World Cities Tour 2014 Summer Edition - Day 11

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Day 11 - And You Thought the Alamo Was Old

After a fine breakfast provided by our B&B hosts we scuttled off to Stonehenge just up the road from Salisbury. The rain that had been hovering about 3 days off the whole time we have been here finally caught up with us and we hoped to see Stonehenge before the real rain started. The site was closed off several years ago to prevent damage that was being done by the hordes of visitors every year. The last time Tony was there you were not able to get very close and had to look at the site through a wooden fence. The new arrangements are much better. While you can not walk among the stones unless you have a special tour time, you can get very close and the wooden fence is gone. Our suggestion is to go first thing in the morning while it is still quiet and before the tour groups get there. We were one of the first groups this morning. The overcast skies and few people helped make the site feel very still. It's really amazing to think that we have evidence of this site being used for over 4500 years. Nothing we have even been to has been that old. Anne was really taken with the way the crows moved about the site. There were several that hopped along the ground, flew from stone to stone and people watched. When we got close we could see that many of them were juinilles. Next time we will plan to get tickets so that we can walk among the stones. The exhibition center that is part of the visitors center is nicely done and well worth the extra time. The next leg of our journey starts tomorrow. Tonight we are staying close to Heathrow Airport to relax, repack our luggage and have an early night. Tony and Michelle really enjoyed the indoor pool while Anne finished up postcards to her students after realizing that the stamps she bought in England probably won't mail in France. We have a very early flight to France tomorrow and then will need to drive to the country resort in the Normandy region.

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Photos

Pull!
A mock-up of how they think the stones were moved. The sign said it would take 100 strong men to move one of the Sarcen stones. Michelle only needs 99 more people.

Audio Tours are cool
We've been enjoying the audio tours in the various locations. It really keeps the noise down too.

Stonehenge
A view from the farthest point on the circle.

A bit windy
The area around Stonehenge is exposed to the wind and weather. It was pretty windy.

Mama (or Papa) and Babies
These guys were hanging out around the edges of the path.

What it might of looked like
Since so much of Stonehenge was excavated without modern techniques, many questions will probably go unanswered. They did find the ruins of a village they think the builders may have occupied. the visitor's center at Stonehenge had a reproduction of some of the village.

They must have been Short
Even Michelle had to duck.

Picture This
We had so many opportunities to click. It was nice to do so without jostling with the large crowds that we passed on our way out (definitely go early).