The trees are blooming, the hay has been cut and they are “sweeping” it so that it dries, and what ever else there is that could be blowing around….I’m getting so plugged up, wheezing, and coughing, I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a month. I’m not normally a pill taker, but now, I am seeking them out, and I’ve got to get this under control. The hot weather stayed with us all day yesterday and even moved into this afternoon. Yesterday, we stayed close to the pool and “Bumble Bee”, with the exception for a short trip into town for groceries and the internet. Other than that, we were at poolside. This morning we left Lindau. Lindau is an island, sitting in Lake Constance, and within about 4km from the Austrian border, and about 6 miles from the border with Switzerland. As we pulled into Austria, we noticed the long lines at a gas station, and then we noticed the prices…they were .20 euro per liter less than that in Germany (Landau). Everyone, filling up with gas, was from Germany. While we filled our tank, I went in and purchased our permit to travel on the Swiss Motorways. I think this is the 4th or 5th country that we had to purchase these permits. Today’s Swiss permit cost us $27 Euro for a year. We had heard it would cost us about $40, so we were excited to get such a “break”. Now that reminds me, every time we as travelers, get instructions, hear about the cost of items, km or miles to be traveled, it changes with reality. The cost of this permit is only one example, and another real quick is km…the distance advertised is never the distance realized. I think the standard was thrown out a long time ago. Our drive this morning took us around the southern side of Lake Constance, on our way to Zurich and then onto Luzern. Lake Constance is a large, long lake that is a beautiful blue/green in color. It reminds us of the waters of the Mediterranean. It is fed from the surrounding mountains, but it is far enough away to let it warm up enough to be comfortable and allow the water color, to clear from the opaque colors of the glaciers. As we wound our way through the lower foothills of the Alps, we even found cooler weather…it felt good for a change. Later, as we got closer to Luzern, the weather warmed up again to about 85 to 90, and the humidity was just about the same. Later in the afternoon, we got a heavy, but short rainfall. About 5, we decided to take a long walk into Luzern, along the boardwalk. This is one of the prettiest of the European cities I have seen. It also seems to have a lot to see as well, so the next few days will give us plenty of exercise. As we left the town area and finished our shopping, we noticed that the clouds were building, turning dark, and looking very threatening. Sure enough, we hadn’t made it 1/3 of the way back and all hell broke loose…we got drenched. As we walked into the campgrounds, the little outdoor restaurant/bar was open. I just had to have a beer, and there were a couple of guys standing at a tall table, so I joined them for a couple. Tomorrow will bring lots of new sites, but we can’t do too much prior to the Chouinard family getting here.
29 June ’05, Wednesday. Lake Luzern
The trees are blooming, the hay has been cut and they are “sweeping” it so that it dries, and what ever else there is that could be blowing around….I’m getting so plugged up, wheezing, and coughing, I haven’t had a good nights sleep in a month. I’m not normally a pill taker, but now, I am seeking them out, and I’ve got to get this under control. The hot weather stayed with us all day yesterday and even moved into this afternoon. Yesterday, we stayed close to the pool and “Bumble Bee”, with the exception for a short trip into town for groceries and the internet. Other than that, we were at poolside. This morning we left Lindau. Lindau is an island, sitting in Lake Constance, and within about 4km from the Austrian border, and about 6 miles from the border with Switzerland. As we pulled into Austria, we noticed the long lines at a gas station, and then we noticed the prices…they were .20 euro per liter less than that in Germany (Landau). Everyone, filling up with gas, was from Germany. While we filled our tank, I went in and purchased our permit to travel on the Swiss Motorways. I think this is the 4th or 5th country that we had to purchase these permits. Today’s Swiss permit cost us $27 Euro for a year. We had heard it would cost us about $40, so we were excited to get such a “break”. Now that reminds me, every time we as travelers, get instructions, hear about the cost of items, km or miles to be traveled, it changes with reality. The cost of this permit is only one example, and another real quick is km…the distance advertised is never the distance realized. I think the standard was thrown out a long time ago. Our drive this morning took us around the southern side of Lake Constance, on our way to Zurich and then onto Luzern. Lake Constance is a large, long lake that is a beautiful blue/green in color. It reminds us of the waters of the Mediterranean. It is fed from the surrounding mountains, but it is far enough away to let it warm up enough to be comfortable and allow the water color, to clear from the opaque colors of the glaciers. As we wound our way through the lower foothills of the Alps, we even found cooler