May 17 Day 10
Stonehenge, that ancient, perplexing arrangement of huge stones is truly an impressive sight. THese stones have been there for thousands of years and are believed to have been arranged in such a manner as to chronicle the sun as it rises at various points on the horizon throughout the year. IT is also believed to have some religious significance. Many theories abound as to its purpose, but what amazes me is how these stones got there. The stones are native to an area of Wales some 250 miles away and some of the stones weigh 45 tons. By ship, by land, by sleigh, who knows?
Earlier that day, we visited a stately home and beautiful garden called Stourhead. THe home was built some three hundred years ago, and has been owned by the same family since. Someone still lives there, and opens the home for tours. One of the most incredible rooms was the library, with thousands of volumes of books that are easily hundreds of years old.
THen there was the garden. IT was really more like a beautiful park. Although all of the plants and trees were planted and the monuments and lake clearly man-made, it looked so natural, and was like walking onto a Thomas Kinkade painting. I know I've said that before, but this surpassed anything we have seen before. The colors, the many layers, the artistry with which it was all put together was truly amazing.
We find that southern England is a beautiful country, and reminds us a lot of the Pacific Northwest in weather and in beauty. In Kent, being so close to the Continent and France, we ran into a lot of French tourists. Now we are in Wiltshire, in the West Country, and there are fewer French but plenty of other foreigners. While walking around the gardens of Stourhead, we followed a group of German tourists with their guide. At Stonehenge, there were people of all nationalities and speaking all languages.
The countryside is beautiful here. THere are patches of light green, dark green, and fluorescent yellow all through the countryside. THere are cute little villages and country lanes throughout, with rolling hills and both deciduous and evergreen forests. Some of our ancestors came from this area of Somerset, Wiltshire and Devon. With all of the old buildings and structures here that are hundreds of years old, it's not hard to imagine what things looked like when some of our forebearers lived here.
The yellow fields are filled with a flower that produces a seed from which oil is extracted, I think it is called rapeseed oil. It is used in cooking and in making bio diesel.
After 5 days of driving in Britain, we have finally figured out that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, not the left.
We saw this most unusual crossing sign near where we are staying