Today we took a coach (see, I am already starting to understand the language - Jason, are you ready to move yet?) to Stonehenge and Salisbury. The ride was about 2 hours from London. Not that the site is really that far, but it takes a heck of a lot of time to get out of London. They don't have an interstate here. The roads are labeled M, A, and B depending on how hefty it is with M being able to hold the most traffic (3 lanes in either direction).

M: Motorway
A: Auxiliary
B: Byway

The system is quite interesting, but I don't think that I every want to drive here. Everyone is so close and the roundabouts are confuse the hell out of me.

Once we got to Stonehenge, we exited the bus and took the subway under the road (subways are walkways under the ground while the underground is what we could consider a subway) to Stonehenge. My first impression was how small it was. I expected the stones to be larger and take a larger area. Also, it was extremely crowded. I would say that there were easily about 300 people at the site. We spent about 45 minutes at the site and the gift shop. In that time I was able to take about 100 pictures and to buy some postcards. I could have stayed there for at least another 45 minutes. A few of the people on our bus were pissed because we spent so much time there. They weren't interested in a pile of rocks.

I was kind of in awe about the site. It wasn't as spiritual as I would have liked, but then again it kind of hard because there are 300 other people taking pictures with me. If I would have been there alone or with just a few people I think that it would have been an extremely moving experience. The stones are roped off so you can't get within 50 feet, but it is still quite amazing. It would be difficult to construct something like that today let alone 5000 years ago. Our tour guide pretty much labeled it as the first calendar, but he left out the spiritual significance. If you look at it as a great big calendar then you are missing the point. Plus it would be hard to use it as a calendar since it is cloudy so much!

After Stonehenge, we went to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral. It has the highest and oldest spire in England. Possibly in the world, but I am not sure. The inside is just amazing. It took approx. 40 years to build and is an amazing peace of work. The ceilings and entire church are stunning. Sadly, the ceiling paintings and stained glass windows were removed during the Victorian era since they were considered to be in bad taste. Luckily the cathedral survived and was not modernized like the majority of the cathedrals in the country. Also, it was build in one style which is extremely since they take so many years to build.

Once I sort through my pictures tonight and tomorrow, I'll post some more.

Tomorrow, I am planning to go to Dover to see Dover Castle and the secret wartime tunnels. I'll just use a day of my BritRail pass. The tunnels where used during WWII and as a nuclear fallout shelter until the 1980s.

London is AWESOME and I am having a pretty good time overall. I am a bit homesick and miss hanging out with Jason and my friends. Most of the other CCSA people here want to go out to pubs instead of the places that I want to go to. Guess I am spoiled since Jason makes such a great travel partner!