weather…it felt good for a change. Later, as we got closer to Luzern, the weather warmed up again to about 85 to 90, and the humidity was just about the same. Later in the afternoon, we got a heavy, but short rainfall. About 5, we decided to take a long walk into Luzern, along the boardwalk. This is one of the prettiest of the European cities I have seen. It also seems to have a lot to see as well, so the next few days will give us plenty of exercise. As we left the town area and finished our shopping, we noticed that the clouds were building, turning dark, and looking very threatening. Sure enough, we hadn’t made it 1/3 of the way back and all hell broke loose…we got drenched. As we walked into the campgrounds, the little outdoor restaurant/bar was open. I just had to have a beer, and there were a couple of guys standing at a tall table, so I joined them for a couple. Tomorrow will bring lots of new sites, but we can’t do too much prior to the Chouinard family getting here.
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27 June ’05, Monday. I wish all we did today was celebrate “Leslee’s 40th Birthday” !!!! We would have done it up Big !!! We could have even had a cake, yes, an ice cream cake, with 40 Big Candles on it !!! But, unfortunately, it was way too hot, and we weren’t having one of our best days. It was going great throughout the morning and afternoon, and then after we pulled into the campground in Lindau, we found the campground just about totally full. Now remember, it is HOT, (did I say HOT ???) and we needed some shade…. After personally going over all the choices of spots to camp, we decided to move on. We no sooner got ourselves just across a main street, “Bumble Bee” decided she had had enough of that heat. Now I know you have no idea of how much “stuff” we are carrying, and if we have to get back into the engine compartment, it means EVERYTHING has to be moved out and stored somewhere. First of all, I put out the Safety Triangle, and then gathered Louise and we walked across the street (trying not to look like the people who own that VW Van stuck halfway out into the street of a main street in town, on a HOT day …) We went across the street to get a drink !!! Of water of course… After a few futile attempts and the car is still not going to go, I asked Lou if she would go back to the campground and phone for a tow truck…well, what else can you do ??? While she was gone, I went back across the street, and started moving everything to the center of the van (it looked like a bomb had gone off in there when I had finished). Then a thought crossed my mind, (yep, it does happen every once in a while), we probably have a vapor lock… I opened up the hatch and found some water, started pouring it all over the pipes around the fuel pump and the carburetor. I then made a dash to the front and tried again to start her…SHE STARTED !!! I turned her off after I was sure she had been cured, and waited for Lou to come back. When she arrived, she told me the tow truck would be there in 45 minutes, so I made a snap decision …”go back and tell them not to come”… I don’t think she was too happy with that “snap decision”, but off she went, but telling me that “Bumble Bee had better run !!!” Well, we did find a new campground, and we did have a few trees for some shade, but it was still HOT. The campground before was on a lake, and this one has a large swimming pool, so we are now “happy campers” again. Sorry Les, we didn’t have a cake, but we did toast you with a glass of “fine imported” wine… Happy Birthday 26 June “05, Sunday. Neuschwansgtein Castle Breakfast finished by 9am and we were heading on our way by 10. Today the “Romantic Road” wasn’t as striking as it was yesterday, but that was ok. It was the end of the roadway that we were looking forward to, and we weren’t disappointed. As we approached Schwangau, we were looking up into the Alps, and I do mean looking up. This is just the beginning, and we are looking forward to the rest. After passing a large lake on our right, we saw on the left the most beautiful castle of all…the stunning Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that Disney used at a model for building his castle at Disneyland around the world. After finding a parking lot (for $6 Euros, we purchased our tickets ($8 Euros) for a tour of the castle. We had to wait about 2 hours for our tour to start, and even in the heat of the day (about 90+ degrees) it was worth the wait. After Ludwig II, lived most of his early life here in the hills of Germany”, and being raised in the “other” castle (Hohenschwangau), he chose to build this magnificent Neuschwansgtein Castle where it is today. Right across a small valley, a real easy walk from one to the other. Our tour through the interior showed the “German chivalric legends and the operas of Richard Wagner”. Every room was dramatic and well done, and showed like it should for a king. On the 13th of June 1886, the king drowned in Lake Starnberg, which was near the Berg Palace. This death has been and still remains a mystery. As they tell us now, it just doesn’t make sense, as he was an accomplished swimmer and again, he probably wouldn’t have been swimming at that time anyway. They are offering a $2 million dollar reward for a lead that substantiates who killed him and how he died. (Just kidding…) Because the day was so hot, and the climb to the castle was steep, we bought a ride on a bus for $1.20 Euro each, and then walked back. We are still feeling the steep downhill, 30 minute walk back to the van. Our campground was just about a mile away, and sits on the bank of a medium sized lake. We enjoyed a nice dinner, cooled off by sitting beside the van looking out over the lake, and made it to bed by 11. Tomorrow….Lindau, on the shores of Lake Constantine (Bodensee). 