Trip to England, 1998
This trip to England was something of a spur of the moment thing. We were actually planning a late Autumn trip to Italy (Noi studiamo italiano!), but Alison had to fly to London for 3 days of (database) coding meetings for work (darn!). Suddenly, England sounded cheap (though that turned out to be a misconception), so we started making plans. Richard would do some museums while Alison had meetings, we'd grab a show some night, then get the hell out of London (we spent a week in London in 1994). We decided to do Southern England for roughly a week- Oxford, Cotswolds, Bath, with lots of the requisite side trips to remote archaeological sites. We had a great time! Enjoy the report! Try not to be too confused by the fact that it was written half independently by each of us, and half jointly!
Day 1-Saturday. Arrival in London
We left LAX on Friday evening. Our flight over on British Airways (our favorite airline) was uneventful. The special Asian vegetarian meals we ordered were tasty, and our seats were okay. As always, Richard's favorite part of the trip was wearing the little socks you get in the hospitality pack. We arrived at noon on Saturday. As always the first stop was the ATM, and the second was the tube station to buy our travelcards (these are an absolute MUST for London! £16 for a week and worth every pfennig). Caught the Tube to Great Russell Sq. to get to our hotel for the first night (St. Athans, £48) around 2. The hotel is a spectacularly unspectacular little maze of rooms with that distinctly 'budget' feel. It was relatively clean and quiet though.
We passed out for a couple of hours, then went out for a walk to explore the neighborhood and get used to looking the other way before crossing the street. Wandered around for a few hours over to Leicester square and back, circling the BM and hitting Dillon's (in London for only a couple of hours and we are already buying books!), then found a hotel cafe for some dinner (nothing spectacular- soup, omelet and sandwiches, but it tasted good at the time!). Picked up a bunch of brochures & a Time Out to figure out what to do on Sunday. We noticed how much later the sun sets in London than LA at this time of year, as it was about 10pm and still sunny. Went to bed early, but it was one of those endless post-travel nights where you wake up every hour or so wondering if it's time to get up or go back to sleep.
Day 2-Sunday. London & environs
Meetings don't start until Monday, so we had a day together to explore. Had our first "English Breakfast" of the trip in the 'quaint' subterranean dining room at the hotel (Actually, Richard had two because they lost track of our orders- Mmmm, grease!). We hopped the tube to the Holiday Inn Mayfair, our base (on the company dime) for the next few days. Quite nice, especially compared to previous night's lodgings, in a generic business hotel kind of way, but then the price differential was quite different. Curiously, at £150 a night, breakfast was not included! Go figure.
Our room wasn't ready yet (it was only 10am), so we left our luggage there & headed for Waterloo station on the tube. Our destination for the day was Hampton Court Palace, about a 45 minute train ride from Waterloo (or, as we later learned, a boat trip up the Thames). We arrived at the station & found that a train for the palace was leaving soon, so we purchased cheap day return tickets (£4.10) & got on the train.
The
palace & the gardens were impressive, and in the 5 hours we spent
there we saw only a small fraction of it (we didn't even do the
famous maze--maybe next time!). The palace is partly red Tudor
brick, with lots of fancy, spiraled chimneys, and partly 18th
century, with yellow brick and white pilasters. That was the section
of the palace that burned some years ago, and was just recently
(beautifully) restored. They offer taped tours as well as guided
tours. We did a guided tour of the King's state apartments, with
our guide in late 18th century costume. Very interesting and entertaining!
