Favorite Fotos: non-rolling stones, part 1

First of all, happy new year to everyone! Hope you all had festive, but not excessive, fun celebrations last night, and that 2009 will bring you all joy, health, and [at least relative] prosperity!

I discovered that I'd only used one of the many photos I took at Stonehenge in my blog post about our trip there (I haven't even tried to go through Henry's scores of Stonehenge shots). So I thought I'd do a post featuring some of them, followed next by unused photos from the other big stone circle in Wiltshire, Avebury.

For Stonehenge, I thought I'd start out with some more or less panoramic shots, above and below, to highlight the most surprising thing about the site, and that is, its smaller than expected size. True, the stones are enormous, but the site as a whole is amazingly compact.


The circular walk that you can take around the stones practically begs you to stop every few feet for another picture, since the alignment of the stones changes with every step you take, and all the arrangements are extremely picturesque. Here are two of my photos zooming in a bit from two different vantage points:

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And here are a couple of close-ups, unfortunately taken with the zoom; it's not possible to get this close to the stones themselves.

There is relatively little development at the site, which we found rather a rather pleasant surprise (and the giftshop/loos building is cleverly tucked away underground so as not to interfere with the open feeling of the site) but they do make it clear that you're to stay on the walk.

You might notice a bird on one of the stones in the picture at the right. As a rather atmospheric touch (do they lure them there for that purpose?) a flock of some sort of blackbirds was fluttering around the stones toward the end of our circuit. I tried to capture a sense of the scene in the shot below, but really to feel the atmosphere of Stonehenge, you have to be there....


Next, to Avebury, a much more accessible, although not as complete, Wiltshire henge site.

Back to the Romans and beyond

'Way back beyond, indeed, as we took another day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Related sites, certainly, but their bundling into one tour has more to do with geography, I imagine. At any rate, we visited them in comfort, thanks to Anderson Tours, and other than running into disappointingly bad weather in Bath, enjoyed the day tremendously.

The threatening weather actually added to the ambience of Stonehenge, where we took many pictures as we circled the stones and saw them from every angle (except, unfortunately, close up, which you're not allowed to do). It was blustery and cold, and although I'm sure the stones look good in the sunshine, we thought they looked just right under the clouds. An amazing place, although less imposing from a distance than I expected it would be. And the fact that there is so little there in the way of exploitation (just a little shop and some welcome loos) made an impression on us.

Back on the bus for the short hop to Bath, where we spent a good bit more time, as there is more to see. Unfortunately, we weren't able to amble around the city's famous architecture too much, due to an annoying rainstorm that was more than the light mist we were prepared to tolerate. So we ended up using a big chunk of our time relaxing over a hearty lunch. Here's mine:


Before eating, though, we took in the Roman baths and the Abbey, both of which were interesting—but the Baths definitely steal the show. The ruins (remains in British parlance) are pretty spectacular, and their accompanying museum is informative and presents their story well. We also joined a tour that gave us an even better perspective on the place, its history, and its still evolving archaeology. All the amenities were nice, too, as you can tell from this view on the left, taken from the ladies' loo, which looks out, appropriately enough, onto part of the bath complex.

I enjoyed the smaller exhibits almost as much as the imposing site as a whole. Some of my favorite items were the mosaics, an example of which is at the right here.

But, as I said, the baths are the thing. Amazingly intact after 2000 or so years, they are still beautiful testaments to Roman engineering prowess and odd social behaviors. Looking out over one of the steaming pools I thought this picture of a fellow tourist on the other side caught the mood of the place well.


Moving from the early years of A.D. to a thousand or so years later, the Abbey is also a beautiful piece of work. Right next to the baths, and on the site of part of the original Roman complex, as we learned in the museum, it makes for easy sight-seeing on a rainy day.


We did get to see some of the Georgian architecture for which the city is also known on our way out of town, but pictures taken through moving bus windows in the rain usually don't turn out worth sharing. At least we didn't have to drive ourselves home but could relax through the lovely Wiltshire countryside and on back to the big city. Where more adventures awaited.