25 June ’05 Saturday Before leaving the Boppard area, we had to have the oil changed in “Bumble Bee”. I have always heard that if you have any problems, they happen in 3’s. Well, who’s been counting ??? When they put “Bumble Bee” on the lift, they came to find us…”you have a drain plug that is no good and if we change the oil, it may just drop out and you will lose all of your oil”. Trying to have courage, and stay calm, I asked them just what that meant… They wouldn’t change the oil, unless they could replace the plug and, to do that, they must “order” a new plug and, they must “fuse a bolt onto the old drain plug”…OK, how much ??? To make this a little shorter…changing the oil and filter, with a new plug…$85. Euros…. What is a person to do ??? About noon, we were on the way, following the Rhein River further south. Fact is, we followed it until Wertheim, which is just before Wurzburg. We found a campsite that had lots of trees, and we needed lots of shade…the weather has changed, and it has turned hot and stickey with a capital “S”… In the morning, as we were looking for the internet café we had been told about, we found the town market was in progress. One of our stops was at a display of Turkish Olives, and I just couldn’t pass. Fact is, we not only bought the olives, we bought some of the finest loaves of bread (round Turkish) we had ever had…I should have bought twice as much of both as I did buy. We then turned down the beginning of the “Romantic Road”. We passed such towns and villages as Tauberbishchofsheim, and Bad Mergenthelm, and a few others, until we stopped just outside of Dinkelsbûhl. The drive down to this point was like driving through the back roads of eastern Washington, with the exceptions of the villages….they were old, and all had their own character to tell their stories. Last night we walked into the village of Dinkelsbûhl, just before 9pm, and we wanted to follow the “Night Watch (man)” through the village. Dinkelsbûhl is a walled village with cobbled streets, pastel colored multi-storied buildings, and an sidewalk café about every 50 feet. Our tour with the “Night Watch”, was fun, although he only spoke German and we couldn’t understand a thing he said. One thing we did understand, is when he approached one of the restaurants, he blew his horn, sang a little ditty, and a young lady showed up with a glass or 2 of wine. He would then sample the glass and then pass it around so we could all taste the pleasure of this restaurant. This went on for about an hour and then we had to find our way back to the campground. Tomorrow….More Romantic Road… 23 June ’05,Thursday Village of Boppard on the Rhine This covers from the 19th to 23rd of June… An additional day was spent in Harlow, but all and all, it wasn’t a bad stay. Now, over to Harwich and catch our ferry, back to the Netherlands. I must say, it was just a little bit nerve racking to hit the road…you know, after having these “little” problems lately, and now listening to every little squeak, bump, grind, and just knowing everything is going to be alright…right? Our drive to Harwich should have only taken us about an hour or less, but we detoured along the coast for more than half a day, and then headed over to the ferry dock. Our plan was to see if we could camp right at the loading pier for the night. After pulling up to the dock and asking if we could stay, there was no problem. We just had to pull over to this out of the way area, and we would be fine for the night. We got there about 5pm and our ferry wasn’t to leave until 10:40am the next morning. Now here we were, sitting in our van, on a black topped parking lot with huge trucks moving around all day and night long, and it was HOT !!! There was a line of cars and campers lining up for the next ferry, but we didn’t know where they were going and we didn’t have tickets anyway. After taking a walk and thinking about this, I went to the gates and asked it this ferry could take us to Holland, and could we use our tickets that we have for the next day? Finding out that it was in fact going to the same port in Holland was encouraging, but there would be a cost… nothing is a wash or free… But, it was reasonable enough, so we drove aboard and headed out a night ahead. There was a small negative, we didn’t get to Holland until midnight, and we didn’t have a campground to go too. That was a small problem and we handled it beautifully…we camped in the city parking lot in Hoek van Holland, and that was within 100 yards of the terminal. A quick nights sleep, and we were under way again by 8am. Out route was to take us due east from Hoek van Holland, to Utrecht, and then on to Winterswijk. Now that we had crossed Netherlands, we pulled into a campground that we had stayed in just over a year ago in Winterswijk. Our next stop was at Obelink, which is a supply