The king in question was William (of William and Mary); there
was a separate tour of what's left of Henry VIII's Tudor palace
(mainly the great hall remains), but we decided to skip that to
make sure we returned to London for our dinner engagement (with
Alison's co-workers). We also did an audio tour of the royal kitchens,
and a 2 hour tour of the Privy Gardens, which have been recently
restored to the way they were in William's time. Very interesting,
though if I hear about Capability Brown one more time I might
scream! Saw some "Real
Tennis" being played; this is the original form of the
game & is quite different: among other things, the ball is hard
and they play on an enclosed court. The weather was quite nice
today; there were a couple of brief showers (all while we were
inside), but then the sun came out & it was quite nice. We caught the train back to London & had some time to relax over a cup of Peet's (We NEVER travel without our Peet's coffee with us- you should smell our luggage!) before our dinner engagement. We ate at a Turkish place called Sofra, just a short walk from the hotel. Dinner was delicious, and it was good to meet some of the coding meeting participants beforehand. Our dinner companions were: Alison, the woman in charge of creating the coding scheme; Margaret, researcher from Melbourne; Anneke, researcher from Amsterdam. Dinner was over by about 9, and we crashed soon after that. The Holiday Inn was certainly a bit more comfortable than the St. Athans, but there's no way we would stay there if we had to pay for ourselves.
Day 3-Monday. London, Work and Walking
(Alison) The coding meeting begins. I won't bore you with the details, but it was very interesting to meet researchers from other EZI offices. We got breakfast at a wannabe Starbucks ('The Seattle Coffee Company') just down the street from the hotel. We had a nice Italian lunch at a nearby restaurant, and dinner at a fancy place some blocks away ("L'Odeon"). Poor Richard fended for himself with cold sandwiches, potato chips & soda, after spending all day walking around town.
(Richard) Walking all around town is something of an understatement. I set off for the British Museum first thing in the morning, but was quickly sidetracked. Anneke had mentioned at dinner that Buckingham Palace was only across the Green Park from us. Since we missed it last visit, I wandered down for a look. Yay, a palace. Then I started following the lake in the park eastward (with lots of pauses to admire the baby ducks, cygnets and others swimming around. We have more pictures of animals from our trips than any other theme). At the east end of the park I planned to continue on to the BM, but I saw a bunch of artillery and missile launchers in the distance and, being male, I had to investigate (later I learned that they were on display for the Queen's official birthday celebration, the 'Trooping the Color', which was the following Sunday). From there I rounded a corner and saw Big Ben, and had to walk a block to get a good picture. From there I saw Westminster cathedral, and had to go take a look. There was a hideous line (and they want £5.00 to enter!), so I peeked into Margaret's church instead (saw a plaque commemorating Henry Layard's death). As I came out I saw a plaque on the ground announcing the 'Silver Jubilee Walk'.
Sounded interesting so I started to follow it. South past Whitehall
and the Victoria tower. Across the Thames, then north/east along
the south bank to the tower bridge (saw the newly reconstructed
Globe theater.
They were still building it on our last visit). Across Tower Bridge
to the Tower of London (didn't visit it though). You can see where
this is going can't you? The Silver Jubilee walk is listed as
12 miles, and I covered most of it BEFORE getting sidetracked!
I stopped for some trailmix and water in the yard of a little
church by the Tower and relaxed for a few minutes while identifying
bone fragments in the rose bedding (being and archaeologist, I
can never pass by a patch of tilled earth or a pile of dirt),
then got moving again. I lost the Jubilee walk markers, but I
knew they went to St. Paul's, so I went there and picked up the
marker for 1 whole block before losing it again. From then on
I wandered- north for a bit (stopped for a visit at the new Royal
Mail Museum. Free and worth a visit of maybe 1 hour) until I got
to the Barbican (a 60s high-rise apartment/cultural complex),
then west and finally south again, ending up near the BM just
as I was nearing exhaustion and starvation. In my weakened state,
I resorted to a veggie burger at McDonalds (quite tasty, in a
generic-curry-deep-fried sort of way). I decided that the best
thing to do would be take the tube back to the hotel and rest
a bit before dinner (I wasn't invited to the company dinner at
L'Odeon, so my dinner turned out to be take away from the market.
99p World Cup specials!). I pretty much circled all of central
London in about 8 hours of walking. I can't say that this is the
recommended method of sightseeing, but I did become acquainted
with London's fine public bathrooms. Day 4-Tuesday. London and a show
(Alison) More of the coding meeting, including birthday celebrations for 2 researchers. The afternoon was periodically interrupted by flowers, cake & champagne, which made things a bit easier!
