Cool temperature, blue skies and sun today, and a hint of autumn in the air. We love it.  Today is our last day on the tour and we will be in London by late afternoon. But on the way we will be stopping at one of the iconic ancient wonders of the world, Stonehenge, the iconic symbol that historians are still trying to explain.

I forgot to tell you a funny incident that happened the other night at the St. Mellion bar. We decided we wanted to have a Manhattan before dinner and adjourned to the resort lounge where we found they did not know how to make one. No problem, said Gerry once he found they had the ingredients, and he talked them through the process. However when it came time to pour the three drinks into martini glasses they found they only had one martini glass in the whole facility (obviously the English do not drink martinis) and we were presented with an eclectic display of glassware. We had a good laugh and still enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

There is a lot of frivolity on the bus as we leave the St. Mellion golf resort in Cornwall. I think everyone is ready to go home, except for those who are supposed to fly home to the east coast (hurricane Florence is due to hit about the time they should be arriving). When John played his usual wake up recording of Coldplay “Viva la Vida”, the entire coach burst out in a sing-a-long as someone had printed out copies of the lyrics for us. It was not a pretty sight/sound.  John got a hearty laugh and said he could probably not listen to the song ever again without thinking of his bus choir!

The benefits of modern technology came into play soon after we were on the road. John learned that the major highway leading to Stonehenge and London was the scene of a serious accident and had shut down the highway in both directions, meaning there would be massive delays ahead. Luckily there was an alternative way there and we were able to divert to A30/A303 before we got caught up in the delays.

Stonehenge was about 3 hours from St. Mellion and we managed to break it up with a comfort stop about 1/2 way there. As London was then about 2 hours from Stonehenge and there is really minimal eating opportunities there, John suggested we grab some lunch at the rest stop for later consumption. Again the rest stop was marvelous, having multiple food outlets with really freshly made sandwiches, fruits, snacks, etc. available for purchase at modest prices. We loaded up and were back on the road fairly quickly, arriving as expected about 1.5 hours later at Stonehenge.

Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere on the pastoral English plains, surrounded by farm fields and sheep. At one time access to the Stonehenge site was virtually uncontrolled. You could park near it and walk up right to the stones. Needless to say this eventually caused vandalism problems and access to the site is now better controlled. The government has set up a new procedure for viewing the site. They have built a separate Visitor’s Center and busing system to drive you to the actual site. Where visitors arrive and park you cannot even see Stonehenge.  Shuttle buses take you on a 5 minute ride to the entrance of the actual site. You can walk (30 minutes?) if you choose, but we did not have the luxury of having the extra time. Audio guides are available to enhance the experience. At the actual site direct access to the rocks was limited by a roped off area. We were given our audio guides which explained what were we seeing and what scientists think the structure represented.

Stonehenge is VERY, VERY old. Its construction dates from 3000-2000 BC (As a comparison the Egyptian pyramids were built about 2500 BC) during the Neolithic era when people went from being nomads to settling down. The structure was built over many centuries, each time enlarged and modified. Stonehenge is not totally unique. They have found over 300 such “henges” in other parts of England, but Stonehenge is the most important.

Why was it there? The experts are not sure. We do know it was meant to be a large calendar that tracked the movement of the sun and seasons. It is oriented such that the sun strikes a certain point in the structure at the summer (and winter) solstice. That information was important for planting crops.  It was also a burial ground for important people, as the mounds around it (called barrows) were found to contain human remains. Some feel it also acted as a temple for worship. In all likelihood it was all three.

We walked around the fenced off site, listening the description on the audio guide, took way too many pictures, saw a group of “druids” sitting in a circle with a flutist providing musical inspiration, and were impressed with what our ancient ancestors did here 4,000-5,000 years ago.  We spent almost two hours at Stonehenge and it was not enough time to fully explore the site.  We did not get to see the museum there or spend any time roaming the bookstore and gift shop . I only had enough time to buy the guidebook on the site so I can delve deeper into the history and meaning of what we just saw.

Our bus left Stonehenge at 1:30 and we were back in London by 3:30PM at the hotel where we began nine days ago. We covered a lot of ground (estimated 2,000 kilometers), saw a lot of sights we had often heard about but had never seen, met some very nice people, both on the tour and those who call Great Britain their home, tried some new foods and expanded our knowledge of the world we live in.  It has been a fun time, but we are ready to go home tomorrow morning.

We quickly said our goodbyes to our fellow travelers and rechecked into the Grosvenor Hotel for one more night. Our travel buddies, Gerry and Sue, joined Yvonne and I for one final dinner in  a funky local pizza chain called “Zizzis” that made some really good flatbread pizzas in a wood fired oven. We repacked our things for the final push and got to bed early as it will be an early wake-up call in the AM.