I had to get up at 6:00am to get ready for my trip. I took a shower, grabbed breakfast by myself, and headed for the Hilton next to Paddington Station. The Evan Evans tour bus was a little late, but we still made it to the bus station ahead of schedule. The woman running in the show was a horrific sort of woman, speaking impudently while yelling at latecomers. I got in line for my tour and ended up on the third bus that my trip offered in order to avoid the devil woman I head earlier. Little did I realize that my bus’s tour guide could speak Japanese, therefore making my tour the Japanese friendly one. I have nothing against being in a group of thirty Japanese people; the constant repeating of everything said in English in Japanese just simply annoyed me.
It took about an hour to get to Windsor Castle from London, and once there, they said to arrive back at the bus by noon and set me free. I quickly grabbed an audio tour speaker and a map and headed inside the castle grounds. The whole place was stunning. It was something straight out of a movie. I cannot imagine what it must be like for the queen to live there in the late summer. I headed inside the royal apartments. One of the great rooms was closed off for a Rod Stewart concert in the evening, but I saw everything else otherwise. The armor and displays of weaponry were stunning, but with limited time, I really went through rather quickly. I ran to the cathedral for the changing of the guards. The band, much like the one in London, played both modern music and classical songs. The cathedral was very beautiful and of a different stone than the rest of the castle, so it was striking in comparison. Many members of royalty were buried there, and the coats of arms of all the knights of England were hung in the choir room. I really enjoyed that a great deal. I bought some lead soldiers at the gift store and ran back to the bus, grabbing lunch on the way at a place called eat.
Next, we took a two-hour drive out to Stonehenge. The audio tour there was incredibly informative. As much as they claim to know nothing about the stones, they sure offered a lot of information concerning its known origins and theories behind its purpose. I had heard that a large connection between the druids and Stonehenge existed, but the guide mentioned them very little. The most interesting fact was that the stones, while standing, would turn blue when wet, but they would turn red when wet while lying sideways on the ground. For this reason, the one stone purposefully on its side is known as the slaughter stone for its blood red color when wet.
Next was the golden city of Bath. We went into the Roman baths and walked around. The museum of Roman artifacts did nothing for me. I just quickly ran through it. The baths were the main attraction. I didn’t need to be told that Romans used the baths to bath, yet there were still hundreds of people reading the descriptions that literally said nothing more. The baths themselves were very beautiful. One man was dressed in a toga and stayed in character even as I took a picture of him. He was very friendly. Upon leaving the baths, they had natural spring water for free. I tried some but could hardly finish a glass; the water was warm and so full of minerals that it tasted like metal. With the rest of my time, I went into nearby gardens and walked fifteen minutes uphill for a photo of the city. I was unsuccessful finding the view I wanted, but I still got to enjoy the city in the short time that I was there.
I slept the whole ride back. We made into town at about 8pm, so I missed any chance of seeing a show. I just went to Covent Garden and ate at Navajo Joe’s, the place that Brent had taken me a few nights before. When I finally made it back, I ran into my fraternity brothers and sat down with them. We all went to bed early that night. I was proud of myself for successfully proving to myself that I could confidently handle traveling alone.
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