It was really hard to keep the different towns from running together in my head considering they were all so similar.
A highlight of the Cotswolds drive was a random tower, Broadway Tower, in the middle of the Cotswolds known as Capability Brown's Folly Tower because it was built for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Its just a big tower in the middle of nowhere. This was my choice to try and find it and we wondered if it would be as silly of a wild goose chase as the Four Shires was, but it turned out to be pretty cool. Mom still won the lame monument award.
Also a highlight, despite the fact that it got us a bit lost, was our visit to fields upon fields of lavender. They were absolutely stunning and the smell was really nice as well.
We ate dinner at Pizza Express once we got back to Oxford and then I went to Kirsten Morris's house to hang out a bunch of my football friends and teammates.
Day two consisted of Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. Stonehenge is situated in the middle of nowhere on the Salisbury plains. I will admit that, had it not been for the season finale of Doctor Who this past year, I would have been less excited to see Stonehenge than I was post-Pandorica. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get with the program and watch Doctor Who already. Anyways, we got the audio guide tour and listened to the history of Stonehenge and the ideas about how and why it was built. The guide was really well done and I learned a lot. Sadly I've forgotten most of it... Stonehenge was really really crowded but because it is so big and spread out, you don't really notice that there are masses of people around. Unless someone steps on you foot while wearing stiletto heals. Ouch.... Didn't happen to me but to Mom.
From Stonehenge we drove to Salisbury and ate a picnic lunch outside the Cathedral. After eating we went into the Cathedral and looked around. Its quite a large Cathedral, and it houses the tallest spire in England. Also inside the Cathedral is the oldest working modern clock in the world which dates back to the 1300s. One aspect of the church that I liked was the social conscience that the parish exhibited. They had a area dedicated to Prisoners of Conscience and they highlighted several of those prisoners an their plight. There was also a little chapel sponsored by the mothers in the church that was dedicated to family. It seemed that even though it was a huge Cathedral, there was a real familial connection between the church and its members.
In the Chapter House of the Cathedral there is one of the few remaining copies of the Magna Carta. This one is arguably the most readable of the remaining copies. It was really cool to see such a critical document that not only influenced English history but American and world history as well.
Bath Cathedral
From Salisbury we headed on to Bath where we did a walking tour of the city. I had already been to Bath with Anson so I didn't see anything new but the family enjoyed seeing the sites of Bath. We started at the Roman Baths and the Bath Cathedral and then walked through the city towards the Royal Crescent and the King's Circus. Bath is a really interesting city in that it mixes the Pagan and the Roman and the Christian all together very seamlessly.
Royal Crescent in Bath
The next morning we got out early and began the very long drive to Dover. This drive, however, was more than worth it because Dover Castle was amazing! Its a stunning castle perched high above the White Cliffs of Dover. The sky was clear enough to see over to Calais and we spent hours at the castle, probably several more than we imagined we would. Dover Castle dates back far before the time of William the Conquerer and through most of its history was used to house troops. The church inside the castle is nestled up against a Roman lighthouse, one of the best preserved buildings from the Roman era in Britain. This church, which dates to the Saxon/Norman era, has been used by the military Chaplains for years. The castle really began to take shape during the time of Henry II as he built up an empire. His sons however (including Henry III, Richard the Lionheart and King John from Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame) fought over the Kingdom. The castle wasn't used too much until the Napoleonic Wars where it underwent a great renovation as a first line of defense for England. The same thing happened in the buildup to World War II, and secret tunnels were constructed underneath the castle that were used by the British military in the fight against the Germans. They recently opened these tunnels up for visitors and we got to tour them and follow the path of a British pilot who was taken into the tunnels, treated in the hospital, and who worked in the tunnels during his recovery. I really enjoyed this aspect, it was like the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms in London.
The best part about the castle visit was the fact that they had little reenactments from the time of King Henry II. We watched on in which the King presided over court and acted as the judge in matters between the citizens. Abba was picked as one of the citizens and had to take part in the show. The best part about it was that, rather than attempt to have the King and Prince say his real name, he just told him his name was Joe. Everyone was probably wondering why we were laughing so hard over something as simple as him saying his name.
After the Castle we drove to Canterbury to see the Cathedral but we got there after closing time so we didn't get to go inside. We did see the outside and the cloisters which was cool and wandered around the city a bit before eating dinner at Wagamamas and heading back to Oxford.
The next day we did Oxford. Pretty much all of it. Since Oxford is old news for me I'll just list off what we did and you can ask me about it if you want. Iffley Road Track where Roger Bannister first broke the 4 minute mile, Magdalen College and Deer Park, New College Chapel and Cloisters (where Mad-Eye turns Malfoy into a ferret), Bodlein quadrangle, Divinity School, Bridge of Sighs, lunch at The Turf, view from the top of the Sheldonian, Exeter College, and evensong service at Christchurch. Whirlwind day for sure.
In Christchurch Hall
Day 2 in Oxford consisted of what we had missed the day before. Went into the Duke Humphrey's Reading Room in the Bod, went into Christchurch and saw the Hall (the Great Hall in Harry Potter) and the Cathedral properly, Ashmoleon Museum to see the exhibit with the old musical instruments, walk in Port Meadow, and dinner at the Eagle and Child. All in all a great day in Oxford and a great way to end the trip.
Port Meadow
Eagle and Child
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