(Richard) I finally made it to the British Museum today. As always, it was very easy to go in and never come out again. I visited some galleries that I had skipped before (I tend to bog down in the antiquities), including the medieval tile room (very interesting) and the watch and clock gallery. After 3 hours or so, I had my trailmix and Schweppes bitter lemon on the steps, then started cruising the bookstores in the area. Sadly, second hand books are even more expensive in the UK than they are in the states (even discounting the ridiculous exchange rates) and I left empty handed. I was sorely tempted by a gargantuan 'Craniologica Britannica' though!
Our big evening event was the musical "Chicago." Although it was playing in Los Angeles, we opted for the London production, as the German singer Ute Lemper was playing one of the leads. Instead of queuing for rush tickets or going through a broker, Richard & I found the Ticketmaster UK site was our best option. Not only could we see our seats beforehand, we could complete the whole transaction online & have our tickets waiting for us at the box office. Plus, the Ticketmaster service charge in the UK is only 1 pound per ticket-would that it were so low in the US. Anyway, our seats were great (front row of the balcony) and the production was fantastic. Not only is Ute Lemper a great singer, but she can dance too!
Day 5-Wednesday. London.
(Alison) The last day of the coding meeting (thank goodness!). We accomplished everything we had set out to do, and set up a schedule for the implementation of the coding scheme. If all goes well, we are to meet again in London in October for one last meeting, so it sounds like I'll be coming back in the Fall as well!
(Richard) I spent the day wandering again (I just can't seem to direct myself alone. I need Alison to set a goal!). I stopped by Harrod's and Harvey Nichol's to pick up some required gifts (from the food halls of course). Then I popped over to Covent Garden. The weather started turning nasty as I was cruising through Leicester square. Since the timing was right I decided to go to the movies and see 'Lolita.' To say I enjoyed it is misleading. I thought the movie was quite good, but frighteningly disturbing. The folks whining about child pornography haven't got a clue what the movie is about- destructive obsession. I was pretty wiped afterwards, so went back to the hotel to watch English TV (much less depressing) for an hour before Alison got out of her meetings.
(Alison) Released from my work obligations at last, I went for a walk through Green Park and St. James' Park with Richard, who was eager to show me the wildlife he had discovered there. We found a large flock of mallards, mudhens, geese, swans, and various other fowl, along with their respective offspring. After watching their antics for a while, we walked along the water & noticed something going on at the other end of the park, & decided to check it out. It turned out to be a rehearsal for the Trooping of the Colour, the Queen's official birthday. Parading horses and bands, cannonades and lots of other martial stuff. We stayed through most of the program, the highlight of which was the "1812 Overture" with real cannon. Wow! After this, we walked back to the hotel. I didn't feel like going out, so we got some sandwiches & ate in the room. Richard was heartily sick of subsisting on cold sandwiches, so I promised we would have more hot food from now on.
Day 6-Thursday. London to Oxford.
The vacation officially begins!!!!! Since checkout time wasn't till 1 pm, we slept in, then started our day with some shopping. Richard, in his wanderings, had discovered that the Tintin Store in Covent Garden was having a sale, so we zipped over there to see what was available. After making our (many) purchases, we went over to Knightsbridge to take a quick look in Harrod's. We wandered through the ground floor, got a baguette and lemon curd from the food halls, then went back to our hotel to check out, after which we headed to the Victoria bus station to get out of town (when traveling, keep in mind that the Victoria bus terminal is actually several blocks from the Victoria Station tube stop!). We took the X-90, the London to Oxford express, and though we tried to keep our eyes open to see the countryside, the next thing we knew the bus was slowing down to let people off in Oxford. Oh well!
We arrived at the station at St. Giles & started heading for our B&B. After about a 15 minute walk, which seemed much longer when carrying a backpack & just awoken from sleep & not sure of "how much further", we arrived at the Combermere House, our base for the next 2 days. We were shown to Room 2, with a double bed & a single, WC & shower en suite, a view of the owner's lovely garden, and best of all, instant hot chocolate mix from Cadbury. After baguette & hot chocolate, our outlook was much improved! So, we set out to explore the town.
