Weekend Update

Ok, so I haven't been updating quite as regularly as some people think I should, so I thought I'd just post a little something.

If you've never been to Stonehenge, I'd recommend going before they put up the observatory that they're planning. As it stands, you can't actually touch Stonehenge (well, maybe you can, depending on how fast you can run and touch the stones before the guards get to you and drag you away, but I certainly wouldn't suggest it). Stonehenge, in itself, is quite lovely. The enormous blue stones (which actually look a bit smaller in person), are surrounded by miles and miles of countryside. Aside from the small path (and various other bits and pieces that accompany a tourist attraction, like a food shop and a gift shop), there's a highway that runs past it, but beyond that, it's just green, a sprawling sea of green. There were sheep grazing about twenty feet from the tiny humanity-ridden path, and a significant number of tourists seemed to find the sheep equally interesting, although the tourists didn't seem to hold much interest for the sheep.

I don't know how advanced ovine intelligence is, but I'm guessing the sheep were just wondering why the freaks on two legs were taking pictures of giant rocks ("Hey, Bob, why's that weirdo taking pictures of me? I haven't even done my hair today!). Anyway, it is quite worth seeing and I got a lot of lovely photos. It really does have an aura of mystery around it, altough I think that's primarily because we ascribe so much to it. There are also burial mounds around it, one within easy view of the path. It is quite beautiful, and far more worthwhile than many other things, if it holds any interest for you, and it does spark the imagination like few other things do, but don't buy that bollocks about aliens.

That same day, we went further out to Bath, which really is a beautiful little city. It's basically in a basin, and much of the architecture is original 18th century, although it was bombed significantly during WWII. There are baths (because of natural hot springs deep underground, thanks to some prehistoric rainfall) dating back to Roman times, when London was the tepid backwater of a larger empire. These are on the bottom, about twenty feet belowground, as mud has built up over the years, there are several levels of bathhouses built on top of each other. It is an interesting tour, but gets dull quite quickly (particularly if you're hungry after a two-and-a-half hour bus ride), and when you get right down to it, it is really just a lot of hot water. And while the town is quite picturesque, and the abbey is quite lovely, taking pictures of steam rising off of hot water is only interesting for so long. There is quite a lot of good shopping in the village, and a wonderful spa (a relatively inexpensive one, I've been told).

Oh, and if you're thinking of partaking of the amazingly 'curative' waters of Bath during lunch (which you can, if you wish), don't. At least not unless you're going to have plentiful access to a toilet for the next several hours.