5/17/11 Day 9: Bath & Stonehenge

Bath might be my favorite town so far. There are two tall hills surrounding the river, both covered in trees. It also has a mix of Roman, English, and Modern architecture. For lunch we found a fair-trade shop and bought "toasties." For dinner, we went to an Italian pizza restaurant with real Italian pizzas! So worth the five pounds I paid for it. I haven't had any British food today and I'm perfectly happy with that.

We started out with a couple free hours in Bath, and I explored some alleys while I waited for the fashion museum to open. I stopped in a "travel" store that had no specific books on Oregon. I could easily write one. I also visited a modern "art" museum, in which every painting looked like it had been painted by a three year old.

the stocking room at the Fashion Museum

Then three of us went to the fashion museum. It was nice, but not really large enough to pay six pounds for.

Bath--Roman Baths

The Roman Baths blew my mind. I would be an anthropologist if I could, and this was like walking into another world. Someone should make a Roman-style gym or spa. Except everyone should be give some sort of clothes to wear, or at least bathrobes. If only I had five more minutes there, I would have enjoyed it even more.

These baths were built around Great Britain's only hot spring. The Romans thought that it had been made by a goddess, and that it had healing properties. They built the bath complex in the 1st century AD. The temple wasn't built until the 4th century, and it was dedicated to a fusion of the Roman goddess Minerva and the Celtic goddess Scyllus. Back then the village was called Aquae Sullus.

The statues around the top of the Baths actually come from the 19th century, and depict Roman emperors and officials that have connections to Great Britain.

The temple was likely destroyed in the 7th century, when a monastery was built there.

Stonehenge

Then we went to Stonehenge! It was really cool to see the stones live and in person. I really want to see "Woodhenge" next. Stonehenge means "the hanging stones."

The first henge was built over 5,000 years ago, a circular bank and ditch. Around 4,500 years ago, the prehistoric builders brought the blue stones over from Wales. They set them up in a double horseshoe shape. These stones feel warm to the touch, and are blue with white specks when split open. An altar stone sits in the  middle. Forming the outer circle and the lentils are the sarson stones, from the Marlborough Downs 19 miles north of the site. Builders curved them to emphasize their height. The largest stones way as much as seven large elephants. The heel stone lines up with the midsummer solstice sunrise. It also marks the end of the procession from the River Avon.

Stonehenge was abandoned 3,500 years ago. Only half the stones remain, and none have been replaced. Some were used in other building projects. In the past some visitors would hire blacksmiths from Amesbury to chip off a keepsake for them. Ancient visitors buried their dead around Stonehenge.

Some have theorized that the druids built Stonehenge, but they would have no use for it. Druids met in forest clearings, not in man-made structures.

As a surprise to Dr. Tenant, we went to Lacock Village. Apparently a few scenes of Harry Potter were filmed there. I met a cat outside a primary school who crawled into my lap. He purred endlessly while I held him. If only I could take him home!