"Let's go see some ROCKS!"

First an update on our multi-national dinner party last night. I began cooking, anticipating a 7:00 or so dinner time. The French have no concept of time, and they eat dinner very late. So, come 9:30 we finally sat down. I overcooked the beef and undercooked the potatoes, but everyone said the dinner was tasty (give myself a big pat on the back). Claire, Peter's French sort-of girlfriend and her friend Aurrore were extremely nice. Their English was decent but broken, so we had a pen and paper to write out difficult words when they got stuck. Our dinner convo was interesting. They asked about what we thought about French girls. I told them usually Americans think the French girls are stylish and sexy while we think the Germans are manly and have hairy armpits. Their opinions on American girls were ... not as favorable. We joked about how we would take a picture of them in front of the American flag. They said that Americans are so much more patriotic than the French, and that we love our flags so much (can't disagree, since I have a flag collection). We got into a history conversation somehow too, and apparently Claire and Aurrore differ in their political views. Occasionally they would just burst out into rapid French arguments that none of us could understand. We would just look at each other with wide eyes until they stopped arguing haha. We told them that Americans usually stay away from politics to avoid conversation getting bitter, but they said the French are much more open about their politics. Claire tried to help me clean the dishes but we all told them that guests don't usually clean in America. She insisted on helping me and Aurrore said Claire loves to vacuum. Peter said "I'm in love with this girl." haha. It was a really good dinner conversation, and I think we all had fun. It was much better than the tense conversations we had with our anti-American French-Canadian hotel owner in Costa Rica. He sucked.

We went to the Lexington last night at about midnight after we finally finished dinner. The girls thought it was weird, and so did I. It is much smaller and more creepy looking when you go there sober. We woke up this morning for our 8:30 bus ride out to Stonehenge. The trip went by fast as most people fell back asleep on the trip out there. The English country-side looks eerily similar to the Missouri countryside, except subtract the corn and add pastures and a few more rolling hills. I woke up to the sound of our rector Kris saying "If you look to your left, you can see Stonehenge!"

Literally, it's on the side of the road. I was expecting to see gypsies and druids selling beads and weird music playing and alien worshippers and stuff. But the site is very basic. You pay to get in, there's a cafe, gift-shop, and audio tour. It was blustery cold, probably about 10 with the nasty wind chill, and most of us were under-dressed. The skepticism from the Notre Dame crowd was pretty hilarious. None of us were really impressed with the large pile of rocks, and the nasty weather exasperated our already cynical opinions about the place. Nevertheless, the walk around the henge was interesting, albeit if the audio tour seemed to struggle to find material to talk about.

Basically, this place is about 5,000 years old, and nobody knows why it was built or what it was used for. The rocks make a perfect sun calendar, and there is also evidence they used it as a holy place of sacrifice. The legends about Merlin and the Devil and aliens were also pretty hilarious to hear about. It was pretty impressive to think about how people 5,000 years ago could erect those stones. One of the kids in our group hurled a snowball and hit one of the rocks on the broad-side, showing his frustration about the underwhelming Stonehenge experience. I still had fun, but if you are England on a time and financial budget, I would recommend skipping Stonehenge. Just watch a documentary on the History Channel. It's more impressive with computer renditions, a deep-voiced announcer, and cool background music anyway. It felt sort of like the trip to the Arch for a St. Louisan -- obligatory if you have guests, but you are glad it's done with so you can move on. We did get to see some sheep though. Baaaaaahhh. Baaaaahhh.

Bath, however, was much more interesting. The town is nice and small with houses on hillsides and little shops. Very reminiscent of Door County, Wisconsin, without the corny drive-in movie theater and about 2,000 years older. TJ and I wandered off the beaten path a little bit down by the river, and we stopped in the smallest coffee shop I have ever seen. Definition of quaint. Then we walked up some side streets and ended up in the Circus, a giant circle of Georgian architecture buildings. Just past that is the Royal Arch, where TJ is standing. Apparently a lot of films are made here. We spent a few minutes throwing frisbee on the green-space and it made me happy.

At 3:15 the entire group made it back down to the Roman Baths for our tour. Probably a third or so had gone to the pubs before hand so we were a little rowdy. The docent at the beginning of the tour said that the waters in the baths were untreated and therefore dangerous to touch. He then explained that "There is a sign at the beginning of the baths that says do not touch the water. That is the best place to put your hand in." Thanks, man. The actual complex is two stories, and we had another audio tour to guide us through. There was a nice exhibit showing how the baths were set up when the Romans were there, and there was a lot of ancient Roman artifacts and Latin stuff everywhere. The baths were built by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago, and this is the only natural hot spring in Britain. I think my high school Latin teacher Magistra would have had a blast if she saw this place.

We were a little rushed through the tour because we all had to be back to the bus at 4:15, but we all made it downstairs through the exhibits to touch the water. Some of the water around the edges had sediment and some sort of growth on the surface, and the steps had algae on them, reminding me of our pool back home. The floors of the baths were the same stones the Romans laid down, so we were walking on 2,000 year old surfaces, which was pretty cool. The water was lukewarm to the touch towards the end of the baths, but at the source of the baths near the "sacred spring," the water was piping hot.

We all got nice pictures of us touching the water where we weren't supposed to be. That sign says "Please Do Not Touch the Water" haha. Overall this tour was much more exciting that Stonehenge, and much more informative. This town was a nice little day-trip, and a good change of pace from the hustle and bustle of London. You don't have to worry about getting hit by a bus when you cross the street in Bath. Before the bus took off we got some snacks from the Co-operative market because we were all starving. I was happy to witness the stuff that my MP works for, and I hope they will be excited when I tell them I went to one of their markets this weekend. On the two hour ride back to London I listened to some music and watched the hills roll by and the sun set. I reflected about my time here so far. While I miss my family and friends from home and school already, I am happy that I am out here on my own and experiencing new things with new people. This experience would be completely different had I gone out with just my friends from school or just my family and friends back home. Sometimes I wish I could relay some inside jokes to some friends when I am reminded of something, like seeing an SPQR statue, or when TJ and I saw a Bennett street today, or the "dont touch the water" sign reminding me of Frances diving in front of the no diving sign in South Carolina, but I am sort of glad that I am left to do some stuff on my own. Hopefully someday all of my favorite people can see this stuff so we can all joke about it together. Until then, just read the blog and it will be like you are there anyway.