Never what you expect

After our touring successes, we couldn’t resist the temptation of yet another tour. It was full day—12 hours! It got us out of the bustling city and into the English countryside. And, it came with lunch!

So, off we went on a tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath.

Windsor Castle is only 45 minutes outside of London, but is the Queen’s favorite escape from city life. She says she works in London during the week, but lives in Windsor during the weekend.

Of course, the castle was not what I was expecting. Just like Versailles, Windsor is not in the city, but is not far from it either a.k.a. urban sprawl. Windsor does not stand alone on a hill, majestically guarding English farmland, Windsor stands alone on a hill, majestically guarding Windsor the city—home of Eaton College (infamous private school where Princes William and Harry attended), hotels, restaurants, boutiques, and tourist shops.

But, unlike Versailles, Windsor was not packed. It was quieter. The State Apartments were grand, but it was an understated elegance very different from the screaming opulence of Versailles. The English seem to use more carpets and woods, which gives the Castle a homier feel. There are paintings by the greats, but they are scattered in with countless portraits and other paintings and sculptures that makes it seem less like a show. I have to say, I might have preferred it to Versailles.

The Queen’s flag was flying, so she was there (after all, it was Saturday!), but of course, her private apartments are not available for public tours. Darn. My mom and I scanned the gardens for her corgis, but not luck there either.

After an hour drive, we stopped at a pub for lunch. Mom and I had bangers and mash a.k.a. sausages, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and carrots. It was delicious, as all British pub food has been.

Stonehenge was next. We were driving in the bus; gazing out at the rolling countryside, and very abruptly, it was there. Surrounded by green, green grass and grazing sheep, the monument was very straightforward—stacked, giant rock. Appreciation of its grandeur comes with appreciating the mystery. How were these stones hauled for miles and miles, and then stacked thousands of years ago? Why was this done? What kind of ceremonies took place here? There are all sorts of questions, and while some of been potentially answered (the latest theory is that they were a sight for healing), the shroud of mystery is what draws the tourists.

We walked around the monument twice to appreciate it from every angle (and to try to entice the sheep to come nearer with our “Baaaaahhhhhh-ing”). It was a unique experience, and I think I will always remember the wind blowing my hair every which direction, the smell of the grass, and thinking wow repeatedly.

Another hour drive, and we were in Bath. The story goes that there was once a beautiful Prince whom everyone admired, but one unfortunate day, he woke up with ugly, pink blotches all over his body. The people who once admired him were disgusted, and banished him to the countryside. There, the prince became a swine herder. The swine herder observed his pigs, and soon came to notice, as our guide Debbie said, that they were a creature “designed on a Friday afternoon”. With no sweat glands and no hair, pigs have a tough life. Whenever they rub up on a tree to scratch an itch, their skin often tears, leaving them with ugly soars. The swine herder noticed that his pigs would often roll in the water and mud, and therefore, their soars would heal more quickly. As he was still covered in ugly pink blotches, he figured why not, and took a dip with the pigs. Magically, he was cured. It is said that the natural, warm spring water from bath remedied his disease.

Hence: the baths in Bath. Later, the Romans came and built a huge complex, complete with steam rooms and altars to honor the gods, as they believed the warm water seeping from the ground truly was a miracle. Actually, it was rain that fell thousands of years ago, than sunk deep into the earth to be thermally heated, then rose again.

The tour of the actual baths was great, and so was the town of Bath. It reminded me of an English Aix, with narrow, cobble stoned streets and lots of shops.

Back on the bus, and two hours later we were dropped off at our hotel in London. It was another excellent tour. I’m glad I did it.