Monday in England

Monday was a great day for us here in the UK. Today, we had the privilege of taking a tour of the country that many who come here on vacation do not get the chance to see. We were able to take a ride with Brett (who is out here on business with my company) who happened to rent a car for the week. This is what we did.

Stonehenge

Our first stop was the famous, yet mysterious, stone-age landmark also know as Stonehenge. It was neat to see those gigantic rocks arranged in a near perfect circle and to ponder on the meaning of it all. Why did these ancient people carry these stones from miles and miles away just to stand them up and arrange them in a circle? What purpose was this supposed to serve? It is all a bit puzzling, but makes for a cool place to visit. We decided not to pay the entry fee since you could not get close to the stones and you had almost as good of a view from the road. In fact, it was a bit odd to just be driving along this country road, and as you come over a small hill - there it is - a tall circle of large stones with throngs of tourists gathered around. We got out and took a few pictures, spent a few minutes, and away we went.

Avebury

I don’t think many people have heard of Avebury - at least I hadn’t. This small town is the location of much larger stone circles and other formations - cousins to Stonehenge if you will. To me, this was a much more impressive site. We were able to get out in the fields and touch the stones and stand next to them. There was one large stone circle, and smaller concentric circles within it. It was an interesting site to behold.

Tintern Abbey

We received a tip about some old abbey ruins just over the border to Wales. Since we weren’t too far away, we decided to make a go at it. We crossed the Severn River on a big suspension bridge over to Wales and made our way to Tintern Abbey. These magnificent ruins were quite a site to behold. It was a old abbey built up in the 12th century that eventually met its fate under the hand of King Henry VII. Despite the ages and the best efforts of the king, the walls of the abbey along with a few of the ceilings and roofs were kept preserved. We paid our money and wandered around the abbey for quite a while admiring the incredible architecture. It amazes me that even though technology and modern methods of construction were lacking that the people in the 12th century could erect such beautiful structures.

Gloucester Cathedral

On our way back to England from the abbey ruins, we drove through the city of Gloucester where we stopped off at the enormous Gloucester Cathedral. It was constructed back in the 11th and 12th centuries and still stands today in all of its magnificent glory. It houses the bodies of many notable people, including a huge burial shrine for King Edward II. This cathedral was also used for the filming of some scenes for a couple of the interior shots of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter films. We wandered around the church for some time before we got back in the car for a decent ride back to the flat in Reading.