house for all camping needs…in other words…”A Candy Store” for the camping crowd…Ok, for me… The next morning we were underway for Germany and heading south. This will be our direction for a while, and ending up in Switzerland by the first of July. After leaving Winterswijk, and heading south, we passed Köln (Cologne), and then followed the Rhein River past Koblenz and ended up for a couple of nights, just outside of Boppard. We are camped right on the banks of the Rhein, the weather is in the range of 80-90 degrees, there is a great swimming pool on the grounds, a wonderful restaurant, enjoyable barge and riverboat traffic to watch and Roy and Jeanette (from West Sussex in GB) whom we are very happy to have met and call friends… We have been here for 2 days and will be back on the road again tomorrow and making our was through the “Romantic Road”…Hell, I thought it was all romantic !!! I guess I had better go back and read that chapter again… 18 June ’05, Saturday. Our Box Seats ??? A couple, three days have gone by and I’ve got some catch up to do again. We did have a great time seeing “Lion King”, and it was everything that we have heard it was…Fantastic !!! We had good seats, 3&4th seat in from the middle Isle, and about 2/3rds of the way up from the stage in the first section. Pretty lucky for those of us that have waited until the last minute. We were there for the matinee, and because it rained, we didn’t feel like we were taking away from seeing other sites. As it was, not to soon before the play was over, it cleared up, so off we went to continue walking the streets and having a good time again in London. For the 2nd day in a row, we didn’t get back to the campground until after 10. This is not like us, we normally like to have our glass of wine, make our dinner, wash dishes, and be all done by 7:30 at least. Thursday, we took in another show…”Billy Elliott”. We had seen the show when it was in the theatres, and when we saw it was on the stage here, we just hoped we could get seats. We heard that the box office opens at noon to sell the tickets that may be available for that same day performance, so we were there by 11:30am. The line had already started to form, so we jumped right in. Some how, Louise had heard from someone in line or passing by, that if you went to another line inside…you could get tickets right away…. She jumped at the “chance” and got us 2 tickets for the matinee again. We were thrilled, that is until we got inside, went to our seats, and sat down… WE COULDN’T SEE THE STAGE !!! Our tickets were for balcony box seats…they were just in front of the stage, and up on the 2nd and a half level. If and when you sat down, you couldn’t see anything. If you were to stand, you had a great view. As it was, we found that these seats were, for us, the best seats in the house…we had a great time…we could wonder around the whole area, take off our shoes, eat and drink our snacks with out bothering anyone, and just have a good time with an incredible show. Billy Elliott was outstanding !!!! Again, another late night in getting back to “Bumble Bee”, and getting to bed tired… Friday morning as I was entering the shower, I just barely noticed someone passing through the door. After a quick thought, I thought about who that might have been. Sure enough, after showing and checking with the reception desk, I found out that Bob and Helen (a couple we had met in Ireland, and whom we had been since corresponding with emails, and trying to get together again) were indeed here. They had pulled in yesterday and here we were, pulling out today. That’s ok, we had a chance to get together for coffee and a long talk, and with hopes of getting together somewhere in Europe later in the year. They are a couple from Fall City Wa., and are traveling for a few months in Europe as well. Eleven AM and we were pulling out of London and heading towards the coast for the last few days in Great Britain. About 15 miles north of London, and on one of the many freeways, I noticed that the “hot engine” light was blinking, and the temp of the engine was climbing pretty quickly. After pulling off on to the shoulder and getting to the back of the van, I noticed that the cooling water was “flowing” out of the engine…I couldn’t stop it if I had wanted too…we had lost the water pump !!! !!it, not now… We had a couple of quart bottles with water in them, so dumping them into the radiator and watching as it flowed out as fast as I was putting it in, we had no options. Get the hell off the freeway and find help. Now tell me, why is it you can only have serious problems on Fridays, Saturdays, or “Bank Holidays” (National Holidays to us) ??? Well, to shorten this up, we did find a mechanic in Harlow (just north of London), we couldn’t get in until this morning at 11:00, and they had to order 2 water pumps (not sure which one, if any, would fit). It was to take 1 to 2 hours max to do the job, but as our luck continues, we didn’t leave until after 4:00. After all was done (we hope, as they had a heck of a time getting the water to stop), we found a nice campground about 5 miles west of town. After sleeping in the parking lot of the garage last night, this is going to be heaven tonight. Fact is, we had dinner tonight at one of the local pubs, and I had probably one of the best meals