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<\/a><\/p>\nBath is an amazing city.\u00a0 As I already mentioned, much of the city dates back to the period of the Roman Conquest of England.\u00a0 Historic buildings and churches are everywhere!\u00a0 But of course, the \u201cjewel\u201d of all this is the Roman Baths.\u00a0 This structure, statues, etc. really do date back to the time of the Roman Conquest!\u00a0 We were standing there looking at the handiwork of artisans from 2000 years ago!\u00a0 As you can tell, we were really impressed with this \u2013 and we spent half of a day there.\u00a0 In the evening we took a \u201chistory walk\u201d with one of the guided walking tours \u2013 part history, part legend, part just plain fun.<\/p>\n The next day was a driving, sight-seeing day.\u00a0 This took us off the big motorway and onto regular two-lane highways, on our way to Stonehenge.\u00a0 Road maintenance on English secondary highways does \u201cnot\u201d include trimming the trees and bushes along the roadway \u2013 they let the boxes of trucks do that for them.\u00a0 Of course, that means that the trees and shrubs grow right up to the edge of the road.\u00a0 They also preserve their historic homes, even at the cost of the road right-of-way! The roads are narrow, and everyone drives \u201ctoo\u201d fast on those country roads.\u00a0 Finally, with the bushes were\u00a0whipping just inches away past Judith\u2019s side of the car, she finally \u201clost it\u201d and told me we HAD\u00a0to slow down!<\/p>\n Being accustomed to Americans advertising of points of interest over and over again (\u201cRock City \u2013 157 miles ahead\u201d), we were amazed when we rounded a curve, came out of a wooded area, and, \u201cHoly Shit, its RIGHT THERE!\u201d\u00a0 There Stonehenge sits, no prelude, no warning, just this colossal monument sitting on the edge of a sheep pasture. Most amazing is how this was constructed about 5,000 years ago, especially when one considers that these huge rocks were transported more than 150 miles to this site.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n From Stonehenge it is only a few miles to Wilton House.\u00a0 However, along the way was the site of Old Sarum, reported to be the oldest known Royal Palace \u2013 dating back to 1130.\u00a0 The entrance was through a narrow cut in a very tall, steep, wooded embankment. We looked at one another and said, \u201cLet\u2019s just look around a little; if it doesn\u2019t look very interesting we\u2019ll just go on.\u201d Well, three hours later we finally were leaving. Who knew that castle walls were 10 feet thick? Or that they had \u201cindoor\u201d toilets?<\/p>\n Then on to Wilton House, home of William Alexander Sidney Herbert, 18th Earl of Pembroke, 15th Earl of Montgomery, and at that time one of England\u2019s most eligible bachelors. The house and gardens were fantastic! More \u201cold master\u201d oil paintings than many museums.\u00a0 And the grounds and gardens were wonderful!\u00a0 We wandered through the various formal gardens, the Japanese garden, and even met a friendly pooch who was hanging out with one of the gardeners.<\/p>\n With a fair amount of daylight remaining, we decided to get onto the Motorway (M-4) and drive over to Bristol to visit the Cheddar Gorge (the very same area for which Cheddar Cheese is named! Love that cheese!).\u00a0 Unfortunately, we missed the turn-off for the by-pass of Bristol \u2013 instead we drove through the heart of the city during 5 o\u2019clock rush hour (in a stick shift vehicle with the stick and the steering wheel on the wrong side!) But we survived that and finally reached the open countryside.\u00a0 The gorge was a rustic delight.\u00a0 Who would have thought there were Mountain Goats in western England?\u00a0 We even met some in the middle of the narrow, winding road!<\/p>\n It was getting late and was well past dinner time as we returned to Bath. Along the road was an interesting pub, the Wheatsheaf Inn.\u00a0 We were hungry and it looked like the only likely food for miles; besides it looked like a traditional, rural pub.\u00a0 The food was really good, and we sat next to a pleasant young couple from Australia visiting England as part of one of their Doctoral research. For desert we had \u201cSpotted Dick\u201d.\u00a0 (Look it up!)<\/p>\n As we returned to our lodging in Bath I said, \u201cPlease, let there be a parking place!\u201d We had been in the car all day (yes, we had lots of fun \u2013 but enough is enough!) As we approached our Bed and Breakfast there it was \u2013 JUST ONE empty parking place. I was tired, had driven through Bristol rush hour traffic, and now was facing parallel parking, up-hill, with the space on the wrong side, the manual gear shift on the wrong side, the steering wheel on the wrong side, and the car on the wrong side! As I pulled up next to the spot, I yelled to Judith \u201cGet out and hold that spot!\u201d (Understand, I NEVER yell at Judith!)\u00a0 But with Judith\u2019s help, guidance, understanding, and patience, we got the car parked.<\/p>\n Thursday was our last full day in England.\u00a0 When we got up the weather was overcast and foggy \u2013 the first time throughout our vacation that the weather was not beautiful.\u00a0 Even still, the scenery and villages were wonderful. and we found a delightful little bakery for a morning snack.<\/p>\n Then it was on to Windsor Castle.\u00a0 We stopped for a quick bite and to catch up on some email before going into the castle.\u00a0 So there we were, sitting in a McDonald\u2019s and looking across the street at the Windsor Castle \u2013 it was literally right across the street!!!\u00a0 The castle and its grounds were spectacular. We spent the entire afternoon touring the castle and investigating the grounds.\u00a0 In fact, we spent so long that St. George\u2019s Chapel was ready to close by the time we got around to it; and they were closing the gift shop around us as we were browsing there.<\/p>\n As we were heading to our car after leaving the castle, we stumbled upon The Church of John the Baptist \u2013 just down the street from Windsor Castle.\u00a0 Throughout our travels we found so many old, interesting churches \u2013 and this was another one.<\/p>\n Then it was down the M-25 at rush hour, and on to our hotel close to Heathrow Airport. We had a good trip and good weather, and I didn\u2019t crash the car while driving on the wrong side of the road, with the steering wheel on the wrong side, and the MANUAL gearshift on the wrong side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Final leg of the journey \u2013 Western England Our return flight from Spain arrived in the early evening, but after dark.\u00a0 So we decided to stay at a little hotel near the airport. It was new, clean and of a modular construction \u2013 it appears that the entire bathroom unit was pre-built and just dropped … Continue reading Western England 2006<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n