We walked into the center of Oxford and ended up going through many of the 'main' attractions- Victorian market, Radcliffe Camera, Bodleian, Sheldonian theater. We walked north through the colleges for a while, then went to look for a restaurant that a co-worker had recommended to me. It was still early, and that restaurant wasn't open, so we wandered around some more & found an Indian place called Bagicha that was quite tasty. We managed to avoid ordering the same dishes we always get at our favorite place in LA (India's Oven), and had a delicious meal. After that, we went back to our room & read some of the information on Oxford that the owners of the B&B leave in the foyer. It turns out that we had just done one of the main walking tours described in virtually every guide book. Richard read a tome on architecture and was ready to lead the tour the next day.
Day 7-Friday. Oxford.
Today was the day Richard had been anticipating
& dreading; the pickup of our rental car. After breakfast, we
did some more sightseeing. We went to the top of the St. Mary
the Virgin church tower & took pictures from it, including some
panoramas of Oxford, the Radcliffe Camera and some fun gargoyles,
then walked over to the car rental place (National). Soon, we
found ourselves the renters of a red Peugeot 306, with the all-important
automatic transmission, though the computer said we had requested
a manual, fortunately they had an automatic available for us!
After consulting a city map, Richard had planned a route back
to the B&B that tried to avoid most of the main streets, and it
worked out pretty well, though we were both rather shaky by the
time we got there. Alison kept up a steady litany of 'stay on
the left.' We decided to leave the car at the B&B for the day
& walk around some more, which we did. We saw Carfax tower (the
last of the Saxon city wall towers) and then tripped into the
Ashmolean Museum.
We had lunch at the Ashmolean museum Café, which was very nice. Then hit the museum (hard in Richard's case). We started with the amazing Egyptian collections. I've studied Egyptian archaeology, but had little chance to see good collections in museums. I kept seeing objects excavated by Sir Flinders Petrie himself! It was really amazing. The rest of the museum paled by comparison, but that is not to say that the other collections were any less impressive. We spent enough time and energy that before leaving we stopped in the restaurant again for cream tea on the way out.
That evening we took care of a very important matter: laundry! On our walk the night before, we discovered a laundromat not far from our B&B, so we put the laundry in and went for a walk and grabbed some snacks during the wash cycle. This vital task completed, we went back to the Combermere to bed. The Combermere house is a nice red brick B&B with half a dozen rooms. The proprietors are very friendly. They cook the breakfast (limited, but sufficient).
Day 8-Saturday. Oxford to the Cotswolds.
Since Friday had been so nice, we were hoping that today would be pleasant as well. We were wrong. Saturday started with drizzle and went downhill from there. We had been thinking of going to the Vale of the White Horse, but decided instead to go to Blenheim Palace instead of driving through pouring rain on the wrong side of the road. Richard was doing a good job driving, though the roundabouts were a bit tricky and I had standing orders to remind him to drive on the left every few minutes. Blenheim was built by the first Duke of Marlborough, using a huge amount of money given to him for winning some piddling little battles in Europe. It's also the place where Winston Churchill was born, though he never lived there. Talk about rude houseguests! Drop in, have a kid, convalesce, then move on. We toured the palace, which was very interesting, but IMHO, way overpriced (£8!), and walked around the grounds a bit. They have a small-scale train that takes visitors to another part of the grounds, which had a butterfly garden that we enjoyed walking through, not least because it was warm and heated on a chilly, rainy day!
