Stonehenge

I arrived in London this morning! It’s the 4th time I’ve been here and as part of killing time and completing a bucket list item, I headed out to Stonehenge. It’s about 90 minutes west of Heathrow airport which is also west of London.

Stonehenge is iconic as a symbol of English heritage - it’s a prehistoric structure of stones that has been recreated with large lintels. It also aligns with the sunrise on the solstice and equinox. Apparently, it was constructed starting 3100 BC and they also believe it may have been a burial ground as excavations discovered remains. Some photos of my visit which started right when the site opened at 9:30 am:













There were lots of sheep on the various earth mounds:



Here’s the famous heel stone that leads up to Stonehenge Avenue which also is the path of the sunlight on the solstice as the arrow indicates:





I enjoyed listening to the audio guide downloaded on my phone and through my headphones under my earmuffs. It was a bit chilly, but not as cold as New York. I also didn’t do any sort of hippie dance which is apparently popular at Stonehenge:





At the visitor center, there were exhibits, stones, and recreations of the Neolithic villages:







Originally, I had thought about joining a tour group from the city, but that would be time-consuming. There were two Korean tour groups today and as I left, more coach buses were arriving of young students. I did find tour options to visit from Heathrow, but the drop off would be at the cruise terminal in Southampton. As such, I decided to rent a car and return to Heathrow (a one way return in the city was too pricey). I was upgraded to this yellow Mercedes and I was reminded to drive on the left in my third ever country in doing so - photos below:





My rental experience was uneventful and I was very cautious in my driving as I didn’t have anyone as a second set of eyes or coaching me - I did forget though when I was getting into the car to go to the right side! After my return to Heathrow, I hopped on the shuttle to the terminal and boarded the London subway called the tube - I even had an old Oyster card which I topped off. I was in downtown in about 35 minutes and saw many finance and insurance bros while transferring to the 100 bus to Shadwell which is where my friend Jessica lives. I had been texting with Jessica’s dog walker who had keys to the apartment, and Nixon went bananas when he saw me. He cuddled with me after my shower and as I napped:



Jessica arrived from work and we caught up, split a bottle of white wine, and cooked dinner. Nixon continued to give me snuggles:



What an active day as I return to London, see the sites, and spend time with friends! I’m really looking forward to the next few days!