Did We Really Go to Stonehenge??

Yes, we did actually. Still kind of pinching myself.          

One of the really wonderful but underrated facet of this London opportunity is that on any given Saturday morning, we can wake up to the alarm, look out the window, assess how we feel, and decide whether or not we want to go to... oh, say... Stonehenge perhaps. That's the way it went down yesterday, and our original choice, believe it or not was to bag it and do it another time. (It was early, cold, and grey and it had been a really nice bottle of red the night before, which always gives me a headache.) So, I turned off the alarm and hunkered back down under the covers, and a little voice said, "WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY? IT'S STONEHENGE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!" Within about a minute, I realized that in not too long of a time from now, our choices on a Saturday morning may very well be whether or not to clean the garage or go to Home Depot. Stonehenge will no longer be available as an option. So clearer heads prevailed - and the coffee and shower helped.

We utilized once again the terrific walking tour group, London Walks, which required our meeting at the Waterloo Train Station, about a 30-minute tube ride from Hampstead, where we met our guide, Gillian and a group of about 20 others for the tour. We all boarded the Southwest train to Salisbury for the hour and 1/2 ride. The sun threatened for a bit but never really was able to make it through the clouds.

Upon arrival in Salisbury, Gillian led us on a walk of about 15 minutes to the Salisbury Cathedral, which was really something. Not quite the "wow" factor of Westminster Abbey, or the historical feel of Notre Dame, but I really think that each one of these amazing places has a character all its own. And Salisbury also has two other important claims to fame: its 404-foot spire is the tallest in all of England, and the Cathedral's Chapter House provides the home to one of the 4 remaining copies in the world of the Magna Carta - just a little document from 1215 that contains the basic principles that were eventually incorporated into the Constitution of the US.  I did have a hard time reading said document (must brush up on Latin), but it was cool nonetheless.  As for the church itself, I've already seen many of these types of structures since we've been here, and I'm sure I'll see many more before we leave; hopefully I'll continue to be impressed by the beauty and history that each contains.

After an hour break for lunch, we all gathered again for our 30-minute coach (bus) ride to Stonehenge. The route was a pretty one, despite the grey day, and Gillian took care to point out the impressive architecture in many of the homes as well as the unique thatched-roof cottages that we passed along the way. No outing would be complete without a celebrity connection, and indeed, we passed the home (or should I say castle) of Sting on our ride. (What you could see of it through the trees was really beautiful.) We also passed several burial mounds - or barrows - as we got closer to the Stonehenge monument. These apparently were tombs for individuals or families, who not unlike the ancient Egyptians, were buried with a variety of personal possessions to accompany them into the next world. The barrows date back to between 4000 and 3500 BC.

And then we came to the monument, the entire experience being somewhat hard to describe. First the facts, as only an American tourist who knows little about ancient cultures can describe them: A "henge" by (loose) definition is a certain type of earthwork consisting of a ditch and a bank, often near ritual structures. In this case, the ditch surrounding the monument was originally 6-feet deep and the bank 8-feet high; however now it looks like no more than a dip in the field. This henge was built around this particular stone monument, hence the name. The current predominant theory of why it was built is one of hope - of light and warmth following the cold & dark winter in this part of the world, (which we are currently already witnessing to be cold and dark.)  Stonehenge apparently was built to mark not the longest day of the year, which was long the theory, but the shortest day - after that, things could only be looking up. Using carbon dating and lots of other archeological processes that I could not begin to understand, scientists estimate that the monument was built in phases over about 1,000 years beginning in around 3000 BC. This is older than Dad.

What truly boggled my mind is that the stones used for the monument came from up to 240 miles away. Larger stones - weighing up to 40 - that's 4-0 - tons, were closer - only about 19 miles, but it's estimated that it would take 200 people 12 days to move one of them that distance. There were originally about 30 of these. There was no wheel invented back then. No pencil to put behind your ear or cigarette to smoke while drinking your coffee thinking, "Hmmm. How're we gonna do this?" These stones were erected (a feat in and of itself repeated countless times) in a precise way so that at a precise time in the year, the position of the rising or setting sun would be precisely marked. There had to have been an awful lot of mathematics, logistics, physics, not to mention cooperation and patience, going on. Speaking for myself, I can say that I generally haven't given humans from 3000 BC this sort of credit in the past.

It was after 4 pm and almost dark when we finally boarded the bus back to Salisbury, and it had gotten quite cold as well. Gillian had more tidbits of ancient history to bestow on us as we rode, but I think by then we were all pretty tuckered. The train ride back to London was uneventful and we were home in the flat by about 7 pm.

So what to make of Stonehenge? I really can't say. I think it deserves its title of "World Heritage Sight" and its place on various "Wonders of the World" lists, just for the herculean effort it must have been to get it built. I'm stumped about the juxtaposition of the stones, and the alignment with the sun, and why in the heck this thousand-year project began in the first place. Of course, I'm not alone. Folks a heckuva lot smarter than me are somewhat stumped too. One thing is for sure - I sure am glad I listened to the little voice and got my bod out of bed yesterday morning. It was quite a day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/SalisburyCathedralStonehenge#5542121116233534930