Oct 13: Great stuff!

Saw Stone Henge yesterday--another dream of mine for a very long time. The tour was a little disappointing, only allowed for 45 minutes there. That barely gave me time to walk around slowly taking lots of pictures. I would have liked to have just sat and absorbed, although difficult with the several hundred other people walking around. Did get some really great pictures, however. By the time we got there it was late afternoon, clear blue skies and shadows from the setting sun. Boy, digital photography is fun! Got to see the shots right away, and looked through several more times in my room last night. It was so exciting to actually be there, at this place that is used as the pictorial representation of England. The other part of the tour was going through Lacock, a picturesque little town which is so preserved that many films are done there: Pride and Prejudice filmed there as well as a lot of Harry Potter scenes. There was only 45 minutes there, and I didn't walk around too much because the mini-bus was full, combining two groups at that point and I didn't want to lose my window seat. Stone Henge was after that.

Had dinner at Sally Lunn's, a restaurant in a building there since 1493, which is built on a site that excavations show has been used for food preparation and serving since Roman times, so 2,000 years--isn't that incredible! We in America think of things as old from 80 years ago. Have I mentioned that I love history? The older the better to my way of thinking. Last night did the 'Bizarre Bath Tour', which is a comedy/magic show that walks through Bath. It was fun, although a little over-rated. Maybe my expectations were too high. But it was good to walk around after dinner and burn off some of the calories before going to bed.

This morning was foggy, just since I've been here at the internet place it's cleared up. Going on the open bus tour of and around Bath today, so will stop back at the hotel first and change into warmer pants as it's quite chilly. Planning on going inside of Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. Would like to see the Jane Austen Center as well as the inside of one of the famous Crescent Houses, will see how time and energy hold up.

The foot/ankle are starting to be a little sore. And in all fairness to my beat-up body, this is the most walking that I've done in almost six years. So having to scale down to what is the most important to me, and accept that I won't get to see everything. But England is pretty easy to get to, so coming back is very do-able. Better to pace myself. The most important thing to me is climbing the Tor on Thursday, although the weather is looking a bit iffy: overcast at least, and that would really decrease what is supposed to be a fabulous view. I might have to make the decision that if the foot/ankle will only allow one climb, do a compromise and not go up on the exact anniversary but on the day after, which has a better weather prediction right now. I'll have to wait and see, suspect that the weather people here aren't any more accurate than those at home and things may change.

OK, off to see ancient stuff and revel in gorgeous blue skies! Laurie