Stonehenge

The large rocks arranged at Stonehenge are somewhat of a mystery. Nobody really knows who put them there or how they got them there. When I first heard we were going to London for a few days Stonehenge was one of the sights that I wanted to see the most. I don't know what interested me so much about them but I guess thats how we ended up on the tight tourist bus schedule. The first stop on our all day tour was Windsor Castle and the next Stonehenge.
When we arrived at Stonehenge the guide on our bus informed us that they had changed the setup of viewing Stonehenge a week earlier. The visitor facilities and parking lot were moved from a two minute walk to Stonehenge to 1.5 miles down the road. When we saw the 45 minute line we were expected to wait in for a bus to the sight we figured it would be faster to walk the 1.5 miles. I was a little worried that our time at the top would be cut short if we arrived later than the people on our bus but we quickly figured that wouldn't be a problem. Two or three buses passed us as we sped walked up the road but not enough to make it to the rest of our group waiting in line.
As we walked, Stonehenge came into view. It was amazing to see the rocks and so interesting to think about. We spent about 20 minutes walking around them and took plenty of pictures. Once again instead of waiting in a ridiculous line we opted for the walk, which wasn't that bad.
Luckily we arrived at the bus with time to spare. I wondered how the people who the waited in the line made it, but I was glad we did. Although it doesn't seem like a lot to look at I enjoyed it very much, and it was defiantly my favorite thing that we saw in England.

Stonehenge

The large rocks arranged at Stonehenge are somewhat of a mystery. Nobody really knows who put them there or how they got them there. When I first heard we were going to London for a few days Stonehenge was one of the sights that I wanted to see the most. I don't know what interested me so much about the rocks but I guess thats how we ended up on the tight tourist bus schedule. The first stop on our all day tour was Windsor Castle and the next Stonehenge.
When we arrived at Stonehenge the guide on our bus informed us that they had changed the setup of viewing Stonehenge a week earlier. The visitor facilities and parking lot were moved from a two minute walk to Stonehenge, to 1.5 miles down the road. When we saw the 45 minute line we were expected to wait in for a bus to the sight we figured it would be faster to walk the 1.5 miles. I was a little worried that our time at the top would be cut short if we arrived later than the people on our bus but we quickly figured that wouldn't be a problem. Two or three buses passed us as we sped walked up the road but not enough to make it to the rest of our group waiting in line.
As we walked, Stonehenge came into view. It was amazing to see the rocks and so interesting to think about. We spent about 20 minutes walking around them and took plenty of pictures. Once again instead of waiting in a ridiculous line we opted for the walk, which wasn't that bad.
Luckily we arrived at the bus with time to spare. I wondered how the people who the waited in the line made it, but I was glad we did. Although it doesn't seem like a lot to look at I enjoyed it very much, and it was defiantly my favorite thing that we saw in England.

Windsor Castle

Over Christmas break, our family took a trip to London. One of the days we did was a day trip to see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. We were mainly taking the tour to see Stonehenge (which, ironically, we spent very little time at). We were surprised at how much we liked Windsor.

Windsor Castle is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. It is an official residence of the Queen, where she usually spends her weekends (but not around Christmas time). There was a fire there that destroyed 100 rooms of the castle in 1992, but it is mostly restored now.

Windsor Castle is truly a castle; it is massive, and sits on top of a hill. It even has a moat around it, although the moat has always been dry. 300 people live and work at Windsor Castle, keeping it in good condition. It is surrounded by a little town with very cute buildings, and many little shops and restaurants. It would have been fun to just spend a day in the town alone!

Since we were on a tour, we had limited time in Windsor—as in an hour and a half. (We spent 3 or 4 hours in the smaller Kensington Palace on Sunday!) I would have loved to have spent a day there in the town and castle. We walked through the castle, but didn't dawdle to look at everything, and spent next to no time in the town. We didn't want to be left behind on the tour!

Inside of the castle, there are massive dining tables for great parties, and many grand rooms and entrances for important people. One table, for 160 people, is so large that they use a ruler to set it, otherwise it will look very messy! We saw a huge doll house built all to scale, made for Queen Mary, simply to show architecture in miniature. It has electricity and running hot and cold water. There was also knights' armor, like in a movie. I was surprised at how short all of the suits were! The castle had its own chapel, called St. George's Chapel. It was beautiful, but unfortunately we had to speed through it. Windsor Castle was a great place to visit!