Stonehenge and Bath

Before I begin the tales of my travels...can I quickly point out something strange (and AWESOME) that I've noticed?  Every time, without fail, that I have told someone my name in London - for my Starbucks order, a take-out order at a restaurant, exchanging numbers, etc. - they ALWAYS spell it my way, no questions asked (see evidence below).  You don't have to know me very well to know that in the USA, I'm constantly correcting people that spell my name wrong.  But in London, I have never once had to tell someone the usual "yeah mine's a bit different, it's H-A-Y-L-E-Y." I haven't yet solved the mystery as to why "Hayley" is the "normal" spelling here, but I'm definitely enjoying it while I can! 

My once-in-a-lifetime proper spelling on a Starbucks cup

In other news...I visited some pretty cool sights last weekend!  The bus tour that I went on with the MSC interns (for free, might I add!) picked us up at 8 am on Saturday from a tube stop close to where the other Aggies were staying.  I had to meet them at the stop, which is about an hour away from my flat.  After getting off my bus too early and walking for half an hour on the side of the highway like a bum (not the safest thing I've done this trip...sorry Daddy) we finally left London thirty minutes late and headed to our first stop...Stonehenge!

 It was pretty cool to say I've crossed it off my bucket list, but other than that, it's a pile of rocks.  To be honest, not worth the £8 I paid to get to the edge of the rope that still keeps you about 50 yards away, especially considering that you can see the rocks from the highway.  On top of that, I get really into the history behind the sights I visit and I like to read as much as I can about them, but I found the history of Stonehenge a bit disappointing.  Basically, the bottom line of everything I read was that "nobody knows" how Stonehenge came to be.  Sure, there are theories, but they were all pretty vague and seemed to be grounded in nothing but speculation.  Like I said though, now it's crossed off the list, and the pictures turned out pretty good!

Stonehenge...obviously.  Sometimes I wonder if I need these captions...

The next stop on the trip was Bath, which was much more fulfilling as far as its history goes!  The city of Bath is beautiful - built in the hills and dotted with ancient cathedrals.  Naturally, we spent the majority of our time at the Roman Baths, and the exhibit was quite impressive.  Basically, most of the outside walls were in ruins, but the inside structures and the baths themselves (with steaming running water!) have remained in tact for thousands of years!  There are remnants of the outer entrances on display in the museum rooms, where they've been pieced back together to show what the original structure would have looked like.  As cheesy as it sounds, the audio tour was really helpful with all the background information.

Pieces of one of the temple entrances

The Great Bath

As some of you may know, I'm a Jane Austen fanatic (author of Pride and Prejudice).  I've just recently finished reading another of her works, Northanger Abbey, which takes place in Bath.  In her novel, she sets her scenes in real-life locations in Bath, so I was able to actually visit some of the places where the characters in her book socialized!  The picture below is of the Pump Rooms, which was a gathering place for high-ranking members of society who would come to vacation in Bath for months at a time.  This is the room where lots of the dancing and gossiping took place in Northanger Abbey!  The true elegance fits it perfectly.

The Pump Rooms

That's all I have for Stonehenge and Bath!  We were supposed to make it to a tour at Windsor Castle as well...but my early morning trek along the highway delayed us too much (sorry, guys).

I have just returned from a weekend in Italy!  So, those pictures and stories are soon to come.  We had a relaxing and beautiful weekend, but we also got lots of strange looks and at one point saw our lives flash before our eyes...stay tuned!

Much love,
Hayley