One great thing about England being a relatively small country, is that it is easy to travel to see the amazing sights it has to offer.
We were very excited to visit Stonehenge. The drive to get there from our house is about 3 hours.
The guided tour uses little phones that you listen to as you move around the monument. The placement of the stones is thought to have occurred around 2500 B.C. There are about 20 different types of stones in the construction of Stonehenge. One type used, blue stone, is found in the country of Wales from an area about 160 miles away. These stones weigh several tons each and were placed in pre-dug holes in the ground to give the stones a standing appearance.
There are several theories about how Stonehenge was built and its various uses throughout history, but the gist of what the tour said is that they really do not know.
I say Aliens built it.
Following our Stonehenge tour, we hopped back in the car and drove about an hour to our next stop, Bath.
This region of the country (the southwest) looks very different than the "East of England" where we live. Near Bath the landscape is dominated by dramatic hills and an emerald countryside.
As we drove into the city, we descended into the Avon Valley from the south and had the most breathtaking view of the city as it climbs up the opposite side of the valley.
Bath was first established as a spa resort and built in 43 A.D. by the Romans. Bath was one of the farthest reaching outposts of the Roman Empire and this area was used as a spa because of the natural hot springs located here.
The city experienced a period of great expansion in the 1600s when the Georgian style was popular. Many of the buildings in the city are this style and made of stone from the surrounding region.
This is a shot from inside the Roman Bath museum with a view to the cathedral outside.
This museum also included an audio tour and had many great artifacts from the Roman period.
This city is currently popular for spa getaway weekends and has some amazing festivals in the summer months.
We learned the hard way about afternoon traffic and country roads. It took us 5 hours to get the 179 miles back home! This is a city I definitely plan to visit again.
