We booked the Stonehenge excursion through a bus tour because they are pretty much the only ones who get passes for the inner circle special access. We were very glad we did because we ended up with an excellent tour guide named Pat Shelley. If you ever want a very informative guided tour of Stonehenge or any of the local barrows or henges, Google this guy and book one with him.
The first stop was at Avebury, which has one of the largest (by area coverage) stone circles in the world. Apparently lots of the stones got pulled down through the years, but they dug up and reerected the ones they could find. It was very beautiful and picturesque in the country. There are canola fields all over the place which bloom yellow and were just gorgeous.
Funny side note: it hadn't been all that cold in London the day before, so I up and left without a coat. Huge mistake. It was SUPER windy and cold, and I was a Popsicle.
After Avebury we went to the West Kennet Longbarrow. It was a huge mound they made into kind of a crypt and used for burials. The creepy part is that the guide said they may have de-fleshed the bodies so that they would stack more compactly. Ugh.
Inside the barrow.
Then it was finally time to go to Stonehenge. We got there about 20 minutes before they closed for the day and had to wait for them to clear out all the people before we could go in. While we were waiting, we went into the gift shop and I very quickly decided that a sweatshirt would be the perfect souvenir (Popsicle, remember?).
So worth it. I took a gazillion pictures, but these are a few of my faves. It was cloudy so I need to work on the colors.
Aw. Look at how cute we are.
Peekaboo!
It was so amazing to get right up close to this stone circle that had been here for thousands of years.
At both Avebury and Stonehenge, the guide showed us where to use rods to detect the ley lines that are supposed to run through the circles. I don't know how it works, but I did it, the rods crossed and it. Was. Freaky. Gonna need to do some research on that one.
Another side note, so that in a few years I can remember: we picked up our guide in a town called Marlborough. It was an adorable town and I would love to stay there sometime.
After Stonehenge, it was back to the hotel and off to bed. Tired, but very very happy.
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