Stonehenge

Stonehenge.  A big circle of rocks.  It absolutely poured while there... it was difficult to hold an umbrella in one hand (rain would kill the camera, and well, I'd melt -- side effect of green skin, you know...) and a camera in the other.  So, not a lot of pics, but really... aside from different angle on the outside, they all look alike. 

The Heel Stone.  They think this rock was already here so some bored people decided to tip it up.  And look what happens. 

Stonehenge had some evolution in design -- they rearranged the stones at least once, so that solstice sunlight thing may not have been one of the first uses.  Who knows for sure -- it's all theory -- there wasn't anyone around from that era to ask.

A couple pics of the rocks.

And here's a sign that explains part of it.

Bath

*I think* the tour guide said this was either the furthest Roman city from Rome or one of...  I forget.  Some obnoxious person in the bus was distracting me or I was just waiting for the bus to go careening off that tiny, narrow road or something.  Driver was sort of my hero -- he knew where the gas peddle was and wasn't afraid to use it.

The main bath in bath.  The water is green.  And icky.  They said don't touch it unless you want your finger to fall off.  I forget what was wrong with it.  They fixed it back in the day, then something happened and it got unfixed.  And I guess they've just left it alone because it's so much more attractive than sparkling, crystal clear water would be...

And, just like Disneyland, the tour through the baths winds up in the gift shop.  No pix of the gift shop -- just a bunch of touristy crap... and that cute little Roman soldier RUBBER DUCKY that is now sitting in my bathroom to go with the others. 

Oh yeah, here's the outdoor entrance to the gift shop one has to exit through.  At least it's nice and doesn't scream "cheap touristy crap" from the outside.

The hypocaust system.  This shows what was under the floors of the baths... the hypocaust system is how they heated the rooms of the baths.  The built fires and the warm air circulated under the floors around those little stacks of bricks.  The floors got so hot they had to wear sandals.

The Royal Crescent.  According to the tour guide, this building is the most photographed structure in the town of Bath.  I have no idea why.  It's a great big half-circle of townhouse residences.  Other than big... big snooze otherwise.  Sure, some nobility had a place here at some point, but big frickin' deal, it's just a big curving apartment building.  There is so much more in Bath that is way more interesting.  Like the green water above.
I took a pic of it too... why not, the camera was out and turned on.  But I couldn't get back far enough, even with the wide angle lens to get the whole building.  Oh well, you get the idea. 

Here's something more interesting... a side street in Bath.  I like how the streets are still the cobblestone and narrow and just cool and old-like.

Oh yeah, in keeping with the pic of the obligatory cathedral... Well, it is some of the best architecture...

And the front door of the cathedral.  Looks just like mine...

Next up, Stonehenge.  Really, just a bunch of rocks that they didn't know what else to do with...

Windsor Castle

So, took a little field trip that included Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge.  In that order.  They mix it up sometimes, but that's how our tour guide rolled that day.

Walking up to Windsor Castle, the queen's little weekend cottage.

Close up of the lower/outer gate.  I think I need one of these to keep the riffraff out...

Once inside, before one enters the main part of the castle (it's like there's the main house with its separate entrance and then the gated, walled compound for the support staff).  St George's Chapel where a whole bunch of dead royals are entombed and stuff. 

The Queen was having tea that day.  The following pic is the Royal Standard.  They fly it wherever she's in residence.  Since there isn't much to do in the town of Windsor or around it, the ol' girl was probably there that day. 

Down near the "lower" part of the compound (it's on a hill), they had a Changing of the Guard show.  Not sure why they're down here guarding the support staff  since the queen is at the other end of the compound?  Notice the gun in the close up of the guard.  They're not messin' around...

The inner entrance.

The main part of the castle.  We weren't allowed to snap pics on the inside of the building, like the state rooms... they have books in the FOUR gift shops inside the castle.  Yes, 4.  The queen's gotta pay for the upkeep on that weekend house somehow, right? 

I think this is supposed to be the official entrance to the queen's section/staterooms or whatever for those coming for tea.

We think this is where the queen parks her car. 

The gift shop closest to the queens front door.  I thought it was a cool pic.  Would be better without the open sign...

And lastly, a couple snaps of "Windsor Town" right outside the castle.  Cute and quaint.  But I'm sure the sidewalks roll up at 5 PM...

London, Random Pix

Okay, so I had a certain order I would have liked the pics in, but blogs work in reverse and I don't. 

Some random pics...

Tower Bridge.  Got this one from the boat on the Thames.

Westminster Cathedral.  Also in the neighborhood as the Abbey is this little cathedral.  They never finished it on the inside.  It's done enough they use it, but don't look up.  No pics inside -- it is a church after all -- or there would be one.

And these next two were taken from the top of that tower, way up there in the above pic.  It was also very windy.  Harder to tell from the pics, but London just goes on and on.  I guess you gotta put those 9 million people somewhere.

London is full of statues and  monuments everywhere you go.  Here's one I liked... some girl walking her pet lion.  But what I really want to know is:  didn't she know that her top slipped down?  And why didn't the sculptor tell her?  This is even worse than showing your ankles in those days!  Gasp!

There were lots of cars (both makes and models) that I had never seen before in London.  I actually knew there would be.  But here's a pic of an itty bitty little Mercedes Benz, next to a car that would be considered a standard or mid-sized car on this side of the pond.  Looks like a 4-door riding lawn mower.

London Aquarium.  Did not go, but it's a pretty big building for an aquarium... especially after you've been to what passes as an aquarium in Seattle.  (Hmmm... I wonder if that little otter in Seattle's still has that case of the itches??)

Roman Wall.  Fragment of the of the old Roman wall that used to surround Londinium, when London was a Roman settlement.

Lastly, many of the streets in London just sort of curve around -- from the days when villages grew organically before big grids were laid out...  and lots of people.

St Paul and His Little Cathedral

They must have thought Paul was an ok dude -- they named this place after him...

British Museum

So, the British Museum... big place with lots of cool shit.  Like, the Rosetta Stone.  Yeah, THAT Rosetta Stone.  Hard to see the detail in the photo, it was behind glass -- probably didn't want kids with their dirty little hands getting it all gunked up.

They also had the Elgin Marbles.  My understanding is that Greece sold them to Lord Elgin back in the day for practically nothing.  Now Greece wants them back -- understandably now that the Parthenon isn't as fabulous as it used to be with it being spread all over the place.  I'm pretty sure they ain't goin' back.  The plaques call them "high relief." -- I'll say high relief, looked more like someone carved a statue and glued it to a side of a building. 

Then there's this temple front or something...

And finally, this pic shows the "frieze" or whatever it's called that goes around the top above the columns, below the roof line...

Oh yeah, before I forget... in another part of the Museum, part of the Egyptian Collection, close to the Rosetta Stone, they had this sarcophagus just lying around.  Looks heavy.

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

So, something I was impressed by.  In pictures you can't really see how very ornate the Houses of Parliament really are -- seems to get lost in the photo.  Perhaps you just need to see them in person to really see the detail. 

Big Ben.  It's official name used to be the "The Clock Tower" but they renamed it the "Elizabeth Tower" in honor of Betsy's Diamond Jubilee (or maybe it was the Golden... whatever).  Anyway, Big Ben is the bell inside.  Still, pretty cool bell and clock tower.  I took a close-up one to hopefully show some of the detail. 

And here's one I think is kinda cool... got both towers and some other structure.