Day 6 11/9/10 UK

We leave early at 7:40 am, for Bath. Breakfast is a buffet and most of us manage to get onto the bus on time.......There is unfortunately a very annoying family who are pushing my intolerance buttons. They are always late and the kids sit behind us and are very loud and whinge all the time. Even placid Greg is finding them challenging. Today they have been particularly annoying and really needed a good slap...I just managed to control myself. It makes us appreciate our gorgeous 2 Aussie families whose kids were fabulous on the last tour.
Anyhow, that's off my chest now.

The elegant city of Bath, is definitely one of my favorite places. It's origins go back to pagan worship and roman times. The Romans discovered hot mineral springs here, and basically set up the equivalent to a spa resort. They were clever for the 400's, with bath houses, steam rooms and hot mineral springs.
It was, and still is a very trendy area. The homes are all Georgian sandstone, and were all architecturally designed by John Wood snr and jnr. Some of them have been designed in rows in a crescent or circular shape, ( the royal crescent and circus ) and are five stories high. They were absolutely gorgeous and the same theme is throughout this town. Asking price is £5 million. The distance between the chimneys in the photo below indicates the width of the house.

Just when we thought that was amazing, then the wow factor kicked in as we entered the Bath Abbey, the organist was playing the pipe organ. It was a wonderful moment.
Bath is another village full of history and beauty, and we enjoyed it despite the rain. The pulteney bridge, was built over the Avon river and is another amazing engineering feat for it's time. Did you know Avon means river, so it's really river river..weird really.



Our next stop is the famous Stonehenge, possibly constructed 5,000 yrs ago, by the "ancients", or beaker people ( who were buried with their beakers). Archeaologists believe it could have taken 50 yrs or several generations to build. Some of the blue stone used is only found in Wales....200 miles away. So how did it get there, it weighs 1-3 ton each stone? The largest stones weigh 20 ton and are found 20 miles away! 1/3 rd of the stone is set into neatly cut pits of chalky soil.
Mmmmm
So it's purpose is.......
A portal to another universe?
Landing site for aliens?
Site for human sacrifice?
A means to tap into the magnetic force of the earth?
Astrology?
Hugh the guide believes, it was used for religious worship of the sun, stars and moon. And that it was used to determine the dates of religious festivals by the alignment of celestial bodies.
It has been roped off since 1979, but you can still take great photos, and believe me there are tourists everywhere.



Lunch is at Salisbury only 20 mins away. The area is for farming, pigs, cattle, sheep, wheat and barley. It is also the headquarters for army training.
Salisbury's only claim to fame is its cathedral which has the tallest spire of any English cathedral. It stands 408 ft high. The cathedral was built in 1230 and took 38 yrs to build. It's a massive cathedral, and is currently under going £30 million restoration.
After hot beef rolls we head to London and arrive at our hotel at 3 pm.

Our tour is finished , and we have really enjoyed having a 6 day sampler of the UK.

We discovered that the wealth of a city is always related to the size of the cathedral. If the town has a racing track, then it was a very prosperous town.

The stories, history lessons, wars, kings, queens, Romans, Vikings, celtics, defense walls and castles make it such an interesting country. There is a story around every corner. The English however have only taken interest in restoration of their history in the last 150 yrs, so there are many historic ruins.

Our aha moments have to be, Scotland and Edinburgh Castle, Bath Abbey and the town of Broadway in Cotswold.

Our tour group, well, they were ok, an interesting group of nationalities. They had no concept of seat rotation, counting 3 seats in front was quite a challenge, which really frustrated the tour guide (and us ). And keeping to times was another problem they had. Just as well as Greg and I were obedient and easy to deal with! The guide was extremely knowledgable, and was a true englishmen in every sense of the word. The driver Lee, lacked personality and a smile. Unfortunately for him our previous driver was so good, that Lee did not quite make the cut. He did not even help people off the bus, and some elderly people needed help .

You may have also noticed that they still use imperial measurement over here.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we fly out at 10 pm and should be back in Melbourne 7am Tuesday.
We hope to do some final sight seeing, Greenich, St Pauls Cathedral, and Tower Bridge, that's if we ever wake up.

See you soon ,

Love Leanne and Greg xxxx






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Location:Bristol - London