May 25th, 2011 - London

Day tour day!  We had to wake up at 6:45 today to get ready for our day trip on a coach bus to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge.  The coach bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to a main depot where we loaded the bus we'd ride for the rest of the day.  Our tour guide was very informative and pointed out lots of neat things on our way out of London.  Then it was about an hour to Windsor Castle.  We got to walk all through the state apartments, St. George's chapel and throughout the outdoor portion of the castle.  Lots of neat artwork inside and it was still decorated just as it had been several centuries earlier.  St. George's was very similar to Westminster Abbey inside.  We had to hurry through the last part because our tour bus was leaving.  We grabbed a sandwich on our way back to the bus for the ride to Bath.

The ancient Roman Baths didn't disappoint.  They were truly remarkable.  Stepping back nearly 2000 years to see the hot spring bath was amazing.  It is still in very similar condition to how it was back when the ancient Romans used it.  Then we walked through the really neat town of Bath, grabbed coffee for Laura and had a milkshake for me (don't ever buy milkshakes in London - they are pretty much shaken chocolate milk) and then back on the bus again to head to Stonehenge. Laura loved the town of Bath.  That was her favorite part of the day.  We talked about possibly spending a night or two there when we come back to London. 

Next stop - Stonehenge - 5000 years old.  We had both seen lots of pictures, but it was really interesting to see it in person and listen to how the 5+ ton rocks came from more than 150 miles away and 20 ton rocks from more than 20 miles away.  Listening to the theories on what they believe it was used for really made you wonder what made them go through all that trouble to build it.  Unfortunately, in the 1700's, tourists were allowed to chip off parts of the stones for souvenirs, but plenty still remains of them.

It was 8 pm before our tour returned to London.  We can't believe we've seen so much in so little time - but still so much more to see!