Stonehenge and Bath

Many of the tours with EF College Break offer optional excursions and I had the pleasure of opting into one in England. I have always wanted to visit Stonehenge and there was no chance I was passing up on the day trip. And bonus is the included stop in Bath to visit the old Roman baths.

Stonehenge really is a peculiar phenomenon and there are multiple theories to describe the construction and purpose of the stones. According to our tour guide of the day, the largest congregation at the stones is the Summer Solstice which brings out 30-40 thousand people. I think it would be quite an experience to revisit this location in the future for the solstice.

The next portion of the day’s activities brought our tour group to the stunning countryside city, Bath. People come from all around to see the Roman baths. The entire town is stunning and the architecture has strong Roman influence.

While touring the baths, they let you sample the spring water. The Romans didn’t understand how the water flowed and credited it to the goddess Sulis Minerva. A temple was built-in the baths to honor the goddess and it was believed that she gave the water healing powers. I don’t know if the healing power would be worth it after getting to sample the water. It is hot water and heavy in minerals much to my tongue’s dissatisfaction.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent strolling the streets of Bath. And I was ridiculously excited to find my favorite energy drink in the world while in one of the shops. I have a crazy addiction to Rockstar and all my friends make fun of me. So this selfie is for them 🙂

This brings my London adventures to an end. It went by way too fast and I can’t wait for the opportunity to return. I will get my next post up soon. The beautiful Paris is the next leg of the journey. Our group hopped on the Eurostar for the two-hour ride at 180 miles per hour. I leave you all with one last image for all my Harry Potter fans.

As always, live with a story to tell!

London beware, my British accent is on the loose

‘Ello loves! As I stated in my last post, I had the opportunity to travel to Europe for the first time this July. I signed up with EF College Break for a 12 day tour, traveling to London, Paris, and Rome.

My first stop in Europe was the beautiful and eccentric city of London. Traveling and flying alone was no problem but once I landed at Heathrow Airport, nerves set in as I prepared to meet a group of strangers. The first person I met though was my amazing tour guide, Daisy. She is one of the most animated people I have ever met and I instantly felt welcomed and knew this trip would be amazing.

Our first day left no room to rest, we just hit the ground running with a walking tour and riding the tube. (That would be their mode of transportation similar to the metro, light rail, etc.) Daisy took us to this really chic, bohemian area, known as Camden Square, to start the day. They had some amazing shops which I was told look very similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Most of the group enjoyed the mini tour but the real talk of the night was the coming London Pub Crawl. The festivities began at The Verve bar. We all got markers and t-shirts. Many of the girls were cutting the tees to make them sexier and everyone starting writing on each other. I had a random Australian guy write, “I love meth and ants” on mine. Thanks dude. At least on my friend’s shirt he put “I love crack and puppies.”

But seriously, it was a fun night. We went to four bars, each offering us a free shot of sambuca. (Basically liquid black licorice. Bleh! But I’m not one to turn down free shots haha) I danced my butt off. Though I didn’t travel to Europe for the party scene, it is amazing how alcohol opens people up and it definitely made it easier for everyone to start becoming friends.

Day two in London brought and early start because many of us were eager to catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The streets were jammed with tourists and police officers constantly yelling. The big talk of the town was of course the pending birth of William and Kate’s child. (Literally, as I landed back home the baby was born. Would have been awesome to be in London when it happened.)

My little group of travel buddies did a bit of sight-seeing before our next tour. We made our way to the meet-up location alongside the river and our luck appeared to have run dry because the bus that was to take us around town, broke down. But have no fear, Barry the tour guide is here! Our adventure continued on foot. Now, I am in fairly good shape considering, but all the walking was even taking its toll on my legs. Daisy realized how exhausted we all felt and she surprised us by booking a boat tour to rest our weary feet. I loved taking in all the sights. London is truly gorgeous.

After a beautiful afternoon, it was finally time for our “Welcome” dinner at the historical restaurant, The Albert. Named for Queen Victoria’s one and only true love. We feasted on the traditional fish and chips (okay, I had chicken haha) and sat around chatting and getting to know one another.

This was our last free night in London and I didn’t have anywhere particular I wanted to visit. My New Orleans buddy and I opted to just explore the town on foot and saw so many beautiful places. We went through Chinatown, Soho, and even the gay Soho (drag show included.) Our journey brought us to Hyde Park where the Rolling Stones were playing. We couldn’t see very much but we joined hundreds of locals in the park, laying in the grass, eating ice cream and absorbing the atmosphere.

London is a place I hope to return to in the near future!