Day 7: A trip to England's Past

After 2 ½ hours of a quality coma, I was up and ready for the day of bus and walking tours of Stonehenge and the city of Bath. I haven’t mentioned it yet, but understandably the coffee is AMAZING here. I enjoyed coffee back home but didn’t drink it much because I see it as mostly empty calories because I never seem to get much effect from the caffeine. But here, oh man. It is a different story. I ordered just a latte, basically the least amount of actual coffee in a drink that I will order, and I was wired for the rest of the day. It is some awesome stuff. Anyway…. So my short night changed nothing about the day really after a nice cup o' coffee. We rode through the English countryside for a little over an hour when we reached Stonehenge. 

I was very surprised with how close the road is to Stonehenge. It is literally right next to the structure. Currently the History Society owning Stonehenge is building an alternate visitors center and parking area further down the hill, because currently people with good zooms on their camera can get the same picture of Stonehenge for free as those that pay the money to get behind the gate. It was very cool to see this history up close. The audio tour there gave details behind the structure and the people who made it, but many times we were told, “Scientists believe” and “We presume”. Stonehenge was made around the same-ish time as the pyramids. This amazing structure was made before even the inventions of pulleys. At least 1/3 of the standing stones are underground, and the largest weighs 48 TONS. And these were moved by humans.

I did not realize that the stones that rest on the standing stones have puzzle-like grooves. A hip and joint like socket balances the top stones to the bottom. In this picture you can see the large bump that would have fit in a hole on the bottom side of the top stone (which in this case has fallen off).

I also had no idea of all the other historical items that go along with Stonehenge. Surrounding the structure is two different ditches that where dig. Then, further out, there was a path that lead travelers to Stonehenge, that had been dug and in turn turned a gleaming white because of the amount of chalk in the soil. This path has been lost to time and farmland. And even further out are huge barrows, or burial sites of the people of that region. Not only did these people dig a pit for the grave, but then piled dirt onto the graves until it became a large hill. Stonehenge was really truly awesome, and it was interesting for me to see a historical site that was not exact. Everything I have seen, it tells you the complete story and history of whatever the item or place. Here, you were given the information and history, but not a story because you make your own. Some believe this place was some kind of healing center, others believe it was a spiritual temple, and still others believe it was simply aliens. 

After learning about Stonehenge, we headed out for Bath. The city of Bath has a long and interesting history, but I don’t remember all of it. Bath is famous for their Roman baths that come from natural heated springs. So basically it is Hot Springs, SD with a lot more history. A legend says that in 836 BC, Prince Bladud was cast out of the kingdom when he developed leprosy. He could only find employment as pig herder, and his pigs were horrible ugly and full of warts.  One day he lead his herd to a bubbling pool of water and when the pigs bathed in the water, their warts fell off. It also cured Bladud of his leprosy, and he then established a town there. The locals also enjoyed these baths and used them regularly, but did not build onto them in anyway, only bathed in the mud holes. The real establishment of the baths happened with the Romans invaded. 

At least according to the Roman-era TV shows I have seen, they loved to bath and generally be naked. When they discovered the hot springs after conquering the region, they built their own giant bath over the springs. They enjoyed it for hundreds of years until new invitations made it possible to build a better quality bathhouse. The new building had multiple baths, some hot, some warm, some cold.  When the new baths were built, it was literally just placed on top of the old Roman baths, so there was a treasure-trove of Roman artifacts that were left there. Coins, clothing, stone sculptures, everything. This discovery was not made until the late 1800’s. Over the years, the Roman part was slowly dug up and it is now on display as a museum. It was really awesome because you can look up and see the ceiling in old Victorian, and look to the wall and floor to see the transition from beautiful smooth marble to ancient rough stone that was the Roman era.