As we were leaving Blenheim we realized we were on one of the recommended driving tours in our Ordnance Survey Landranger Guidebook to The Cotswolds (Tour 3), so we decided to follow the route. We quickly became acquainted with twisting one lane Cotswolds roads (B roads have 2 lanes!). Our first unplanned stop was at the North Leigh Roman Villa, an English Heritage site. There is only a small sign on a turnout by the road (no more than 4 cars could fit I think). It was still raining, but we put on our boots and slickers, grabbed an umbrella and started down the dirt road to the Villa (only about 1/4 mile). The Villa has nicely restored foundations on 1/2 the site, and a great set of mosaics (which were unfortunately in a locked room, though we could see them through windows. I had fun figuring out the heating systems (too bad they don't have central heat in Britain any more!). On the road again we eventually came over a hill and saw the oft-cited spectacular view of the steeply sloped Burford high street. Burford is one of the many scenic Cotswold villages built by sheep barons out of honey colored limestone. We stopped for tea (we really got used to the yummy cream teas!), checked out a few antique stores and a graveyard (I told you I can't pass one up, didn't I?). It was getting late and we decided to give up the tour in favor of taking a 'main' road straight to the village of Moreton-in-Marsh and the Moreton House Hotel (£48), which was our base for the next few days. After checking in we walked the main street and found an honest to goodness supermarket where we picked up scary prepared foods for dinner. We passed a fish and chips place on the way back, and Richard decided that's what he'd have tomorrow night.
Day 9-Sunday. Cotswolds.
Our target for the day is the Cotswolds Farm Park, but the route ran us through several of the picturesque (you'll probably see that word a lot) Cotswold villages. While these villages are undoubtedly picturesque, they are well known for it, and live off of tourism. Our first stop was Stow on the Wold. This was (here we go) a picturesque little town. There was a fairly large public square around the main church which was empty when we arrived (around 9), but packed with tour buses when we left (by 10). We were conveniently early enough that all the shops were closed, so we were spared antique and tchochke hunting (well, almost. The church had a craft fair where Alison bought her mom a little cottage). We did go walk down some of the forgotten side streets, meeting kitties, smelling roses etc. Much nicer away from the tourist bustle.
Next down the road was Bourton on the Water, called the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' for all the little bridges which cross the river flowing through the center of town. By the time we arrived it was swarming with tourists. We did manage to meet a very jaded cat and chase a few ducks though. One of the popular attractions of Bourton is a miniature village model where all the houses of central Bourton are about 40cm high. Of course, the model village includes a model village, which includes a model village...Really pretty cute (Ugh, why did I say that!?). We were going to grab sandwiches at the market, but the prepackaged sandwiches were expiring, so we decided to live with a candybar for the moment. After a small reversal (one of many this trip) we found the narrow road to the Farm Park.
The Cotswolds Farm Park is one location of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, which is dedicated to maintaining various breeds of farm animals that are no longer commercially bred. We saw Iron Age pigs (a sow and a dozen striped piglets), exotic sheep (including one with 4 horns!), Shire horses (big draft horses), shaggy Highland cattle, and various other chickens, goats, pigs, etc. that were common back before everyone had the same type of farm animals. It was tons of fun! On entry we bought a bag of feed pellets, so we were very popular. There was one section you could go right into the corral with the animals, but there was a 'Warning! Enter at your own risk!' sign. We ignored it and went in. Immediately we were swamped by goats and sheep. Alison wasn't quite aggressive enough keeping them back, and she got mugged. Goats were climbing all over her, leaving her pretty much covered in sheep and goat poop. Thank goodness we were outdoors! She had to make good use of the sinks in the restrooms before I let her in the car.
It started to rain pretty hard, and we took shelter under a tree with a bunch of pigs, cows and chickens. Very Rustic! There was a sheep sheering demonstration which was pretty amusing (unless you were the sheep!). Usually they sheer a couple dozen a day, but the weather was wet and they only had a couple dry sheep.
All this hard farm labor made us hungry, but conveniently their cafeteria is listed as one of the best in the area. We had chicken pies and potatoes, quite tasty and reasonably priced. It certainly was good to get some hot food into us after the chilly rain. Of course, once we got inside the rain stopped.
