Field Trip - Stonehenge and Bath

Our budget is tight on this journey, and we make it a point to be mindful of every aspect.  We have to remind ourselves that we’re living more as residents of the areas in which we’re staying and less as tourists.  With that thought in mind, we’re constantly seeking fun, educational activities that are low-cost or free, and it’s surprising how many major attractions fall into these categories.  Deena will be writing about the budget portion of our trip in later chapters, and I mention this now only to say that we decided to blow the budget by visiting Stonehenge and Bath.  We felt that we owed the two students of the Southern Cross Academy (that’s our homeschool) and their headmasters a field trip to these two icons of England.  Through her researching prowess, and the awesomeness of the internet, Deena was able to book an all-day excursion to Stonehenge and Bath which included travel in a double-decker coach, a tour guide, and discounted tickets to the attractions.  We left our flat bright and early at 6:45 AM in order to make it down to the Victoria Coach Station by 8:00.  We grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich at our beloved neighborhood Subway, and off we went.  At this time of morning, the tube was packed with people going to work, and we shoved ourselves right in there among them.  

Victoria Station was buzzing with activity by the time we arrived, and we had a bit of a freak-out moment when I thought my wallet had been nicked on the train.  Turns out I had absentmindedly placed it in another pocket, and after suffering major eye rolls from my crew, we ventured on.  We found our coach platform, met our guide, and had a few minutes to spare, so I figured I had better visit the loo before boarding the bus.  Turns out it costs 30 pence to visit the loo, and I had to buy a cup of coffee to get change, and of course the coffee consumption eventually results in another trip to the loo—I hope others can see the diabolical nature of the mini-racket going on here.  We boarded our coach and chose seats on the upper deck at the back where all the cool kids go.  Our guide’s name was Sinead, an energetic Irish lass who quickly and efficiently set the tone for the day and informed us of the schedule.  Travel time was about an hour and a half between stops, and we would have two hours at Stonehenge and three hours in Bath—perfect.  After several weeks of problem-solving and figuring out travel issues, it was sooo nice to sit back in a comfy seat and have others work out all the details.

Sinead gave us a great history lesson about Stonehenge about thirty minutes out, and she was very thorough explaining the procedures at the visitor center.  She also told us about the Druid priestess who sits in the visitor center every day to answer questions about her ancient form of religion.  She’s not allowed to approach visitors, but tourists are free to engage her in conversation.  Sinead said the priestess was easy to spot by just looking for the lady wearing goat horns.

After spending millions of dollars on hundreds of archeological expeditions and speculation resulting in thousands of doctoral theses, scholars can agree that Stonehenge is old and made of stone.  The mystery surrounding this place is profound and draws close to 1.4 million visitors to the plains of Salisbury every year.  The suspense was building as our coach pulled into the visitor centre which is a large, thoughtfully constructed building; its design is subtle, and it blends into the landscape very well.  After receiving instructions from Sinead, we split into groups, received our audio guide devices, and boarded trams for the mile-long ride to the site.  We eagerly strained for views from the windows of the tram, and as the landscape flattened in front of us, the much-anticipated profile of Stonehenge rose into view.  The path around the site is well designed and allows for optimum viewing with the closest points located about thirty feet away from the mammoth stones.  

By the time we arrived at the site, it was mid-morning and the sun was bright in a cloudless, deep blue sky.  A soft breeze ruffled the thick green grass all around, and even though there were many visitors present, there was a quiet calm about the place.  Stonehenge sits on a small hill surrounded by farmers' fields filled with hay rolls.  There’s a highway nearby, and a long queue of cars is visible, all slowing down to view the stones.  Life goes on in the world as Stonehenge sits silently and mysteriously as it has for five thousand years.  There are many theories about who built it and for what purpose—is it a clock, a calendar, a place of worship, a place of sacrifice?  Maybe all, maybe just one or two.  How was it built?  How were those huge stones fit into place?  How did they move the huge bluestones to this place from 150 miles away?  It obviously took a lot of people who were skilled with stone masonry and physics to put Stonehenge together, perhaps with the help from aliens as some speculate.  We’ll never know the full story.  The lichen-covered stones themselves don’t give any answers as they stand silently, birds nesting between the lintels.  Stonehenge is completely captivating, and we couldn’t take our eyes off it the whole hour we walked around it.  The audio guide was helpful in describing the basic construction of the site, and we enjoyed taking pictures from the different viewpoints.  We finally had to let go of Stonehenge, but we stared at it from the tram windows until it disappeared from view.  We toured the visitor center for a while, and there in a corner dressed in a green-and-white hooded robe, crowned with goat horns, sat the Druid priestess.  We watched for a few minutes as she discussed mysticism with a young boy who enjoyed holding her goat-head adorned wooden staff.  The scene was completely unsettling to me, and I moved my crew onward to the coffee shop.  After cokes and chocolate, we boarded the bus and bid Stonehenge goodbye—the children enjoyed it immensely to our delight, and now I can say that I took my family to England to see the Stones.

With the Stones

After another hour riding in our coach, we watched the honey-colored limestone buildings of Bath break the horizon.  This beautiful Georgian city is the site of the only hot springs in Britain, and they just happen to collect at the 2000-year-old Roman Baths.  We had three hours to lose ourselves in this city, and we spent the first hour with Sinead as she offered an optional overview tour.  Curiously, only eight of the seventy-four people on our coach opted to walk around with Sinead.  She explained the design of the town and told stories of the opulent Georgian lifestyle in Bath and how people would use strategies like boarding up windows to avoid the window tax.  They also installed false chimneys on their rooftops to show that their homes were filled with fireplaces and thus give the impression of possessing more wealth.  I guess humans will always be concerned with acquiring stuff and showing it off.  

Sinead’s tour concluded just in time for our appointment at the Roman Baths, and we began our tour anticipating some great history—we got way more than we expected.  There is an interactive museum built all around the baths, and it incorporates every aspect of the ancient building.  The front of the temple that once stood in front of the baths has been reconstructed, and it includes the majority of its original elements.  We went traipsing over clear plexiglass catwalks that allowed views of the inner workings of the baths and steam rooms, and we could see the ancient walkways that the Romans used way back in the day.  All this great stuff before we even made it to the terrace to get our first views of the baths.  As we arrived on the terrace we could look over our shoulders and see the Bath Abbey towering above us in the cerulean sky and the jade green water of the bath below us—a striking sight.  We made our way down to the level of the water and slowly walked around the pool on the worn-smooth, ancient pavers trod upon by the Romans themselves.  We found a place to sit in the shade and take in all the layers of history visible in this one incredible place.  We could have sat there for hours, but Bath is famous for its fudge and ice cream so the sweets eventually trumped the history lesson.  

Deveny admiring the baths

Layers of history:  the Abbey and the Baths

The Abbey Reflected in the Baths

We aimlessly wandered the streets of Bath for a while and picked up some delicious cornish pasties for the coach ride back to London.  Two hours later we bid goodbye to Sinead and boarded the tube for the ride back to our flat in east London.  I mentioned blowing the budget on this trip earlier in the post, but thanks to primarily eating in and being generally thrifty, we added everything up and discovered that our day trip was covered, and we were still under budget overall—huzzah!  The Southern Cross Academy declared its first major field trip a smashing success.