310 Miles Across Southern England

Today was jam-packed with three major stops on a 310 round trip through the country - from as far west as the edge of Wales and as far east as 20 miles from the English Channel.

Our first stop was Windsor Castle!  The oldest and largest continuous royal castle residence in the world!  The Queen was not in today as the Christening of Princess Charlotte was occurring in Sandringham further to the north, but there was still much to see!  Originally built by William the Conqueror at the end of the 11th century and expanded by kings throughout the following 900+ years.

No pictures were allowed to be taken  inside, but we were able to see the Throne Room where the knighting ceremonies take place, the state rooms included many portraits including the Queen's official state portrait.  It is also the burial place of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour (his only wife buried with him), and King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.

The city around the castle is a lovely, if expensive place to live.  It pays (or costs) to live so close to the Queen.  Eton is also within the city - where Prince William and Prince Harry went to school.

The courtyard within the castle walls.  The Queen's residence is the tower to the right.

Laura and I just inside the King Henry VIII Gate.  This portion of the castle was built at his order and he loved the castle so much, he chose to be buried there rather than Westminster Abbey where kings were buried at that time.

The moat was never filled with water.  Instead, it is the location of lovely gardens.  Again, the Queen's residence is in the tower in the back of the picture.

Our next stop was in the Salisbury Plains to visit Stonehenge!  It was believed to have been built around 3000 BC and had many uses, but it original purpose is still not yet known.  Excavation of the site is continuing to this day and they have not uncovered even half of the area that is believed to be part of the site.  The stones are not just stacked, but are interlocking to complete the arches.  They have found that the stones perfectly align with the rise and/or fall of the sun during the summer and winter solstice.

On our drive, we ran into rain and feared that our time would be cut short, but the sun came out and lovely breeze kept us cool until we returned to the bus when the rains returned!

Our final stop on the tour today was to the two of Bath to visit the Roman Baths.  The town was unknowingly built on the ruins of a Roman Temple from nearly 2000 years ago.  The waters of Bath come from hot springs and are believed to have healing powers.  At the end of the tour, we were invited to drink from the fountain.  The water was as warm as a cup of tea and was not bad to taste. We were allowed to take pictures inside, so there will be more coming later! :)

We left London at 8:00 AM and returned to the hotel with wonderful service from the guides (who dropped us off at the hotel doors rather than the bus station because they were passing our hotel anyway!) and we found a surprise!  Mom arranged a birthday gift  to be left in the hotel room when I returned!  Chocolate cake was a wonderful way to end the day!