We signed up for a day-tour today. As the title says, we hit three “big ones” in a busy day. We did feel a bit rushed, overall, but Adam and I are both in agreement that these things would have taken up two or three of our days, had we spread them out.

I had to take the tube for the first time today! Fortunately, it all went well. Adam was a couple of rides ahead of me with picking up our asian food the other night. We got to our meeting site a little early, so Adam got his ritualistic morning macchiato, and I got a pastry. We grabbed some food for the ride, and got on the bus. Our driver’s name was Leo, and our tour guide’s name was Antonio (Tony). Both of them were such gentlemen, and Tony kept us entertained during the traffic jam lulls.

The day started at Windsor Castle. It was a little cloudy, but thankfully wasn’t raining. We learned that if the Union Jack is flying over the castle, the Queen is not in residence. She spends about 60 days per year in the castle, on average, and flies her own coat of arms when she is in residence. The Queen was not at Windsor today.

 

 

We entered the State Rooms for the tour, which included rooms designed for entertaining foreign heads of state, dignitaries, or other significant government officials or representatives. We were also able to see the former King’s chambers, including his dining room, drawing room, bedroom, dressing room, and closet. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures of these rooms, as it isn’t permitted…and these rooms had the coolest things in them! Old fancy furniture with intricate detailing, loads of rifles, revolvers, and swords on the walls. In addition, there were coats of arms, huge paintings of royal family members that dated back centuries, and full suits of armor. My favorite ‘piece’ was a very fancy table-clock that was found in the Queen’s drawing room. Adam’s favorite item was an ornate and solid black dresser, also found in the Queen’s drawing room.

 

 

 

In the gift shop, we found a LOT of corgies. While they may have been stuffed, they were still adorable. Gigi, you’re easily replaceable!

 

Next up was a nearly three hour trip to Bath and the Roman Baths. The Roman Baths are the one thing that I mandated we go and see. The town was adorable, and I would have loved to spend more time here, but alas, we still had another site to see after this. However, we headed up to the baths, and did our stint there. The baths themselves were very cool, but the museum that you’re herded through like cattle was not very enjoyable. Adam and I both hit our patience levels with the insane amount of people that were in there, but we survived.

 

The little bubbles that pipe up from the natural hot springs that feed the baths are not from heat, but they are from the gases that are coming up with the water. The baths are also around 2000 years old! Originally, when they were discovered, it was thought that the site was a temple, until they unearthed some more areas of it and eventually figured out that it was actually a bath site. The entire area used to be roofed over as well, with high vaulted ceilings that were considered to be very impressive for that time period.

 

 

On the way back to the bus, we had a little extra time, so we stopped at the Sleight Magic Bar where Adam grabbed a quick pint.

 

We were then back on the bus, and had an hour ride down south to Stonehenge. We were originally supposed to do Stonehenge, and then the baths, but our schedule got flipped. We were okay with that, because the sun was a bit lower for Stonehenge!

 

 

 

 

 

Again, we felt a bit rushed. There were some other sites to see on the way down the hill, had we walked instead of taking the bus back down. The walking route is only a little over a mile, and there are multiple other monuments on the route as well. We didn’t have time to see these. We headed back to the bus, and took our two hour ride back to London.

Once we got off, we walked to Little India, a very cute little restaurant near Gloucester Station. Food was very good, and the service was amazing! Adam and I high-fived each other when we were proud we cleaned our plates (literally). The waiter came up right afterwards and then gave us each a high-five as well! We definitely would recommend this place to anyone else that comes through here.

Now, time to sleep in tomorrow, rest our feet (from walking), and butts and backs (from the bus). Tomorrow we will hit some local-ish stuff when we’re ready to get moving, and we have a play in the evening.

Total steps: 14,886

 

ttfn

Emily and Adam