Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath

Monday we all met at the Winston House at 7:30 to go to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. It was pouring down rain, our first day of rain! It was really pouring and some of the people in the program were afraid that it was normal English rain but our professor assured us that it normally did not rain this hard. Our bus driver showed up about 45 minutes late... But no one seemed to mind once we were on our way. It took a while to get out of the London traffic, but once we were out of it, we set a good pace.

The highways here look pretty similar to the highways in America, lined with trees and guard rails. But there were two noticeable differences: we were driving on the left hand side and the trees were different from the ones in America. I don't know if many people in my program noticed the second difference, but I enjoyed looking at the different trees. There was a type of white barked birch and there were some trees whose branches spread out flat making distinct layers. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of them, but I'm sure I'll have an opportunity at some point.

The first place we went was Stonehenge. It was really neat to see it in person. Sadly, they have it roped off so people cannot walk among the rocks, but can only stand at a distance and look. This was because people had been vandalizing the rocks and chipping off pieces of the rocks for keepsakes. It was very interesting to hear about the history of the rocks. A lot of the group was disappointed because they had imagined a grander looking site. I was a bit disappointed at first, but it was amazing to hear about the history, where the rocks had come from, and how they thought that the people had brought them over. The wind blew really hard and constantly up on that hill. I am really glad that I got a chance to see it!

Then we headed to Salisbury to see the cathedral. The Salisbury Cathedral was so beautiful! We got a small tour of it. In the Chapter Room, there was an amazing relief of Genesis and Exodus all the way around the circular room. In that room was also one of the original copies of the Magna Carta! It was really interesting to look at the document and be able to discern differnet words and phrases. It was written in Latin and it was written in very tiny handwriting to be able to cramp it all onto on side of the vellum. There was also an illustrated Bible in the Chapter Room!! I looked at that one for a while. It was amazing to be able to see those documents that had been written so long ago but had made such an impact on both England and the world. After the tour that we had lunch in Salisbury.

Then we headed to Bath. We had to go up and around hills or perhaps they were small mountains... I'm not really sure. But it was beautiful! We passed several towns that were down in valleys below us. Being able to look down on the towns and farms that we past was wonderful! They were so beautiful! Sadly, we got to Bath right after the Roman Baths had closed. We still stayed in Bath for a little while. I wandered into Bath Abbey and looked around there for a while and then wandered up one of the hills a little ways, looking at the shops. But I didn't get to see as much as I wanted to. I would like to go back there at some point to see the Roman baths and to wander around a town that I have read so much about.

It was a great day! It was so nice to get out of London and to see some of the countryside and some other towns. I love London, but I love the country as well, so it was nice to finally get to see some of that! :-)

On Friday, some of my friends from camp, Lyndsay and Jemima will be coming to visit me!! I am really excited about that because I've been missing my friends from camp since camp has ended. They will be staying around here through Sunday and then Lyndsay has to head back to school and Jemima is staying with her for her visit to England.

Prayer requests: Tracy's (my roommate) sister has had a minor aneurysm and will be having surgery soon. Also, another girl in my program, Creecy's mom has cancer (I'm not sure what kind) and just had surgery. So you can be praying for both of them. I don't think either Creecy or Tracy are Christians. You can pray for me in knowing how to support them. Thank you so much!!