, Beau-something-or-other, was in charge of arranging, scheduling, and conducting all events. They could only be held at the Assembly Rooms, and everyone had to follow special conduct rules and the such. I got to go into the Ball Room where all their parties were held back in the Georgian days. It was cool. Bath is also famous for being the setting for a couple of Jane Austen's novels (my favorite, Persuasion). It was cool to walk along the streets that Austen described and see some of the buildings that she knew.

The town was very classy, it definitely had that element of high English society. Our tour guide told us that the typical social agenda for a day was this: 8 am, wake up and have breakfast, then parade around for a while. 12 noon, dinner. Dinner consisted of 15 courses, each course accompanied by one bottle of port per person (yes, that is 15 bottles total per person). Then you sleep and rest for the afternoon. 6pm, beginning of evening social activities. Spend the night at parties, 'wining and dining,' playing cards, dancing, general merriment, etc. At the end of the night, some ladies would hire guys to carry them home up the hill, in little lifted seats with poles through them. These guys would carry them straight up the hill, into the house, and even right into their bed! Then you sleep for what remains of the night, wake up, and start all over again. Pretty tough life.


STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

As cool as this town was, the only part I can remember is being so upset that I didn't get to see the portrait of Shakespeare. Very recently (like last year, I believe) someone discovered a previously-unknown portrait of Shakespeare that was painted during his lifetime (unlike the other one, which was made after he died). This portrait had just been inherited in an estate by a duke or earl, or something. It supposedly shows Shakespeare much younger, handsomer, and quite wealthy. But the stupid tour leader at the Shakespeare Birthplace foundation rushed us right by the portrait. Afterwards, I tried to get back in to see it, but they had already vaulted the painting up!!!! I was so angry.. this portrait is really the thing that made me consider going to England in the first place! (but I just finished sending an email complaint, and I also bought a postcard version of the portrait at the bookstore).

But trying to get past that unhappy part, the rest of Stratford was very nice. It was kind of like Verona, I think. A small homey town, with a few big sights that reel in visitors from across the world. We saw the churchyard where Shakespeare is buried, and also walked a little through the town and saw some super old buildings dating from his time. The actual "Shakespeare Birthplace" is really his father's house. He was born there, supposedly, and later on he bought a house with Anne Hathaway farther away. The garden of the house was nice because the Shakespeare Foundation people planted it up with flowers and plants that Mr. Will mentions in all his plays. The actual house was decorated with some Shakespeare-contemporary furniture and the such, not such a big deal. I think the coolest part of Stratford was the tiny glimpse of the portrait that I kind of saw as we flew by with the tour guide.

Also in Stratford, I had my first Americano coffee while in Europe. Also, a fly flew straight into my eyeball but fell out as soon as I freaked out. That's not very exciting, at least, not for you. I'm sure my pictures will be more exciting, as soon as they upload. I'm having internet connection troubles at my hostel right now, so the photos will have to wait a little bit longer.. sorry. You'll just have to be happy with my long-winded description.

Next update: Wales!