(Richard) After the Farm Park, we drove to the town of Broadway. We parked on the hill over the town to see the Broadway tower, a folly tower from the last century. We were too cheap to pay to go in though (even though we could see red deer browsing inside the fence). Instead, we pulled out the Ordnance survey map (I LOVE the OS maps!!!) and took a walk down a couple farm roads, through a llama field (there are ALWAYS llamas wherever we go!), sheep pastures and woods. It's a strange sort of place, where you are walking a tree covered road, turn a corner and find a mansion on the hillside. It was all very pretty.
(Alison) We popped down into Broadway then. We had cream tea, of course (highly addicting), and walked around a bit. Most of the tourists had gone, and the shops were starting to close up, but we got some postcards, and a real find for me, a personalized pen with my name spelled correctly. BFD, you might say. I've learned to appreciate things like that because almost everything in the US is personalized "Allison" (note the 2 Ls). In the UK, "Alison" (one L) is the norm. Yet another reason I love England...
(Richard) Back in Moreton-on-Marsh I ran for the chipper stand to find it closed (Sunday night, eh?). We ended up eating leftovers from the previous night. Alison passed out almost immediately, while I stayed up to wash sheep poop off her clothes.
Day 10-Monday. Cotswolds to Bath.
We went to the village
of Winchcombe by way of a very scenic set of one
lane roads (some of them driven several times) on a route that
can never be reproduced. We walked along a part of the Cotswold
way (a footpath that runs some 90 miles through the Cotswolds)
climbing a hill to a Neolithic barrow (tomb) called Belas Knap.
This was fun, but quite a slog, as the footpaths went for a ways
through extremely muddy fields (alternating beans and wheat).
Our boots were water-resistant, but not mud-resistant. Every time
we picked up a foot, we heard a giant sucking sound, and putting
a foot down was also a trial--we slid several times, but fortunately
did not fall down. Belas Knap was extremely neat. It has been
reconstructed to a great degree, and several of the burial chambers
are open for you to crawl into (nice to get out of the rain).
There was nobody else there (we passed people going down on our
way up, and as we were leaving, we saw people coming up the path
(a woman in heels for gods sake!), but that was it). We walked
back down the hill, with a couple of unscheduled detours due to
misinterpretation of the map, got back to the car to change shoes
(boots covered in sheep poop this time) & got to the nearest tea
shop like starving animals. Never has soup, a toasted cheese sandwich
and shepherd's pie tasted so good. (Richard) We spent an hour or so weaving through the countryside trying to get to the Chedworth Roman Villa (a National Trust site which is supposedly one of the nicest Roman sites in Britain). I'll try not to say anything about Women and maps. Then, damn it all, we got to the Villa to find they were closed on Mondays! Argh! So, we proceeded to Bath.
Despite a few moments of sheer terror getting through Bath to our B&B, Highways House (£68). The house is on a busy street, but set back from the road so it is very quiet. It is a big Georgian mansion. We were enthusiastically met by the proprietor, who rambled on for about half an hour telling us where to eat, how to get to town, what to visit, etc. etc. Almost too friendly! Luckily his wife arrived home and needed a hand, so we got to our nice room and collapsed (driving on the motorways was enough to wear me out!). We relaxed and read some of the Bath literature before walking down the hill and into central Bath.
Bath is lovely! If you've never been, you should go. The architecture is very nice & they've preserved things, so you can almost imagine Jane Austen there. Just walking through the center was nice. Within minutes we found Bath abbey (hard to miss) and the Pump Rooms. We were pretty famished so we wandered in search of a restaurant, and decided to eat at Sally Lunn's House. This is supposedly the oldest standing structure in Bath. The foundations (and kitchen-museum in the basement) date back to the 12th century, though there are also Tudor and Georgian renovations (working bottom to top). Dinner was VERY nice. Woodland Pork in a port sauce for me, and Alison had Pasta. The famous Sally Lunn's buns were great too. After dinner and some wine, we hobbled back to our room to crash.
Day 11-Tuesday. Bath.
