I Stare At Some 3,000-Year-Old Rocks!

From Bristol to Salisbury to Chawton to Windsor. I am in the Manor Hotel, quite close to Heathrow Airport. We go to London tomorrow. (At least further into it!) For the first time I feel like time is flying by!  I think the reason the past two weeks have felt so long is because every day felt like two days packed into one. We'd ride the bus somewhere, get off and look around, get back on, ride it somewhere else and repeat. Since the bus is so relaxing, each new stop is like a new day! Apparently that will no longer be the case. :)

So our first stop today was the one and only Stonehenge! It's this big circular formation of standing rocks set up in two large circles, one within the other. Apparently the stones line up perfectly with the sun at the winter and summer solstices. They think it was built sometime between 3000 BC and 1500 BC, but that's about all that they know about it. All I know is that I grew up hearing about Stonehenge and seeing pictures and so this was a big moment for me. They don't let you walk right up to the rocks, but they have a path that you walk on that gets pretty close. That path goes all the way around! I took so many pictures of Stonehenge from so many different angles that when you scroll through them quickly it looks like the whole thing is rotating! Then there were a few with me in them, or of me and friends with Stonehenge. :) And now that it's over, I wish I could go back and stare at it for a few hours. And you could, too. This is another location with an audio tour, but we didn't get to hear most of it. They have a lot of theories about how these prehistoric civilizations built such a huge monument/temple, but I think my own theory is probably the correct one: they were earthbenders.

Our second and final stop of the day was at Chawton, where Jane Austen lived when she published all but one of her books. We toured around her house and wandered around the bookstore (I found three books that I wanted to buy for my sister but I resisted the temptation!) and then chased some sheep around in a neighboring field while the more literarily inclined of our group went on a tour of Jane's brother's manor, where some historic library is. The only had room for two people in the tour, so they took the English Lit majors. I was a little bit bummed because we skipped the Salisbury Cathedral to do things in Chawton. But it worked out in the end. Obviously we have wifi in The Manor Hotel! I also have my own room for the first time since this trip began. It's small, but I have a big bed and my own bathroom. As I have found in many buildings in The British Isles, this building is a maze. I filmed myself tying to find my way from the my room to the front of the hotel. You go up and down lots of little staircases. I love it! And I got sang to again today, and they bought a cake in honor of both my birthday and Dr. Eddington's which is today. Fun stuff, though it's a little mortifying to me to be the center of so much attention. :) The people on this trip are so amazing. :) That's that, guys! Unless something unexpected happens, I guess the next time I update will be from my flat in London.