Stonehenge and Bath (with Claudia and Greg)

Sunday we got on the road slightly less early than anticipated, but were soon out of London and on the motorway heading towards Stonehenge. It appears out of nowhere as you come around the corner and over the hill, a giant circle of stones rising out of the Salisbury plain. We were amazed by the size of the site, especially given the age of the site and the fact that it would have been constructed with manpower and not much else. We were also intrigued by the fact that nobody seems to know who built it, least of all the people on the audio guide

Sarah, Claudia and Greg at Stonehenge in the driving rain

We jumped back in the car and cranked the heater to defrost our toes after a real blast of English weather, our stomachs pointing us towards the tiny town of Rudge where we had a fantastic carvery meal at 'the Full Moon'...although after piling our plates high with roast meat and veg and followed up with bread and butter pudding we were virtually waddling back to the car.

Next stop was the lovely little town of Bath, which has been settled since before Roman times but rose to prominence under the Romans as a temple due to its hot mineral springs. The site of the baths was lost for nearly 1500 years, until some homeowners investigated the flooding in the basement and came across the Roman ruins. The site was partially reconstructed, a Roman-style building in a town straight out of a Jane Austen novel

The Roman Baths, with Bath Abbey in the background
Some of the Roman carvings from the temple to Minerva/Sulis

We also took the opportunity to get out and about and explore the town - it has been built layer upon layer, Georgian houses built on older cities built on medieval ruins built on Roman ruins built on the site of Celtic inhabitants. It is a fascinating place and really relaxing - we could happily have spent the weekend there...

By the riverside in Bath

Dinner that night was at Sally Lunn's, one of the oldest houses in Bath, where despite having eaten far too much lunch we sampled some of the famous buns, as well as trencher bread topped with a delicious meal - a traditionapparently stemming from before food was served on plates. The buns were first mentioned by name in a 1772 newspaper article, and apparently still followed the original recipe!

Stephen, Claudia and Greg outside Sally Lunn's

It was with some reluctance that we headed back home to London...but the weekend was not over yet!