Jon's parents flew first to Ireland where they met many strange Irishmen and saw lots of beautiful castles. Next they flew to London, where they stayed with us in Maidenhead for two weeks before flying back to Adelaide. Jon and I went to work during the week while his parents were over, but on the weekend we all braved the terrible weather and drove to visit Stonehenge and Bath.
 Stonehenge and Avebury We got up quite early this morning and after packing the car the four of us piled into the little Citroen AX and we headed to west to Stonehenge. After about an hour and a half of driving we knew that we were almost there. We were told that the site was practically on the main road, but we were still shocked as we drove over a hill and were heading straight for the neolithic stones! There were lots of people there even though the weather was pretty bad. We parked in the carpark, where there were heaps of coaches. We decided that we wouldn't pay and go in and instead did what many other people were doing - peer over the fence to take a few photos and have a look. It is quite daunting looking at a man made structure thinking how old it is and how little we know of how or why it was erected. Back in the car we filled ourselves with some cake as we drove to the next sight, Avebury. Actually, Avebury is a tiny town, built probably for the benefit of tourists around a sight were the neolithic man had built more monuments like in Stonehenge, but on a much smaller scale. In the town there is a large circle of stones, around which is a ditch. Most of the stones are still standing and those that were missing were replaced with small stumps to show what the whole thing would have once looked like. The Lonely Planet guide described that we would 'feel the neolithic man breathing down our neck' as we walked around Avebury and I think I can relate to that. The misty and drizzly weather added to the effect. When we arrived there and got out of the car it started to rain quite heavily so we decided that it was a good time to visit the local pub for lunch. Afterwards we had a walk around the circle and the 'avenue', which was a long (about a mile) walkway lined with more stones. Apparently it linked the circle site with another site. There were lots of other landmarks left by the neolithic man around Avebury. For example the largest man-made mound in Europe. It now looks like a very regular hill, but once probably would have been the place of worship. There was also a burial chamber constructed with huge stones. We went in there (no bones remaining luckily) and it was full of little rooms were different people would have been buried. We were really pleased to finally arrive at our accomodation at the end of the day. It had been cold and wet all day and we were outside the whole time. After warming ourselves over a cuppa we walked around the area where the B&B was. We were staing in a tiny village called Freshford a little south of Bath. The area was really beautiful and you could see an odd Roman ruin like an aquaduct (which wasn't actually in state of ruin at all), and even some deer wandering throught the garden. Our hosts were very nice and talkative and we took their advice and went to dinner at the local pub. The food was absolutely beautiful!
Bath The next morning we moved on to Bath to the museum where we could see the ancient Roman Baths. It was really interesting and very absorbing. When the Romans arrived in Bath they built the huge bath complex on top of a hot spring. They dammed the source of the spring into a pool, which was considered sacred. They dedicated this pool to the name of two goddesses (which I can't remember :-) ), one of the local people and the other of the Romans. This shows the way in which the Romans used to integrate with their environment, rather than impose their own customs - well that was what we were told anyway. As we walked around the museum we followed the way that the water was ducted through the bath complex. We listened to our dictaphones (which were our guides), which explained how the complex was built and some of the features. It is pretty hard to imagine how such an advanced civilisation could decline. When we exited the museum we quickly started to freeze, and so decided to head to a coffe shop for afternoon tea. Afterwards we walked around Bath to see the famous Royal Cresent and the Circus, which was just a roundabout with terraced houses curving around it and a green in the middle. It had been a fun weekend, but I think we were glad to be back in the warmth of our house. But not before being stuck in the traffic caused by an accident!
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