Today we saw Stonehenge.  It is believed to have been built around 3000 B.C., making it over 5,000 years old.  (Busch Stadium only lasted for about 40 years.  Go figure.)  Although the stones are definitely huge, the circle itself is much smaller than I thought it would be.  Traffic on the road approaching Stonehenge was strung out for a lo-o-o-o-ng way in a single lane, reminding me of Field of Dreams.  Did the builders of Stonehenge hear a voice telling them “If you build it, they will come”?  Stonehenge is in the Salisbury Plain, famous for being very windy.  Ted estimated 30-35 mph sustained winds, and I believe it!  A pretty sight was poppies in bloom in the fields all around Stonehenge.

After Stonehenge, our tour took us to Bath.  Bath is a very upscale city and probably puts Beverly Hills to shame in price per square foot.  Many homes are over $5 million.  They aren’t luxurious enough, though, because there is no green space around them, so the new development (which looks as old as the old houses) starts around $10 million, including some grass.  Mind you, this is for what we’d call a condo–three windows wide in a long building with probably close to 100 individual units.  Zoning laws in Bath require that all new structures be built in the same color stone and in the same style as the original structures from the days of the Romans.  Oh, goody!  My new $10M house looks just like the 2,000-year-old one down the street!

Speaking of Romans, we had a tour of the original Roman Baths.  The water is sulphurous, so it’s stinky.  I don’t know what would make anyone think bathing in stinky water would be good for you, but it supposedly promotes long life.  We were advised not to touch the water because it’s untreated and filled with bad germs and bacteria.  There goes my long life!

The day ended in Exeter at our hotel.  Dinner was a welcome reception for the group and we sat with a very nice couple from Australia.  (More than a third of the 47 people on the tour are from Australia.)  The four of us spent about three hours talking, so I’m thinking we might have some new international friends.