England Photos — Day 1 #BriFri
Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British-themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!
Last week’s British Isles Friday post gathered historical research, book reviews, and photos including Jackie’s delightful piece about the Keep Calm and Carry On poster and its many variations.
I don’t sleep on planes, so although Day 1 was two days on the calendar, it felt like one long day to me that began with last-minute clean up of the house in Missouri and ended with bed-time 32 hours later in Bath, England. In between….
We were picked up bright and early in the morning by a driver — a service that I prearranged by email so that we could see a few sites on our way to Bath and not have to worry about the transportation from Heathrow.
We drove past Stonehenge.
We stopped at the Stonehenge Visitors Center where our driver, on the left, explained to Rick how thatched roofs are made.
We stopped at Avebury — a larger stone circle than Stonehenge where you can walk right up to the stones. Rick took this, my favorite photo of our visit.
Then, the thing I didn’t plan for in our itinerary — we were in an accident! Fortunately, no one was hurt. We got a chance to meet “Wiltshire’s Finest” and they really were very pleasant.
It was quite a relief to reach our hotel in Bath. We enjoyed drinks and supper in the multi-room garden behind the hotel.
The car accident put us off the idea of renting a car during our trip. If the people who lived there can’t drive on the wrong side of the road without getting in an accident, we weren’t going to try it! So, we relied on public transportation for the rest of the trip.
The idea, from Rick Steves, to recover from jet lag in Bath worked well for us. We enjoyed the garden at Queensberry Hotel each evening. Now, that we’re comfortable with trains in the UK, next time we will take a train from Heathrow to Paddington and, then, from Paddington to Bath.
There are more photos of what we saw on the first day on my Flickr photo stream.
I’ll link this post, tomorrow, to Saturday Snapshot, the weekly gathering of photo posts at West Metro Mommy Reads.
Also, tomorrow, I’m putting up a post about Fish and Chips!
I was inspired by your idea of getting a driver from the airport and hired one for our trip to France. For some reason transportation from the airport always is the most stressful part of a trip for me.
I can’t sleep on airplanes either! Not fun.
Glad to hear that everyone was okay from the accident, what a way to start the trip!
I think I have the same photo as your first one!!
We always book a driver from the airport as it is just easier and we are usually tired when we arrive.
We have rented cars in England, Ireland and Scotland on various trips, however, do enjoy taking the train in Europe.
Driving over in the UK is disconcerting at first. Actually it still is even after many many visits. I leave the driving to the natives.
Excellent choice of towns to stay – I love Bath!
Sounds and looks like a great trip, minus the accident of course. Driving on the wrong side of the street is challenging!
Your post brings back memories and I want to visit Bath again. What an experience you’ve had just shortly arriving. Lovely photo of the garden, looks like mirrors reflecting with infinite images. Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip of yours.
What a wonderful trip! Gorgeous photos as well. Glad you enjoyed the trip (except for the accident).
Here’s MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
What a start to your trip! I’m glad the accident was relatively minor. It’s amazing that there are stone circles all over England, but all the hype just surrounds one. Can’t wait to see more of your pictures, and hear about your adventures- although I hope it’s a little less adventurous than the first day.
I loved Avebury and thought it was far more interesting than the commercialism of Stonehenge. The little museum was interesting … full of theory. I also loved that high ‘beacon mound’ near Avebury …
Your photos are lovely. I especially like the one taken at your hotel in Bath. I’d love to stay there.
So sorry you were in a traffic accident. After a harrowing experience trying to drive in Jamaica (they also drive on the left), my husband and I opted for a rail pass while visiting England. That’s the best decision we ever made. We were able to relax and not stress out about driving, and we were able to easily visit every place we wanted to go via bus, tube, and train.
My Saturday Snapshots today are from the Cinque Terre.
So glad no one was hurt! Great pics!
Oh poor you. That looks like it was quite a big bump. Although Stonehenge is impressive, I think Avebury is well worth a detour, as it is much more exciting being able to go right up to the stones.
Oh, the accident must have been quite jarring. Glad you were able to recover in such a beautiful spot.
Here’s my Saturday Snapshot.
It’s a shame about the accident, but the I love the stone picture.
The first time I went to Stonehenge was back before there was a visitor’s centre or anything. It was just upright rocks in a field. That was in 1986. I think there may have been signs telling you about the rocks. Before that, when my aunt went in the 1950s there were cows wandering through the site. Funny how things change.
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