Rachel it's your Birthday. Happy Birthday Rachel.

So...although there was a party at home and I wasn't invited :), I managed to have a great weekend away. The adventure involved staying in a YMCA in the city of Bath (yes we sung the song), and renting a car to drive an hour or two to Salisbury and Stonehenge. It was a busy weekend, but absolutely lovely. We had great crisp fall weather, just like at home, and I was so thankful I had the chance to just jump in a car and see some amazing things with friends. Here are some pics.... by the way, Martha is the redhead, Ang has curly blonde hair, Dan is the man, Jaqui is the one that is not tall.


Bath is called bath because it sits on Englands only naturally occuring hot springs which made a perfect spot for the Romans to build a bath house for purposes of worship, healing, rejuvination and swimming. It was built in the 1st century, and much has been restored and added to, but many original parts remain.





The city itself is made up of buildings all made from similar stone which creates a really interesting look as you drive through the streets. There is also a bunch of roundabouts or circuses surrounded by a circumference of rounded buildings. (cool eh Dad?)




Salisbury is famous for this Cathedral below, that, besides being gorgeous and very big (this is for you H), boasts the tallest spire in Britain (named the Salisbury Stake...), and the largest Cathedral cloisters in Britain. It also houses the finest of only four surviving original Magna Carta written in 1215. (cited from the Salisbury Cathedral visitors brochure).




Stonehenge is only one of the many neolithic sites in the south of the country. It is the most popular because it has been preserved the best. It was built about 5000 years ago. Wow. We also visited Avebury, a town running through another stone circle. It is not really known why these circles of stones were built and how they got these massive rocks from Wales to England...it was very strange to see these formations in the middle of nowhere. We thought maybe people just put them there to attract tourists. We decided we should go into the business and create Strawhenge, Shorehenge, Icehenge, Veggiehenge...





Anyways it's going to be resting up for the next two weeks until half-term when I get a week off. If anyone has that week free (Oct 20ish), get a plane ticket across the pond!

Rachel