DAY FOUR

We awoke at 5 something in the morning--it was early. We got in our Panda and started our drive on the left side of the road to Stonehenge. We wanted to be there for the sunrise, but we missed it by about 25 minutes. It was, however, an amazing sunrise as we drove in our car. The lighting was still very nice at Stonehenge. We couldn't get in the gate to walk around as it didn't open until 9:30. So we walked the perimeter, and Sara hoisted me up on her back so I could shoot over the fence. A true friend she is. It was smaller than I had imagined, still magnificent in size when you are up close, but the area is entirely farmland and compared to the rest of the space, it seemed small.

After Stonehenge, we drove to the city of Bath. And, it was my favorite stop of the trip. We drove in and you can look down and see the city. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. I wish I had a picture from the top of the road, but it would have been deadly to stop there.

Around Britain's only hot spring, the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing complex that still flows with natural hot water. An exquisite Georgian city grew from Bath's ancient roots. The Royal Crescent, The Circus, Pump Room and Pulteney Bridge are among the finest architectural treasures in the world.

Bath has mostly Roman architecture and I found that I loved it. They have what is called the circus, which is the picture above. I should have posted the other picture that shows the whole circle, but I liked this one better. So you will have to imagine, but it is four buildings that are similiar to the one pictured above that are built in a circle shape. There is a park in the middle and a roundabout for the cars. A lot of the buildings are built with that curved shape, and most all of the buildings are the same color of granite, the pale yellow--it is the local stone.

Since we were already in the country we decided to make a few additional stops. The first was at Salisbury. This cathedral made it in the book for the top 1000 places to visit before you die. The courtyard was actually my favorite, you can see part of it below. It had these two massive trees in the middle of it, and it was very beautiful. They still have active church services every Sunday in the Cathedral.

Sara's great grandmother was born in England. In Hungerford, and her great, great grandma in Newport. We stopped in both places. We found this chapel with a graveyard around it, but we didn't have any luck finding any family names on the gravestones though. The country was beautiful to drive through. Everything was so green, even in February!

And so the trip ends, we got back on our flight direct to Dulles the next morning and MAXjet served us another 3-course meal. I managed to watch more movies on the flight there and back, than I have seen in the past three months. It really was a trip of a lifetime, and one I will not forget. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.