Stonehenge

On our way out of town heading towards Bath, we tried to not be terrified of the fact that everything including our perceptions were backwards.  I think the not being terrified bit was harder than remembering to stay on the left side of the road.  But we managed to still soak in some idyllic pastoral landscapes.  Of course we could not pass by this way without visiting Stonehenge.

I know I use the word amazing a lot and maybe I should expand my vocabulary but Stonehenge is truly awe inspiring.  From various things that I had heard, in my head I pictured this impossibly massive stone structure, that was set just off the road but far enough away as to fit comfortably within your zoomed in camera frame, and that you couldn't get very close to it.

So when I first glimpsed Stonehenge, my thoughts were that I was much closer to it than I imagined I would be, and that the stones were not as big as I saw them in my head.  They were still impressively massive, but no longer seemed impossible.

We were able to walk around the entire structure, and take pictures at every possible angle.  Every few feet the view was different, new stones visible, and the light changing so we could be amazed anew.  There are many theories, but no one knows why the stones were put there or what would motivate such an epic undertaking.  It is one of the earliest forms of creative expression that I have ever seen and maybe humanity's compelling need for expression, for memory and legacy were motivation enough.  

Tonight we stay over a pub outside bath in a little town called Warminster.

~ Sara

Tiny Tunnel of Death

Today we set out on the road trip phase of our journey, so it was necessary to as the British say 'hire a car'. We returned to the airport and picked up our car for the next 2 weeks. Although we had booked a VW station wagon, we ended up with a Ford S-Max wagon. I didn't even know Ford made Diesel vehicles, much less 6-speed manual transmissions. I've never been much of a Ford fan,but I do like this car, even if they did put the drivers seat on the wrong side.

While this is not my first time driving on the left side of the road, I had no illusions that my time spent driving American made trucks along the desolate roads of the Bahamas truly prepared me for driving in the UK. I also should mention that our Ford S-Max may well be the largest vehicle on the British roads that doesn't qualify as a lorry. I knew there would be some harrowing moments on the legendarily narrow British lanes, but what I didn't suspect was that those moments would start before we left the Airport.

As we left the rental lot we had to circle around to the departure terminal, so that Sara could run a quick errand inside. As we approached the terminal there were two lanes marked for departures . . . I chose the left lane. A few seconds later we rounded a corner and a low wall arose on either side of the car. Then as we completed the turn a one lane wide tunnel appeared a few feet ahead of us. The tunnel entrance appeared to be slightly smaller than a smart car and the interior was forbiddingly dark. I slammed on brakes theming I had somehow ended up in a bike lane, but quickly realized I was not as I noticed the line of cars barreling up behind me, so I did the only thing I could and steamed ahead.

While we fit through the entrance, once inside I realized that there was no shoulder and the sheer walls were only about 6 inches from either side mirror. The tunnel ran for at least a quarter mile of the most stressful driving I have ever done. As we finally escaped into the light, I felt an incredible sense of relief. We had survived with only a slightly scuffed passenger side mirror to show for our ordeal.

~ Shawn

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:LHR - Heathrow international Airport

Outbound

This morning while Candy rested and caught up on her Kindle, Shawn and I took the tube to Camden Market. We could have spent all day (and many Pounds) there in all the shops and street vendors.

Today is a bank holiday, so many locals were out and about. We soon packed up and got a ride to Heathrow, not to catch a flight, but to rent a car. The next leg of our journey was about to begin!

~ Sara


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:On the road again

10 pence tour

This morning we were slower than intended, but we all needed the rest. After some coffee (I had hot tea), we were ready to set out. Since we didn't have tons of time here in London, we decided to take a double decker bus tour of the sites. Our first stop was a bit of a guilty pleasure, but we just had to stop by the Sherlock Holmes museum at 221B Baker St. It was full of Victorian antiques and objects from the novels. The wax figures on the top most floor were 'interesting', but overall worth the visit. Down the road was the place H.G. Wells once lived and wrote, so our literary hearts were satisfied.

We must have taken hundreds of photos around the city today, everything from Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye, and the Tower Bridge. We stopped at the Tower of London, which was fascinating! The hundreds of years of history in that place, and we could explore it. Sitting on the Tower Green on a beautiful summer day, was surreal when you think of all the blood shed in that place. We also saw the crown jewels, which were impressive, especially the Koh-i-Nûr diamond. We also stopped by Parliament, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, to look around and snap pictures. :)

After a (very) full day we had dinner in St. Christopher's square, where we ran across a gallery with some paintings by Bob Dylan.

Time for sleep again. :)

~ Sara

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:The largest city in the EU

First Impressions

The truth is, we have now left London proper but now is when I'm finding the time to sit down and write a proper post. So I'm starting at the beginning. The reason Candy (best mother-in-law ever) and I were meeting Shawn in London was because he was at a conference for work in Copenhagen the week before. We were taking logistical advantage of his proximity to launch the next epic adventure. We knew that if we took this trip, we would constantly be saying "mom would absolutely love this!" so we made her come along. :)

Our first glimpse of England came from the air as the clouds parted and the countryside appeared. I've flown over the Midwest many times and the regular patchwork of square and circular fields is impressive, but the landscape that unfolded below us was amazing. I always assumed the beautiful pastoral landscapes I always admired in art museums were a little impressionistic or surreal. I found today that they are in fact true to life, complete with rounded hillocks, irregular fields boarded with hedge rows, and slightly fuzzy but perfectly shaped trees. The fields led to neat rows of suburban houses, and then, London, full of urban splendor and historic architecture along narrow windy roads.
After we settled in, we began to explore some of these roads. We were staying near the Marble Arch in Hyde Park, and wandered in that direction finding plenty to admire.





Later we met up with our friend Dan who was with Shawn in Copenhagen and had also decided to see London before heading home. Together we wandered aimlessly (the best sort of wandering) in the general direction of the Thames.


We found the US Embassy, many beautiful buildings, and...the underground. At this point we decided it was time for dinner so we went below.

The London underground is somewhere between a labyrinth and an amusement park. I couldn't help but think of the novel Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman where the London underground comes to life, and there are actual black friars at Blackfriars station, and you have to pay a toll to cross Knightsbridge. At one point, to get to our platform we had to go down a few stories of spiral stairs, narrow windy corridors, and then up an escalator. I would love to see a 3D model of the London underground, I have no idea how far under we went, but it turns out that the deepest stations are 221 feet.

The tube took us to Piccadilly Circus, London's equivalent of Times Square. I think it may be even more impressive than Times Square, but that would be because of the well preserved historic buildings were integrated into the high tech bling of massive LED screens. Once there we had dinner at Byron's a place that advertised beef from small farms in Scotland. I'm still not exactly sure if it was Angus beef or Angus's beef, but everything was very fresh and tasty. Full and a little exhausted we called it a night and took the tube back to our hotel.

We slept soundly despite the jet lag, and the overall excitement of being in this place and the anticipation of what we were going to experience in the days to come.

~ Sara


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:London

We made it!

We met up with Shawn at Heathrow and took the train into the city.

While waiting to check into our hotel we found a proper pub (a pub with books!) and had a proper pint while watching west ham get beat in a football match with the locals.
It had every stereotypical English pub amenity, from the real wood paneling and huge stone fireplace, to stained glass, and well used bar stools. The interesting thing was...
This pub also happened to serve excellent Thai food. Yum!

-- Post From Sara's iPhone

Location:Marble Arch

Here we go!

Boarded and ready to go!


-- Post From Sara's iPhone

Location:9A and 9B