17. October 2009 - Bath and Stonehenge

We took a group trip with our professor to Bath and Stonehenge.

Bath was great--one can imagine the rich society members escaping from London to take a quite respite in the small(er) town.

In terms of the greenery and sculpted gardens, Bath reminded me a little bit of Zagreb.

Here are some topiary pigs in one garden. We couldn't figure out what was written in the hedges though...

There was an open-air exhibit in Bath, all around the abbey and by the Roman Baths. Huge aerial photographs of the Earth. It was wonderful-- really, really cool.

Solar panels were featured in one photograph-- the end result kind of looked almost like a quilt.

A line of camels in the desert, complete with shadows.

A glimpse of the interior of the abbey.

There was an exhibit of a local artist, who created the story of Christ in sets of panels: illuminations and quilts. The colours and textures were amazing-- so detailed and complex. She integrated all sorts of materials into the quilts as well, from coins to feathers.

The abbey in Bath from the outside.

The Royal National Hospital.

Bath is situated on the side of a hill, and the streets continue up, seemingly forever. They are filled with street markets, museums, and residential buildings, all decorated with colourful shutters and window boxes of flowers.

A set of apartments, situated around a circular park.

Another view of the abbey.

We left Bath and headed to Stonehenge. Along the way, we passed the Westbury White Horse, a huge horse of chalkstone on the side of a hill. One of many white horses in the UK, thought to have Celtic roots.

Stonehenge. An astronomical calender at one point, a money-making scheme today. Stonehenge cycles tourists through, like it's no one's business.

The stones almost looked fake. But gorgeous nonetheless.

The weather was rather stormy, but it was nice to walk all the way around Stonehenge, to see it from all sides and angles.

Here's the Heelstone of Stonehenge (hi ASTR 3-ers!). On the summer solstice, the sun rises right behind it. I thought I'd be clever, and hold up my heel in front of it, but clearly, I overestimated my abilities. Here is a heel (mine) in front of the Heelstone, falling over.


There was a large field across from Stonehenge, filled with sheep, cows, etc. We went on a walk through the hills and dales (dales?), and tried to make friends with the sheep. We failed, but at least we didn't get kicked out of the commons for chasing the animals, like another member of our group.