Bath is a wonderful city for visitors. They
have a great system of free local guides, who take you on a 2-hour
walk through the city & talk about stuff. We started the day there,
walking past the abbey again, Sally Lunn's, the famous 'V' weir
and Pulteney bridge, the Royal Crescent, the Circus and the assembly
rooms (WHEW!). Our guide must have been at least 70, but she out
walked many of the people on the tour. Now, read Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen, and you will run through those exact same locations. Before our trips we always do
a fair amount of research (that's what we do with our lives!),
so as we did the tour, we were actually ahead of the tour guide
on some things. After a pretty miserable lunch at a diner on the
main square (avoid it!), we visited the Roman Baths. The baths
are in a remarkable state of preservation about 20 feet below
street surface. They were 'discovered' when someone was having
water soaking into their basement. Excavations hit the lead liner
of the main pool, still intact after almost 2 millennia!. The
tour is pretty much self guided, with little audioguides with
information if you want it (and are too lazy to read). The baths
are from the only hot spring in Britain, and have been an important
site as long as people have been in the region. My only peeve
is that you aren't allowed to touch the water (though apparently
there is some plan to allow bathing on a different site in the
future). More walking. More gorgeous Georgian architecture. More cream teas. A nice black kitty. The final trudge up the hill to the B&B was downright painful!
Day 12-Wednesday. Bath and Stonehenge.
The famous Assembly Rooms in Bath were heavily bombed during the 'Baedeker raids' during WWII (along with Bath Abbey), but they have been wonderfully restored. Or at least that's what we were told. We couldn't actually go into the rooms because there was some sort of radiology convention being held there. We could only peek through a doorway past some poster boards to see some crown moldings.
The basement of the Assembly Rooms houses the Museum of Costume, one of the largest collections of clothing in the world. It was quite interesting, discussing the development of styles and materials through the ages (the oldest dress is from the 1400s). It sort of peters out around the 1900s though. The scariest part was the 'Dress of the Year' gallery, where top fashion editors pick the outfits they think are most influential in a given year. Yipes there was some scary stuff!!! You have to see the 1970s wedding dress that is described as 'a timeless design'- It looks like a clown suit, with big puffy sleeves and giant polka dots!!!
A short visit to Bath Abbey (which was originally
started in the 1400s and finished by the Victorians from the original
plans), looking for memorial plaques for famous people. It's probably
the prettiest church I've ever been in. Very Gothic. We would love to spend more time in Bath. It is certainly worth a few repeat visits. But, we had other urgent plans, so we hopped in the car and headed for Stonehenge.
(Alison) Given some of our previous misadventures on the English roads, I was watching the map carefully to make sure there were no wrong turns. We're driving along & have seen several signs announcing that we were approaching the site, but still nothing. I'm almost starting to think we'd passed a turn-off for it, when suddenly--Hello! There's Stonehenge as a sort of island between the two halves of the road. What do people who drive that road every day think about it? Is it just another landmark on their way to or from somewhere? I can just imagine it, "Oh good, there's Stonehenge, that means I'm almost home. Man, I've got to pee!" Meanwhile, here are tourists from all around the world in raptures over being at the site (us included). Go figure.
You still can't go up to the stones, but the ugly fence that used to be around the circle is gone. What I found most amusing was what I called "discount Stonehenge." Though the fence around the circle is gone, there is still a chain-link fence around the perimeter of the site. Lots of people who didn't want to pay the £3.90 or whatever it was to get into the site would park in the car park & walk past on the side of the highway, taking photos through the chain-link. One guy held up his girlfriend so she could get photos without the chain-link interfering. C'mon guys, suck it up & pay. It's STONEHENGE! And please, no Spinal Tap jokes.
(Alison) The White
Horse of Uffington is a stylized figure of a horse that was carved
into the mountain thousands (well, not many) of years ago and
nobody knows why. It became quite a popular pastime, and there
are many white horses dating from the 12th century to the 20th.
As opposed, of course, to the Cerne Giant, a stylized figure of
President Clinton (bad joke, sorry). We walked up to the horse
and another old hill fort that was nearby (through hectares of
sheep poop again. Recognize a theme here? Our cats are going to
love our boots when we get home), then drove on to Oxford and
a final night at the Combermere house.