Hidcote Gardens

The following day, on our way home, we stopped at Hidcote Manor gardens to stretch our legs, have a bite to eat, and tour a beautiful English garden.

Bath

After being blessed with 3 days of gorgeous weather, I suppose it was inevitable that we would eventually have some rain....and boy did we get it when we went to Bath...how appropriate! We spent most of the day at the Roman Baths, and then wandered around through the city a bit to get soaked. How amazing that the people living in Bath had know idea that they were living above a Roman city until a little over a hundred years ago.  They are still finding more rooms and buildings underground that will someday be open for people to see.

The Roman Bath museum, not only showcase the bath house, but also artifacts from the neighboring temple and the outdoor altar. It was so amazing to see such old artifacts from a time when Jesus' disciples were spreading the good news.  The pagan temple was build around 60-70AD, and the surrounding bath complex was built over the next 300 years or so. 

The mouth of the spring

 Pieces of the decoration on the front of the temple.

In front of the main bath



 

After the baths, we explored the city a bit and got drenched!

In front of the Royal Crescent

 



Stonehenge and Avebury Prehistoric Stone Circles

On our way back from the music festival, we spent a couple nights in the Bath area.  On our way to Bath, we stopped by Stonehenge and Avebury, 2 very mystical stone circles, just 4 or 5 thousand years old.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

I found Stonehenge to be quite mesmerizing, out in the middle of a wide open field. So old, so mysterious, so much that we don't know...

A short drive away, we found Avebury, which is a much larger stone circle with a small village in the center.  The stones are very large, and spaced very evenly apart.  We enjoyed a lovely afternoon and ice cream within the circle, and walked among the sheep in the stone laden fields.