Merry Ole England - 23 July 2011

When most people think of England they think of Merry Ole England which some academics call the Southern Metaphor. They imagine lush and painstakingly planned-to-be-wild gardens, thatched cottages, cobblestone lanes, afternoon tea, rolling green fields, and cheerful, friendly people with classy accents. While this image isn't wholly conclusive of Southern England, for what I saw Saturday it is a pretty good fit.

First we hit some more Celtic sites namely Avebury Ring, Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow Down. the Avebury Ring is a group of massive stones arranged in many circles. Some have been shaped and some have not. The use of these rings remains unknown. While there, we ran across a man who told us that this was the best place to meditate and if we were interested we could buy a map of the rocks and what their powers were from him. Some stones, he said, connected you to your previous selves. Another stone assisted you in sending love across the universe to anyone. Although I didn't buy a map, I did attempt to meditate on one of the rocks. I definitely connected to the earth before I bust up laughing.

My special, contemplative friend

Silbury Hill is an ancient, man-made burial mound created almost 5,000 years ago. It was so large - about the same size as the Great Pryamid of Giza. What people were able to accomplish centuries and centuries ago continues to amaze me! Unfortunately the giant structure is "delicate" and we were not permitted to climb it or else I would have, for sure.

At West Kennet Long Barrow Down I wished that I was shorter and had hairier feet because the place practically screamed Lord of the Rings. It doesn't help that everywhere we go is some sort of "Shire". For those of you who have actually read the books and not just cheated and watched the movies (This is no diss on the films. I love them. But you can't be a true fan - or fully understand this next part without having read the books.) your ears should perk up when you hear of "Barrow Downs". These ancient burial chambers are one of the hobbits first adventures as they flee from the Shire. The West Kennet downs were impressive as well. It looks like an elongated bump in the land but once you get up closer you see a doorway framed by massive monoliths. And then you go inside and see rooms held up entirely by those same sort of huge rocks. And then you realize you are standing in someone's grave. It's eerie and exciting all at the same time. Compared to the hobbits', my experience at the Downs was much less harrowing and dangerous but I enjoyed myself all the same. It's just funny to me that Frodo, Sam and I were all with someone named Tom at the Barrow Downs.

Next we took a windy drive through the country side and some quaint towns until we reached the pinnacle of pagan druidic mysticism. Stonehenge. I can't describe how badly I have ached to see and experience Stonehenge. I had been prepped by Tom, Susan and Hannah that it might be a bit of a disappointment because we would not be allowed to wander among the henges themselves, just perambulate around with the other hundreds of people there to marvel and wonder. But I didn't care. There was a huge crowd and we couldn't get very close but it was still fantastically awe-inspiring. Sitting on top of a wide green plain and framed by nothing but the sky, Stonehenge is beautiful. I was and still am at a loss for words about how looking and seeing and experiencing Stonehenge made me feel. When we got back into the car I told Susan that I needed a poem because normal speech wouldn't suffice. Cheesy and dramatic but true.

 

After Stonehenge we traveled to the town of Salisbury to see Old Sarum, a Church and the Cathedral. Old Sarum is basically a dual-level, dual-moat hill that once held the castle, cathedral, and town of Salisbury until about 1200 A.D. It was nice to walk around, look at the old foundation of the cathedral and watch the vikings reenactment actors milling about.

The Church of St. Thomas was a very pretty, ornate building. It's most memorable feature to me was the tall columns and the lid of the baptismal font. It was suspended from the ceiling on a chain that was connected to a counter-weight and wound through a double-pulley system. This made it light and easy to lift even though it probably weighed as much as I do. (That's an exaggeration but it would be very heavy.) I mostly just appreciated the cleverness that went into creating that small system.

Then it was off to Salisbury Cathedral. This cathedral is famous because it has the tallest spire in all of Europe. A grand total of 404 feet folks! And it was tall, so tall it looked crooked. The funny thing at the cathedral was these random sculptures of modern, generic people had been placed on the exterior, the interior and in the gardens. I still don't know why they were there. On a side note, I really liked the city of Salisbury. It was clean and picturesque with colorful shops and a slow winding river in the middle of downtown that was filled with swans.

The tallest spire on a cathedral in Europe. Sorry it is such a dark picture.

Then finally we went to that beautiful tourist trap that is the town of Bath. Bath is everything England ought to be in the mind of a Jane Austen fan. I really felt as if we had stepped into one of her novels. (And at one point I literally stepped into one of the adaptations of Persuasion.) The gorgeous, golden, Georgian buildings lining every street rose high and classic above our heads. I loved the Circus, and the Royal Crescent but it was more an atmosphere rather than specific landmarks that made Bath so fabulous.

An overview of Bath

Where the kiss in the movie "Persuasion" takes place

The Circus

The Royal Crescent

After walking around a bit, taking note of the Jane Austen museum and visiting a few gift shops we walked down to Bath Abbey to listen to an Evensong. This was very relaxing. The Abbey is absolutely gorgeous and the sermon, mostly the music, was very pleasant to listen to. The music ringing in those stately halls was worth sitting on the stiff uncomfortable benches.

Then Neoma and I finally visited the attraction that gave the town its name, the Roman Baths. The rest of the group had already seen them in previous years and didn't want to pay again. I wasn't really sure what to expect and having no expectations I was completely blown away. The Baths were simply breathtaking. Before you see the Great Bath you are taken through a museum of sorts that show you finds of the excavation of the bath, as well as what an archeological dig looks like. I loved seeing all of the Roman artifacts that had been found there. Shoes, money, curses people had written on others for the gods, tools, just anything you can imagine. But more impressive was the engineering capabilities the Romans had! They harnessed natural hotsprings into a complex plumbing system and then built fabulous structures around them. I took about fifteen minutes to just sit on the edge of the Great Bath to do some people-watching and enjoy the atmsophere of the place in general. I dipped my fingers into the waters because they are supposed to be magical and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The water was warm but gross looking. That is why I couldn't bring myself to drink some (purified of course) in the pump room. Apparently it tastes like...well poop, so I don't think I missed much. The springs were believed to have healing powers even before the Romans came. It is said that a Celtic prince inflicted with leprosy bathed in the waters/mud and was cured. I don't know if that is true but I like to think that it is.

 

Please take note of the huge crowd. We luckily went later when most had left so our wait was relatively short.

I think it's fair to say that Saturday we really were tourists seeing some very important major sites. I, personally, have absolutely no problem with that because it was one amazing day.