Stonehenge
I went into this preparing myself to be disappointed, since I've heard it's a little bit like a Mona Lisa letdown, only in this case, instead of being way smaller than expected, the let-down is that you have to stay too far away from the stones and can't examine them really well. However, I thought they were REALLY, REALLY COOL. My dad and I had taken a train up to Salisbury (the town closest to Stonehenge) and from there took a tour bus to the site. The bus was driven by a man who looked like he was the lead guitarist in a punk band in his spare time and this impression was reinforced by his driving style which seemed a little wild. The bus ticket included admission into the site, which is in the middle of a bunch of fields with sheep grazing in them. I really liked that the stones were a little bit isolated and not surrounded by some commercial center or something. It added to the mysterious atmosphere. Additionally, I thought we were able to get pretty close to the stones. I mean I would've loved to climb on them, but that's why they're roped off, so people like me don't try to get to the top of the archway. With my audio guide telling me what researchers know about the stones (a lot of unconfirmed nothing), it was pretty easy to transport back in time to when whatever ancient people (NOT the Druids according to my emphatic narrator) built it for whatever purpose.
Changing of the Guard
This is one thing that all tourists in London are required to go see. It's a rule. So of course Dad and I wandered over to Buckingham palace one morning to witness the ceremony, a dignified exchange of the arguably most important task in the land, guarding the life of the Queen, it was a serious, regal occasion... just kidding. It started out as I expected, with the old guard all lining up and the new guard marching in to the music of a band. Then instead of quickly swapping places, the captains walked around for an indeterminable time while the band played... Thriller? What? Yes, as the soldiers marched around in their crazily tall hats, the marching band played September by Earth, Wind, and Fire, 76 Trombones from the Music Man, Thriller, and many others. This went on for over half and hour without any end in site, so eventually Dad and I left. It was neat for a little bit, but then in the words of Monty Python and the Holy Grail "Get on with it!"
St. Paul's Cathedral
You may think that once you've seen one cathedral you've seen them all, but that most definitely isn't the case with St. Paul's. This was a very cool cathedral, and different from others in design. It was built more recently (as in late 1600s early 1700s), so the architectural style had moved away from the typical arches to a domed design. There were some fantastic mosaics on the ceilings, but the best part was you were allowed to climb up to the top of the highest dome, 546 steps up a narrow winding stairway. It was a little nerve-wracking but the views of London from the top were worth it.
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| You can see the Eye and Big Ben to the left of the Thames |
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| Millennium Bridge going to the Tate Modern with the Globe to the left |
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| Dad and I on top of St. Paul's |
All in all we had an excellent time in London, definitely a city I'd recommend seeing at some point if you can; there's just so much history in it! Farewell for now and up next is Amsterdam!
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