As the coach left London, we got a bit of a tour of London. It was interesting, because they were places that weren't on my long "to see" list, but still very interesting. Then, as we made the drive to Stonehenge I took a nap, catching up on the sleep I'd lost by getting up so early. I only woke up when the tour guide (a blue badge tour guide, he boasted) announced that we would be arriving shortly. Then there it was....Stonehenge. We got off the bus, and had about an hour to wander around the stone circle with our audio guides. It was great - still fascinating in person, regardless of how many photos you've seen. Speaking of photos, I probably too at least 100, here's a small sampling of what I saw.
Then it was on to Bath. In Bath the first places I checked out were Bath Abbey and the Pump Room of the Roman Baths. In the pump room I tried some of the spring water - it was not to my liking, it tasted a bit metallic and was warm (the biggest reason I didn't like it, as I like my water ice cold).
After this I grabbed a pasty for lunch and set off for the Fashion Museum. They had a neat new exhibition of wedding dresses through the ages (not that I'm getting any ideas), as well as some really old period clothing including dresses and gloves. It was a neat place a bit off the beaten path, so I'm glad I made it there.
I then met up with the tour guide for a tour of Bath. We went to Bath Abbey (which I'd already seen on my own), past Jane Austin's house, to the circus and crescent - some architecturally really neat buildings that are curved (also, interestingly where a lot of period films are shot). Here's a photo of the circus:
After the tour we went back to the coach, and made our way back to London. Once I got to London, I went to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. The National Gallery was not really my cup of tea (there were way too many Mary & Jesus paintings, if I never see another one outside of a church again it'll be too soon), but when I got the the impressionist section, I really enjoyed that, as I saw a few of Monet's water lily paintings and they are very pretty and pleasing to the eye. The National Portrait Gallery was also very interesting, it was neat to see the portraits of all the royal "characters" you hear about while taking tours of London.
From the galleries, I headed to the Tower of London again to get some photos of the Tower Bridge. The sun had just set, so the bridge was all lit up and made for some great photos, like this one below.
Afterwards I made my way back to the hostel for some well-deserved rest.
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