Day Trip: Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury

The Roman baths at Bath (I'm all about ruins, in case you didn't know)

It was early in the morning when we set out with our bus tour to Bath. London looked gorgeous in the winter sun, especially when we drove through Kensington. It really looked like how I pictured London, from the Mary Poppins-type images in my head. The bus lulled me to sleep and I woke up when we were winding down the road into Bath. Bath was bitterly cold and absolutely breathtaking. The winter sun was low in the sky, shedding a gorgeous light on the famous ‘Bath stone.’ We took the tour of the Roman baths, and had just enough

time to eat a Cornish pasty as we ran to catch the bus to Stonehenge.

Stonehenge!

Stonehenge was the event I was really looking forward. I am ashamed to admit, but before this trip, I did not know where Stonehenge was. For some reason I thought it was in Scotland, or possibly that it did not exist anymore. Who knows where I came up with this information, because a short while later we were pulling into the bus parking lot. Apparently they put up some rope to keep people from walking right up and carving their names in the stone. The audiotour was interesting enough, but I really like just looking at the stones and wondering how the hell they pulled those suckers over from the quarry. It was again bitterly cold, and we did not linger. The last stop of the day awaited us.

The last stop of the day was Salisbury Cathedral. I was not really excited about this place, mostly because I had never heard of it. It turned out to be quite beautiful and my Mom and I enjoyed reading the tomb inscriptions. Its really strange to look at the sepulcher of a person who died before our country was even founded. Sometimes I get tired of the European argument that the United States has no history or ancestral culture because we were only colonies a few hundred years ago. We took some pictures of the modern baptismal fountain that looked like it belongs in a design magazine and hopped on the bus back home. With a quick stroll through Harrod’s (our drop-off point) and some fish and chips for dinner, a long day of sightseeing was put to bed.

My mom and I at Stonehenge. It may look sunny, but it was freezing!

My perspective on my home country has changed quite a bit since my travels in Europe began. The variety of landscapes and traditions in the States makes me wish I could relive the road trips of my childhood. My parent’s love of history and my dad’s love of nature has exposed me to the diverse corners of North America (I am including Canada, because it really is a gorgeous country.) I complained the whole time on those camping trips of my youth. Now I find myself daydreaming of California wildflowers on the cliffs of Big Sur, canoeing down the bends of the Colorado River, and following the Freedom Trail in Boston.