London: Day Three

On Sunday, we took a day trip to the cities of Bath and Lacock before finishing up at Stonehenge. We had a great time; we got up, had breakfast, and got to the pickup place over an hour ahead of when we needed to be there. So we walked around some cool streets (it was in the Marble Arch area) and marveled at the amazing architecture. Then we went to the pickup spot and got on the bus, it was about 2 hours to Bath, maybe a little more. It was beautiful; I wish we could have spent more time there. The architecture was gorgeous, very Jane Austen-ish. We spent the majority of the time in the Roman Baths, which were fascinating. So cool to be in a spot that actual Romans walked on almost 2,000 years ago. They had these audio guides, which was a cool bonus, since it shared so much about the history, etc. At the end of the tour, we even were able to taste some of the spring water; it was actually quite good, even though it was hot! I could easily spend a day or two in Bath; too bad we only had a couple hours there! (We still had time to stop at a little chocolate shop, though, and get some homemade British chocolates--because who doesn't have time for chocolate?--some were quite good, but some (like the Rose Cream) tasted like I was eating soap!)

Then we went to Lacock; this beautiful, picturesque village where many movies (like some Harry Potter & the BBC series, Pride & Prejudice) were filmed. No doubt this spot was chosen because once you get the cars off the street, it looks like an old-fashioned English village; there are no power lines, cable lines, etc. anywhere. So beautiful! We had fun looking at all of the old cottages and imagining what it would be like so many years ago. Then we had an early dinner around 4:30 at the George Inn, a wonderful old English pub that had been in operation since the 1360s! How cool! The food was quite good; I had the fish and chips and Dan had the mushroom stroganoff. I just wish my fish was a little more fish, a little less breading. But it was still very good. Dan also tried a traditional English ale and I had a wonderful English cider; so good! Then we got in the bus and headed to Stonehenge. It was cool to see in that it was an amazing engineering feat (like, how did they get those heavy stones stacked up in a day when they had no machinery?) but I am glad we didn't see JUST Stonehenge; I don't think it would have been worth it without also going to Bath and Lacock. Still fun to see such an iconic landmark up close, though!

Then we went to a pizza place right by our hotel when we got back, because since we had eaten at 4:30 I was hungry at 9:30. So we shared a great quattro formaggio pizza, and then went to a cool tavern right by our hotel, and Dan had a traditional English ale (I had a Stella Artois, nothing too fancy!) and just discussed what we should do for the next couple of days.

As I'm sure you can tell, we already were loving our trip, and we were only a couple days in!

 In the Marble Arch area before getting picked up for our tour

 The Abbey in Bath

 Dan intently listening to the audio guide; he loved this whole tour!

 This beautiful abbey near Lacock

 You can see why Lacock would be used for movies based in the past; it's so picturesque! 

 Some scene from a Harry Potter film (I think the Prisoner of Azkaban, but I'm not sure) was filmed at this door; I don't know, I'm much more into the books than the movies, so I can't remember for sure. 

 Enjoying my English cider; so good! Way better than the room-temperature beer