In the medieval times, Bath was the equivalent of an English Vegas. It was famous for it’s wild parties, affairs, and gambling. One of the reasons for this is because Bath did not separate the classes. Princes were able to mix with common women, which was new. Before this, the only people really allowed to ‘party’ were the rich because the poor could not get into the ‘clubs’. In Bath everyone was invited and it was very exciting. Today it is not quite as exciting but still very historical and of course beautiful. 

One of the street views. It was a beautiful city with the famous narrow street ways and local shops of a true European city. 

This was very interesting to me. The hot spring in Bath was believed to be because of the goddess Minerva and was dedicated to her. These ‘pages’ of lead have roman inscriptions of them asking Minerva to curse others. In this case, this page of lead was inscribed asking Minerva to punish those who stole the writers bathing tunic, then lists names of possible suspects. It was very cool to see such history, but at the same time a link to today- a simple case of someone angry because of a theft and wanting revenge. 

Ok this is really cool. These are stacks of brick and there was a solid floor that laid over them. Then in the corner under the floor, there is a hole to another room. In that room, a fire would be started and the heat would transfer to this area, heating the air between the stacks and in turn heating the floor and entire room above. So Romans had natural spring baths and heated floors. I just thought this was amazing, so cool to think of such an ancient invention that would be a luxury even today.

After a very short night, and a full day of bus and walking tours, I was ready for some sleep. I made fantastic plans with myself to treat myself with a beer and fish & chips plate at the nearby pub, followed by a coma for the night. However Dr. King of the education side of the group mentioned he was running tonight and invited me along. I had to admit, I was not excited about running but I knew I had to do it. Dr. King is preparing for a half-marathon in two weeks, and I leave for Airborne training about three weeks after I return, so I knew that I needed to go. I had a wonderful dream about running everyday, but it is simply not possible in a city so big and a schedule so tight, so I have stayed inside and ran stairs and done push ups and such but I knew I needed to get out there and run. Dr. King planned to run about 6 miles in and around some nearby parks. I had no idea for the amount of fun and enjoyment I would have.

One of my requirements for this blog is to visit a park, a historical museum and an art museum and describe my reactions to them. I quickly realized Regent's park would be the best place to choose as my park and I tried to remember everything I saw as I ran through.

After weaving traffic and timing pedestrian lights, we finally made it to Regents Park and it was breathtaking (though I didn’t have much breath left after dodging traffic). Even before we actually entered the park, I was hit with an intoxicating smell of lilacs. It was strange to go from days of smelling nothing but street food and engine exhaust to something so natural. As I first entered the park, it was strange to suddenly see so much sky and nature around you after just being surrounded by buildings as cement. It was endless fields of green trees and colorful flowers of every type. It was so beautiful- full of couples enjoying wine and families roller-skating and owners taking their dogs on walks. Just like London buildings, Regent's park had beauty in every inch of it. I would turn to stare at a fountain covered in vines and flowers only to have Dr. King point out a hand-carved open-air theatre that I nearly missed. We only ran down two roads in this park and it makes me wonder how much detail we missed.

Regent's Park is a 'royal' park meaning it was originally created to hold a palace and was planned to be used as a hunting area because of it's size. But instead it was given to the public and is used for everything else- it is the home of the London Zoo, Regent's College, and field's to play nearly every sport (I was only there for an hour and I saw boating, running, cricket, rugby, cycling, and tennis).

Stole this image from Google. 

Dr. King lead the run because I had no idea where I was or where I was going and I was fairly disappointed to see at one intersection he chose the large hill to run instead of the easy path. I pushed myself best I could on that stupid hill and was rewarded unexpectedly with this sight.

This is on Primrose Hill (in Primrose park right by Regents Park). The picture does not do the view justice. From this hill you could see everything- Big Ben, London Eye, Parliament, even our modest hotel. And we were lucky enough to pair this with a beautiful sunset. It was perfect. 

Updated after return: One of my very few regrets on this trip is that I did not go back to Regent's Park and see more of it. It was absolutely the most beautiful park I have ever been in and I do hope to return someday.