of the journey, right here in this, very little community…Tomorrow…only He knows… wish us luck… 14 June ’05, Tuesday. London at Dusk “We’ll get that picture when we come back…”, or “there is another one up the road, that is just as good…” Ya Right !!! We always have good intentions, but not always follow up by getting that “perfect” picture. Well, that’s the story this time as well, we (I) thought we would definitely find another picture just as good, but when we did, I couldn’t find a was to get close enough. I’m talking (writing) about a Oast House…anyone know what a “Oast House” is ? Briefly, it’s barn with a silo or 2 or 3 attached. The top of each silo is like an up-side down ice cream cone. These also have an arm attached that runs out at 90 degrees and has some type of ornament attached at the end. This arm is about 12 feet long. Most of these old “silo’s” have now been converted into B&Bs, but originally they were used to store and “dry” barley. The cone would turn into the wind because of the arm finding the direction, and as the wind would enter the cone, which had circular baffles built-in, it would whirl and dry the grain. Today as I mentioned, most are converted into room’s at B&B’s, and are really well done. The cone’s can be seen for a long distance, as most are either painted chrome or have brass or copper. I bring this up now, as we had not seen this on any other part of England, but hope to see more after we leave the core area of London. Our trip brought us up from Battle, to Bodiam (which is due north of Battle about 15 miles) and the Bodiam Castle. The 14th century castle is a simple four-squared walled, 8 round towers rising out of the surrounding moat. As it sits on a slight hill with the water all around it, it is really picturesque. We didn’t take the time to go through the interior, as it was mostly in ruins. But exterior, it was worth the stop (and the $2 parking tab). The rest of the ride to London was still due north until we hit the city. We have a campground that is close enough for us to get into Piccadilly Circus by bus in 45 minutes and at a cost of $1.20 each. By the time we got all setup, and on the bus into town, it was just about 5pm. It has been 7 years since we were here, and it is good to be back. We had nothing planned, but as it was we didn’t grab the bus back until after 9:30. We did pick up tickets to see “Lion King” tomorrow, and we also took the ride on the “Eye of London”. By the time we got back, we were ready to hit the rack. Tomorrow…more London 13 June ’05, Monday. The Cliffs of Dover The sun was out bright, breakfast done, and we were ready to head off for the day. We headed off down the coast and the first village we were looking for was Rye. Rye is a mix of cobbled stone streets, towers, and half-timbered buildings. By half timbered buildings, I mean that the bottom half are stone, and the top, “black timber”… There is a small river, that has a “lock” system in it. Because of the tides of the English Channel, the rise and fall of the tide would just about drain the river, so about halfway through the village, the drop of the tide leaves everything high and dry and on the other side of the “lock”, it has water as usual. The first impression, is this is a “artsy” type of village, and you would be right on…hippish and artsy… Then on to Dover. Just over 2 hours out from Battle, is Dover (that’s Bumble Bee time…). Just west of Dover is Folkestone. This is were the “Chunnel” is located. The Bullet Train runs from London to Paris, through this Chunnel (Channel Tunnel), under the English Channel. Just as you pull into the city of Dover, your eyes come in contact with the Dover Castle and Fortress high on the hill. This HUGE complex is now and I’m sure centuries ago as well, is and was impressive. Dover is known for it’s “White Cliffs”, but now that I’ve been there, it will always be the fortress and the underground caves that make Dover. The castle and it’s fortress, is thanks to King Henry II, back in the 12th century. Since that time, Dover and the Dover Castle / Fortress, has seen many significant battles. From the 13th century to WWII. The chalk cliffs of Dover have many tunnels dug into them, and all of these have been used to house armies. In the case of WWII, the English had a “Top Secret” Intelligence network that led the rescue of over 300,000 men that were caught in a trap in France. It was also the location, while receiving constant shelling from the German artillery in France, served as a major partner in the D-Day invasion in 1944. We not only took a self guided tour of the castle, walls, grounds, and the 13th century Saxton church, we had a guided tour of about 30 percent of the underground tunnels. That was all they would allow us to see. We toured 3 levels of tunnels, which included the mapping rooms, communications rooms, hospital, and some of the kitchen and crew quarters. The Heritage Group was fortunate in getting back some of the original equipment, including planning tables, hospital equipment, and phone communications systems, just to finish this fine site. I must say, this was quite a day… When we got back, one of our neighbors here had spent the day of watching professional tennis. They watched the women’s preliminary games to Wimbledon. Well, you can’t be everywhere at