London-Day 1 8th Feb 08

Departure: 0845 hrs at Victoria Coach Station, London
Destination: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & the Roman Baths

I booked a tour with Evans Evans to go to these few places because it was totally impossible for me to go there by myself without a car.. They are actually some attractions which Kim's friend recommended! I travelled to all these places myself because Kim's a frequent visitor of London as her auntie stays there so she skipped London & went to bergen instead..

Victoria Coach Station

Me taking a photo at the terminal against the background

I slept on the bus journey most of the time from place to place but whenever I reach the destination, I will be damn awake! haha..Just like those days in Vietnam backpacking.. Otherwise, I would be taking photos through the windows hoping to capture that very moment!

Anyway, first stop was Windsor Castle, the official residence of the Her Majesty The Queen.. The Queen spends most of her private weekends at Windsor Castle and it's the venue for ceremonial & State occasions.. The cool thing about these 3 places is: it is totally tourist-friendly.. They have those hand-held audio equipment as guide and that really saves a lot of time & everyone can move around at their own speed unlike if you had a tour guide... They have it in 2 different languages most of the time, English & Japanese because there were really lots of Japanese visitors! haha.. Nothing much for me to describe.. i just moved around the castle, took photos & watched the Change of Guards!

Windsor Castle from afar!

Windsor Castle within reach

Castle's Main Entrance

Within the Castle itself!

Castle Gate to the State apartments

Within the Fortress itself

View from the Castle! Totally magnificent!

Entrance to the State Apartments, actually no photography allowed but I quickly snapped a shot! hehe..

St George's Chapel.. Where the tombs of the Kings & Queens lie...

I liked this image though.. A little boy & girl holding hands in St George's Chapel.. I asked their teacher if I could take photos of them but she rejected me.. So I could only take it from behindEveryone queued up to take photos with him! Why? I don't know.. He's just a guard!

2nd Stop was one of the World Heritage Sites-The Stonehenge! It took an hour's journey to reach this vast field of land with stones in the middle! haha.. Apparently, it tells stories of how the ancient people mapped the course of the sun and the moon to build this structure. Each stone structure carries different meanings and serves a different purposes and they can be used to tell the time. However, not all of the stones were preserved. They are 5000 years old (dated back to 2,000B.C) and they have been moved before! There are those complimentary audio guides available as usual but the thing I dislike is that sometimes the commentary are very long and you have to wait till they finish before you move on, otherwise, you will most probably miss out stuffs if you move on too quickly.. Took photos as usual! What captures my heart is not the stones but the surroundings.. Large green pastures in front of you, merging with the blue sky! I seem to be a step away from Heaven!

That's stonehenge! _Northern View_

It was really sunny there so I needed my cap!

Stonehenge_Southern View_

Lots of lamb gathering around the green pasture there

The Heel Stone! Does it look like a heel to you? It signifies the starting point of any ceremonials

This should be the complete structure of Stonehenge!

The last stop of the day is: The Roman Baths! This dates back to the Roman times where hot springs were luxury items only available to the royalties or they were healing spas to the people.. But in order to be treated in the spa, you need to offer lots of gifts to the priests as "sacrifices" to the gods & goddesses! I can't explain in details the history & the origins of the baths because I ain't that educated in it seriously but I know they have like different baths for different illnesses, different sexes, different classes of royalties etc.. They have bath servants, people who scrub their back while in the hot spring... Kings & Queens have their own personal baths and the baths are in different shapes & sizes... As it dates back to many centuries ago, the bath is currently under renovation in certain areas. Majority of the buildings are preserved but there are additional ones which were introduced so as to be able to showcase it to the public and sell it as a tourist attraction... Let the pictures do the talking:

Exterior of the Bath Abbey

The main Bath

Read the words and you will understand!

How the entrance of the temple looks like now..

Display on the different seasons.. Can't explain much because I don't really understand the meaning behind it too.. I am not Roman that's why.. haha

Tombs for the Kings & Queens

The main bath was rectangular and this is circular

Me at the Main Entrance ! Huge Door!

Streets near the Bath

Nicholas Cage has an apartment here! This circular terrace house...

It was a long day for me.. By the time i was back in london city, most of the shops were closed so I didn't do much shopping... Just settled for accommodation and rest!