Stonehenge and Bath

Our program plans a few trips for us throughout our semester and the first one was a trip to Stonehenge and Bath. We got up really early and took the tube to Baker Street to meet the rest of the group and by the time we got out of the tube station there was snow on the ground. We got some hot chocolates as we waited for the bus and it continued to snow. It doesn't snow very often in London so when it does, even if it only an inch of snow, everything shuts down. Stores close, roads close, and attractions close, so we were a little worried about how well we were going to be able to see Stonehenge. Despite the weather, we drove for about 2 hours and when we got to Stonehenge it was in fact closed. So we had to make the best of it and took as many pictures as we could from over the fence. 

However, it was really nice to see it in the snow since not that many people have experienced it that way. It was interesting to see such a famous artifact in real life and what really struck me was how large it was. 

For some reason looking at it in photos always made it seem less impressive, but when we drove towards it for the first time I realized it was huge. Our tour guide explained that some of the rocks weighed several tons and that they would need whole villages to help carry the stones into place. 

After Stonehenge, we drove for about another two hours to Bath, England. We got a walking tour of the town and since there was just a snowfall, everything looked so beautiful! Bath is a cute little town in itself, and has a lot of small shops, cafes, and restaurants. We walked to Bath Abbey first which is a church that is gorgeous! It's at the center of town and definitely the biggest attraction and Bath's most prominent feature aside from the Roman Baths. 

After exploring around the streets during our free time, our tour guide told us about a restaurant close by called Sally Lunn's. Since it's in one of the oldest buildings in all of Bath, it has a lot of history and is known for creating "The Sally Lunn Bun". We decided to eat there and all had sandwiches on their famous bun! 

After, we had some more free time and took pictures with the snow and Bath's cute streets in the background. We stopped in a few shops too that had gift items, postcards, and fudge! Luckily, we got free samples of the homemade fudge which was delicious and saw how they made it! 

The next thing that was planned was a tour of the Roman Baths. We went through their exhibit which had a lot of artifacts from the time period and told us information about what the baths were like when they were being used. 

I was really surprised at how large the main bath was and at the fact that the water was pale green. Who knew a bath could be so pretty?! We also made sure to throw a coin and make a wish in another bath that we noticed was already filled with coins. Before leaving, our tour guide told us we couldn't go without trying the bath water, so Tara and I drank a little cup of it. It's not delicious spring water or anything but tasted more like mineral water. 

I thought the Roman Baths were really interesting and were actually kind of scenic, which I didn't expect. We only got to stay in Bath for a day so I definitely would like to visit the city again some day because it was so cute and unique!