LD2!

London day 2 saws us on an 8 hour tour (yes 8 hours) to go to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the city of Bath which the last two are out of town so are quite a drive and would explain why it takes the whole day. Woke up bright and early, jammed onto a bus full of other tourists with our humourous Scottish Guide and off we went!





First stop was Windsor Castle, now used primarily as one of the residences of the Monarchy. Windsor Castle was originally built by William the Conqueror who reigned from 1066 until his death in 1087. The castle formed part of his defensive ring of 9 castles surrounding London, the site chosen in part because of its easily defendable position and is the only of these original 9 standing today.






second stop was Stonehenge, which was about a 45 minute drive from Windsor castle but with a car accident on the highway, the bus driver took a detour that amazingly still got us to Stonehenge in good time and also got to see the nearby barrows which are just big green hills, but also large grave sites.

Stonehenge is located near Amesbury in the English county of Wiltshire, about 13 Km north of Salisbury and consists of a circular setting of large standing stones and is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world and one I have been anticipating to see. I didn't realize they have been so withered and now the stones are smooth and many gone missing though it may have looked like this.







Last stop was the city of Bath, which is famous for the only naturally occurring hot springs in the UK and it's Roman historical associations and architecture which of course vastly differentiates from the rest of the country.




The town has gorgeous architecture and historically has been a place of entertainment and healing due to beliefs of the medical benefits of drinking the water (tastes like water used to boil eggs). Other than the baths, there are historical sites documenting their best known resident Jane Austin too.



After a long day of touring, went to Harrods, the UK's most famous upscale department store before it closed for about an hour. This was a MAD HOUSE as the 28th marked the first day of it's post-Christmas sales. Tina bought some purfume at 50% off and later that night said she wanted to get some more...


Dinner was at a Korean restaurant in Chinatown which was kickass and the prices weren't too bad this time (but I say that because as we expected, we started to get "use" to the prices in the UK).