Windsor, Stonehenge & The Roman Baths

During my Easter break here at the LCC I finally got a chance to play tourist while my girlfriend was out visiting me. After we saw most of the major site around London we took a day trip out to the English country-side near Salisbury. Our bus guided tour took us to the following three places where we conducted our ruckus:

- - - Windsor Castle - - -

This is the family home of the British Crown and it’s where Queen Elizabeth II spends most of her weekends (since she feels more at ease here than at Buckingham Palace which she apparently refers to as just her office). The castle was ridiculously huge and filled with lavish items such as paintings, furnishings, and sculptures. One of my favorite rooms, was the miniature scale doll house of part of the castle; actually the doll house was quite big in size standing around 2.5 m in height representing in scale the garden grounds to the 4th story of the castle.

A particular moment stood out when a fellow tourist, under her breath, was stating to me that I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside Windsor. Granted I knew this already, but I didn’t see the harm since it wasn’t flash photography and I was often discreet. Still I gestured with an acknowledging glance and put away my digital elph camera. But then the woman took it upon herself to rat me out to the guard in the next wing, after which when I finally entered the chamber he sternly stated to not take any more photos inside the castle. Fine, no big deal in general, but the nerve of that woman! What irritated me the most about it all was the self-righteous air she had about it — to suppose as if I was a thief some sort! She was clearly British, and I thought to myself about the hypocrisy of her behavior: among all of the beautiful and decadent things we were seeing it stood out plain as day to me that there were plenty of things not honorably acquired on display in that place. One doesn’t have to look too far back into history to understand the degree of pillage conducted under the crown. And there it was, physical proof of that sad fact, right there in Windsor, and this woman, a fellow tourist, is going to dare scold me (an overreact) for “stealing & disrespecting” in some perverse self-righteous attempt to uphold the honor of the crown…against the very same “mis-deeds” the crown has been renowned for in the past!? What rubbish I say.

Most British folks I’ve meet aren’t like the aforementioned woman, but it’s this small group that stinks it up for the rest of Britons at large.

ANYWAYZ, in spite of that wench, I had fun romping around at the castle which was an awesome site to see. It really put the stamp on what it means to be “living large”.

- - - Stonehenge - - -

The second stop on our day bus tour was the famous rock formation of Stonehenge. It was a cloudy day, with a bit of drizzle so the viewing wasn’t the best it could be but nonetheless you can’t help but marvel at the work and effort it took to arrange these boulders into some clock that marked the passing of every season. It’s not far from Salisbury itself, where apparently the British army conducts it’s military drills.

You used to be able to walk up to the rocks about thirty years ago, but now they have a path that outlines the structures for viewing. You can still get good vantage points from the path, but I just thought it was lame when from certain angles you could see the motorway (highway) in the distance. What a tourist trap I tell ya. But it was still nice to see it and learn a little more about the place.

Unfortunately we caused a bit of a stir here with our tour guide because we were taking long in the gift shop, holding the bus up apparently. We got our goods quickly thereafter when the clock was pointed out to us, but from that point on we were forever branded as “keep an eye on those late-comers” for the rest of the trip.

- - - The Roman Baths - - -

The last stop on our bus tour was to the city of Bath where the Roman Baths are located. The city’s architecture is like a throwback to ancient Italy. In fact London was settled by the Roman Empire (London was originally known as Londinium) and back then it was discovered that the only natural hot springs in all of England are here at this site. The Romans set up shop here since they prized the nourishing springs forming the city of Bath. Then around 400AD the Roman presence was all but gone from the area due to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The city wasn’t re-discovered until the 18th century.

Now, unlike at Windsor castle, the museums here permitted photo taking inside, so no problems here on that front. Despite it’s deterioration, it was just amazing to see the amount of history preserved in this place and how the city as a whole still embodies it’s origins. The level of sophistication to pump the springs and evenly distribute the heat through the building was equally worthy of awe.

However, contrary to what some might say, if you’re ever here don’t drink the water. For 50p ($1) you can buy a 250ml glass of the “fresh” spring water and it supposedly helps to refresh & cleanse your system. It was simply just a warm-metallic tasting waste of time. I had a few gulps and refused to finish the rest. Amazingly, as I watched others express similar reactions on their faces, they still somehow convinced themselves to down it all. Nasty.

- - - - -

All in all, we had a good time. What really made it worthwhile was that our Scottish tour guide was just a wealth of information and she did a fantastic job of verbally giving us a context of the places we were visiting in a light hearted, informative and humorous manner. It made the otherwise long bus drive to each place that much more enjoyable.

Popularity: 7%

 Loading ...