From Deb's Desk: Stonehenge and English Countryside

June 14, 2017 - Our traveling group of eight was picked up at 7:30 and driven out of London. Boy do 8 women have a lot of luggage! I am going to miss the beautiful city. I have really enjoyed my stay here and there is still so much to see and do! As I sit here and type, I am sweltering! We have checked into a hotel built in the 1400's and there is no air conditioning and no way to open a window and no fan! What a wimp I have become in this modern day! However it is quiet - except for the gulls who fly about squawking loudly - and it is clean. I guess I will survive! What does disturb me is the lack of wi-fi! But we are here for one night only and I can still type up my thoughts of the day for upload later.

I awoke this morning in London to messages from the family wanting to know if I was alright and if I could see any smoke or flames. A very tall apartment building had caught fire overnight in London and 200 firefighters were on site trying to put out the blaze. As I watch news reports tonight I see towering flames engulfing the many-storied structure. It reminded me of seeing the flaming towers in New York on 911 before the building fell. We heard reports today of children being thrown out of windows to be caught. I have not heard yet if there are any fatalities. I pray not. At the very least, hundreds of people are homeless. I looked up the address and it appears that it was 5 or 6 miles from where we stayed.

We picked up our nine passenger van at one of the five airports in London and hit the road! Joan was our driver and she did a fine job of getting us around. I was so grateful that I did not have to try to drive on the "wrong" side of the road while sitting on the "wrong" side of the car! Amy also took a spin at the wheel and down the road we drove headed for Gloucester, England.

But first we had a very important pilgrimage to the standing stones of Stonehenge! As we drove through the countryside filled with barley fields, hay fields, farms, and charming towns, I thought how much it made me think of driving through Wisconsin. It is hilly and curving and different from the roads in the states in that these roads are often quite narrow. Sometimes there is nothing to do except pull over and let another car pass. I can clearly see why most vehicles are quite small here!

As we arrived at the ancient site at Stonehenge, we could see the stones in the distance from the road. Excitement built as we neared the parking area and the weather was perfect with beautiful blue skies and a few white fluffy clouds. As has happened to me several times since leaving Orion, I was security wanded and bags were searched. I am happy to see that the world is taking security seriously, but quite annoyed that it is necessary. Honestly, I have not felt unsafe in all of London at any time I have been here.

After buying our entrance tickets we boarded a shuttle bus to be driven to the path to the standing stones. The bus had a signboard that read "To The Stones". That tickled me and I wanted to change To to Thru! LOL

I was disappointed when I learned that we would not be able to touch the stones. I totally understand though. They told us that people walking in and around the stones could cause the ground underneath become unstable and collapse, and that would be a terrible shame. I picked up my audio device to listen about the history of the site as we walked around a big circle surrounding the stones. Stonehenge is in Wiltshire, England and is a ring of standing stones that scientists believe to have been constructed about 2,000 or 3,000 BC. There have been many bones found here and was possibly originally used as a burial site. It is possibly England's most famous cultural site. There were a lot of people there of every nationality you can imagine but it is so big that you never really felt crowded and everyone was always quite polite and kind. I chatted with one young lady who was sitting and drawing the stones and she was shy to share her work but she did show me and was quite proud, as she should be.

After walking around in the sun for hours we were ready for lunch and instead of a meat pie I opted for ice cream! Why not?!?! After all, I am on vacation! A little shopping in the gift shop and we were ready to hit the road again.

Driving along we enjoyed what you typically think of when you envision the English countryside. Beautiful stone walls enclosing fields, tiny towns filled with stone cottages surrounded by pastel flowers, and charming little tea shops. While walking about in one tiny village, I came across an empty glass milk bottle at the door with a note inside. The note said that no milk was needed today. I also came across a self serve pastry shop where you simply slipped your payment into the slot in the door. Wonderful! The stream running through the town was crossed by a stone bridge next to a darling little cemetery. The stream would have been something that children would enjoy playing in. Perhaps one day I can show little Hadley some of these sights!

Pulling into Gloucester we were struck with how much less populated it was! After thousands of people around us always in London, here there were just a few and it was somehow odd. The town is very old and looked it. There was very little parking and we saw a parking lot named "Spread Eagle Parking" and it was located just off "Three Cocks Lane." Of course, we laughed and laughed!
Our hotel, "The New Inn" was built around a courtyard in 1400 - yes, this in not an error and 1400 is correct, and this was where people gather to drink and chat. It was decorated with a very Old English feel including a carriage inside. Many of the streets of Gloucester are cobblestone and we have walked on miles of cobblestones this trip which I am very careful on as I do not want to fall. After depositing our luggage in our rooms we went to supper. While walking there, we passed many storefronts that were empty but there were many that were filled and one had the most charming clock and bell ringers you ever did see on the second floor facade! It was a sculpture of five colorfully dressed men and they would ring the bells and count out the time. We happened to be going by at 9:00. It was awesome!

Supper in a very old pub was very tasty. I had a pasta and chicken dish and salad. See! I do try to eat some decent food when out and about. The ceiling in the pub was completely covered with empty wine bottles. They were mounted in brackets and laid side by side. You could tell they were very old by the labels and the layer of dust that coated them. It was really an awesome way to display them and a great way to decorate the ceiling. The kitchen was on another floor and our food was delivered to our waiter in a dumbwaiter that he pulled up with a rope. We were kind of fascinated!

Bedtime comes all too soon when traveling even though we are exhausted and ready to sleep. Tomorrow is another day of adventures and my bed awaits me. Tonight I will use my fan sound app Greg showed be since I could not possibly sleep without a fan for noise. Wales awaits us!