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June 17, 2013

Monday 17th - Bath & Stonehenge & Salisbury

We're currently on a tour bus to bath, Salisbury & Stonehenge! 2 hours to bath, an hour to Salisbury, then a short trip to Stonehenge. A whole day trip with a tour guide (who has the best posh English accent). Great commentary! So great to hear about the history of Britain and not just about the buildings by the roadside. The rule of Cromwell and the only British king to be executed. How pub fish and chips are not the proper authentic fish and chips! Handy to know, we would have gone to a pub. The reason why they drink ale warm and the difference between traditional ale and lager. 
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Loving this tour guide commentary. He answered a question ma and I had been wondering about - they drive on the left hand side like we do, but stand on the right side on escalators? We were standing on the left casually on a really long escalator at an underground stop and the guy behind us obviously realised we were tourists and suggested we stand on the right (that's when we noticed all the signs lol). Apparently it's because when the English pioneered moving stairs everyone was afraid and wanted to hold on with their good hand, most people being right handed. We stand on the left because that's where we drive (and walk on footpaths). I'd never heard that explanation before. Interesting. 
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Okay, so bath is probably the most beautiful place in the world so far and I want to live there. You don't realise how big it is until you leave and look back from a distance. The buildings are just beautiful! We visited the Roman baths. Mind blowing that so much of it is still in tact. Imagine being the excavators who discovered it. After a stop at the gift shop we wandered through the small but busy streets and found some traditional fish and chips with vinegar! Vinegar? I suppose we use lemons. We got so caught up we almost missed the tour bus and had to run about trying to find where we were. Now we're off to Salisbury. Giant horse and australian defence force symbol in chalk hills are magnificent! Also, thatch rooves are still a thing. The building below is Bath Abbey. 
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Salisbury cathedral is beautiful and tall and intricate and gothic. Huge spire added post-completion that makes some points of the cathedral lean over 40cm! Salisbury is all about clotted cream apparently, so we stopped to have scones with jam and cream... And another hot chocolate with whipped cream D:
Also the home of a well preserved copy of the magnatcarta, the first notable democratic document. Hand written on a sheepskin, it's hard to believe it still looks so good. 
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Stonehenge is so commercialised! I thought it would be in a field in the middle of nowhere, but it's so close to the road with a car park and a gift shop! All I could picture was the doctor who episode that was shot there. Certainly a fantastical explanation of the purpose for the stones. 
R

2 comments:

  1. When I lived in Melbourne all fish and chip shops offered you a sprinkle of vinegar on your fish and chips. Up here in QLD not so...
    Tis truly delish did you try some?

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