Monday, July 19, 2010

Stonehenge, or what to do on an unexpected day in England

The morning dawned with our only plans being to have breakfast
(included with our room) and return for another trip through history
at the British Museum. Our planned tour of Canterbury and Leeds Castle
had been cancelled, and we had "seen and done" all of the highlights
that had made our list. So while the boys were still sleeping, I went
for a chat with Steve, the wonderful concierge.

I had a fleeting thought about a matinee at a theater but of course
the theaters are closed until the evening. I knew the boys would not
endure a whole day at the British Museum even though DH could.
Besides, we had spent time there yesterday and by my count were over
two hours already there.

The concierge gave me a few suggestions and offered a tour booklet to
see if that sparked anything for me. It fell open to an afternoon tour
of Stonehenge... we had both the time and the funds (thanks to the
refund for the cancelled tour), so Steve checked the availability and
was able to make all the arrangements for us!

DH was delighted that one of the pickup points for the tour was at the
Royal National Hotel, just a three minute walk from the British
Museum, so on the way, we dashed through the European rooms and
brought our collective time to past the three hour mark. Which is what
we had negotiated for a time limit so as not to only see the British
Museum on our visit to London.

Our Stonehenge Express tour is through Evan Evans tours. They were
prompt with the pickup times and surprisingly, the motorcoach was full
after our last pickup. It is a warm day, hitting about 80, and
thankfully the air conditioner is working. We didn't always have that
experience on our other tours throughout this journey.

So Stonehenge. Wow. What an amazing site. No way is this just an
ordinary pile of rocks. About seventy miles southwest of the greater
London area through the rolling hills and wide opened fields, this
wonder sits in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. But what a rich
and mysterious history this place has. Stonehenge is an English
Heritage site. They have an audio tour that takes about 45 minutes if
you listen to all the components and explains the site as you stroll
the path around it.

1 comment:

  1. I was at Stonehenge when my boy B was 8 months old. I therefore could not use the audio tour, because the baby would have ripped the headphones off my head! But I appreciated the audio tour just the same because everyone else was listening, so it was a peaceful experience. Unlike my tour of Mammoth Cave, when I was stuck next to the world's loudest woman who talked non-stop.

    Tracy (of S97)

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