I saw Stonehenge!

London Voyage - Tuesday, October 8, 2002

I finally took a day trip out of London. Alan and I signed up for LondonWalks' Explorer Day to Salisbury and Stonehenge. We met up with our guide, Richard, another wonderful guide with tons of charm and knowledge. We boarded a train to Salisbury and got there an hour later. At this point we also found out that we weren't going to be back to London until right at 7. Hmm. Les Miserables started at 7:30. Would we make it? That was the underlying thought running through my head the whole day. I wasn't dwelling on it though, as there was so much to see today! Salisbury was amazing. The city is gorgeous, the countryside is gorgeous, the cathedral is gorgeous - I think I'll be living here one day. It was amazing - and the weather was completely cooperating as it was totally sunny and crisp. A wonderful day to be exploring the country. We had a tour of the outlying town of Salisbury, as well as the close and finally the cathedral itself, which is the tallest in all of England. Upon entering the cathedral, we had the opportunity to hear the Lord's Prayer. Talk about an experience. We had time for lunch at a pub in Salisbury, so Al and I went to get some ale and fish & chips there, in order to ready ourselves to see the archaeological wonder of Stonehenge!

The Town and Cathedral of Salisbury

After lunch at Salisbury, we boarded a private bus that drove us the back way to Stonehenge. We drove through beautiful English countryside, big English houses (including Sting & Trudie Styler's house), and majestic plains. Finally though, we rounded a corner and BAM! there was Stonehenge, right off the road. Who knew? But there it was. We got off the bus and began a guided tour by Richard around the monument, as it is set up that you can walk around it in a circle, about 50 feet or so away from Stonehenge. You can't go touch the stones, which is good. I'm sure they'd get vandalized. I'm surprised they're not. But I took lots of pictures and just tried to not forget the feeling of finally seeing this world-famous phenomenon. It was amazing.

Stonehenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what can top seeing Stonehenge? Well, not much, but going to see Les Miserables is a very good way to start. We got on the train back to London and made it back a few minutes before 7, and then we RAN to the tube station and fortunately we only had a few stops between us at the train station and the station that drops you in the West End theater district. It is literally a district of theaters, as sandwiched within three or four blocks are a ton of theaters. It's an awesome place to be. We made our way to the Palace Theater, and fortunately the standards weren't too high for dress, as we hadn't had time to go and change. No matter, nobody batted an eye and we were seated third row stage left. Not too shabby at all. Of course, I enjoyed Les Mis for the third time. Duh. Alan liked it too. It is just such an incredible musical production. What was cool was that the next night we'd get to go to the theater again! Note: some of the photos below I borrowed from Alan's website.

Les Miserables at the Palace Theater

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