once… Tomorrow…London… 12 June ’05, Sunday. The Village of Battle Hastings? Well, not yet, but Battle we found to be a great stop. It seems that I have some ties to Battle through family. I wont go into a lot of detail, but that we know, goes back to “Thomas Goodman” being born in Battle in 1840 or there about. Sunday, we went into town after setting up at this fantastic campground, and had fun going through one of the many cemeteries looking for someone with the “Goodman” name on their tombstone. I’m sure it doesn’t surprise anyone, but we didn’t have any luck… I know I told you that we had purchased a “English Heritage” membership when we arrived in England. This is because of all the wonderful sites that they have and take care of. We have used our card for free admission so many times, it is almost embarrassing, and we were able to use it one more time here in Battle. Heck, it even pays for our parking in most of the places as well. The “Battle Abbey” and the fields around it, is the location that the invading Normans defeated the Anglo Saxons in 1066 and we were able to stand on “The” site were King Harold fell and died. Most of the original buildings were destroyed, but some were rebuilt soon after. One of the best preserved, is the Great Gatehouse. It is said to be the finest of the surviving medieval abbey entrances. It is used daily by the teachers and special guests who drive their cars onto the grounds of the private school that now occupies the courtyard of the abbey. In walking around the abbey grounds and then out into the fields were the battle was actually held, was interesting, to think that my grandfather may have grown up playing in this field, and a thought on the other side, thinking of all those that lost their lives on this “Battle Field”. Just as we were walking along a portion of the exterior wall that overlooks Battle, we noticed that a band, and 3 different military groups were lining up for a march through town. We saw them off from our position on the wall, and then finished our tour. After walking through the gates of the Great Gatehouse, we saw the small band sitting in a small courtyard in the main part of town and playing songs. Just across the street from them I saw a great place to have a “cup of coffee”… well, I was ready… I really enjoyed Battle. It is a small, quaint, and friendly place to visit and I’m sure, live. After getting back, we found that we just weren’t hungry enough to make up dinner, so we pulled out this computer, slipped in a movie (Fiddler on The Roof), and settled in for a couple of hours before closing our eyes for the night. Oh, I forgot to mention I had bought something new… A couple of campgrounds back, a van somewhat similar to ours, was parked behind us. I had noticed a small tent set up behind it, but kind of passed it off to being for the dog, or maybe the “Dog House”. Upon questioning, I found they had it for storage so when they get to the campgrounds, they don’t have to “shuffle” everything around so they can take the van out. They told me they had paid $20 for it, and it was worth every penny of it….I found a sale and paid $5.24 !!! I already love it !!! We pulled in to camp, put all the “extras” in it, and we were ready to leave with Bumble Bee anytime we wanted…and we did… 10 June ’05, Friday. Ancient Stonehenge I was told that I had misspelled Stourhead by leaving out the “t” in my last journal…sorry about that, I guess that having only misspelled one word in the last 14 months of writing this journal isn’t too bad… Leaving Stourhead, we headed again east. Our next stop and campground was going to be in Salisbury. It was a fairly short drive of about 1 ½ hours, and it turned out to be a very nice site and a good nights sleep. We were on our way by 10am and heading back the same way we came in. 7 miles out, and we were pulling into the parking lot to see the great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge. This is one of the oldest sites we have seen in a long time. The remnants of Stonehenge date back between 3000BC and 1600BC. This monument is a circular structure, that is aligned with the rising of the sun at the solstice. They are still not sure just what purpose this structure was for, but it is impressive. These huge stones had to be carried hundreds of miles over land and water to get them right to the right spot. Then that were shaped and raised into position, as we see some of them today. They tell us, and I’m sure it’s true, it took a very sophisticated society to have had the total design and construction skills to put this together. There is a lot of very interesting things written about Stonehenge, and I’m not going to put them all here, so you are on your own to learn more. Now we are going to take a little detour back northwest. We have heard a lot about the “White Horse” that was carved into the chalk hillside just outside of Westbury. Another amazing site, but maybe not quite up to the hype. There is no doubt, it took a lot of work. The overall look of the horse has been changed a little over the centuries, but it didn’t really hurt anything. There are 2 more different sites we would like to see, but let’s take one day at a time. Now a turn around, and head off for the English version of the “Riviera”…Brighton. |
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