Lanhydrock House, Bath and Stonehenge.

In the late morning we climbed aboard the buses again for a trip back east through Cornwall, with our ultimate destination being the town of Bath. We first stopped at Bodmin. A small town, it historically lay on the border of Bodmin Moor, a wild land frequented with smugglers and thieves. To deal with this, they built a prison there, which is one of the most popular attractions in the town, which also held the Crown Jewels during World War I. The town itself was small and uninteresting, and I must admit I was glad to leave.

Bodmin, complete with a lack of anything or anyone.

We then stopped at Lanhydrock House.

 It was first built as a monastery, but when Henry VIII ended all monasteries with the advent of the Church of England, it became a country home for aristocrats. This large stone building was very popular with the high class until 1945, when the government, in an attempt after WWII to reduce class differences, started giving out higher inheritance taxes. The rich decided instead to sell their estates, which many of them no longer wished to have, to the government. This particular Victorian house is notable because it is not only well preserved, but also still has the servant quarters. We toured the dainty gardens and the mammoth house, filled with antiquities, for a couple of hours before we left again to go to Bath.

We arrived at Bath at around six or so. We were divided into two hostels, with one at each end of the city. Although at first this made us feel isolated, we quickly found that the town was quite small and one could cross it in about fifteen minutes. After going out in search of food, we explored the town a little bit. It was quite pretty; being originally a Roman settlement, one could spot similarities to Rome in some designs. The city ran along a small river, and it seemed like every fifteen yards there was a impressive Gothic church. We wandered around a little bit. It seemed that there were parties going on all over the place; I'm not sure if we stumbled into a festival of some sort, but everyone was definitely dressed up to go out and have a good time. We, however, found a quiet outside restaurant and had dessert as we talked and gazed at the stars, before heading home.

Our previous hostel had been quite nice. This one was not. The entire place was cramped; there was about two rooms on each floor, and every floor had to share one small tiny bathroom. Our room was protected with a five-digit combination and a certain way you had to turn the knob. These safety precautions felt a little extreme and one had to wonder what would cause them to need such a complicated level of security. But then again, maybe it was just our room, as one of the girl's rooms apparently had a single button combination.
The room itself was of course cramped with five bunk beds for nine of us guys. The lumpy mattresses were placed on a steel wire frame with ill-fitting sheets, while a window nearby gazed out into a small alleyway.
The night itself would not prove to be restful as well. Many people could not get their sheets to stay attached to the bed, and seagulls and pigeons harassed our window, screeching at us as we tried to rest. That morning it was agreed that it was one of the worst hostels we had experienced.

After a fast breakfast we visited the Roman Bath. As the Romans invaded Britain, they stumbled upon  a natural hot spring. This spring is unique since it is the only hot spring in the UK, and the Romans, declaring it the work of the Gods and attributing healing powers to the water, began to build around it, first building an elaborate bath, and later a temple nearby.

The water here is actually fed from the spring and is warm. It's green because exposure to sunlight has allowed algae to grow.

The bath was remarkably well-preserved, and helped illustrate how complex these places actually were. Nearby rooms would serve as saunas, pools or dressing rooms. The baths were also more than just places to get clean; they could also be used as places to get haircuts or meet friends or other forms of business. One could also see just how the baths worked, as some of the original lead piping still remained, still supplying the bath with warm water today.

A Roman pipe.

 It was really neat to walk through and see so much of the ruins still operational.

After lunch we boarded the coach and departed to Stonehenge.

Stonehenge was only about an hour away. Even driving up, one could spot the towering stone pillars above a crowd circled around it.

 Our Program Director gave us a quick history of Stonehenge. Although it's purpose is not entirely known, it is believed it was used in conjunction with the winter and summer's solstice, as the sun lines up with Stonehenge during these times. The boulders themselves were hauled from quarries as far as 25 miles away, with stones up to 40 tons, and as this was during the Stone Age, were carved without any metal tools. They were then placed in the ground through a collection of digging with deer antlers, cow shoulder bones, and bare hands, and lifted by wedging wood and small stones beneath it, until they finally finished the colossal structure we see today, after about 300 years of work. The Stonehenge we all know and love is actually the second. The first original one was created around five thousand years ago, but this comparatively newer one isn't really young, as it is three thousand years old.

Today, visitors cannot go walk inside the actual circle, but even just walking outside it's perimeter from a far distance was pretty fantastic. To consider that this place was three thousand years old is utterly mind-blowing to a boy who's country is less than 250 years old. For such a long time, it really had aged incredibly well; although it was covered in spots by moss, and some of the stones had actually fallen, it was nevertheless awe-inspiring. I really badly wanted to leap the rope fence and stand in the middle, but had to restrain myself from doing so.

Today Stonehenge is pretty well protected, but in the Victorian Age of Britain, the idea of preservation was nonexistent  "Discovered" during this age, tourists were encouraged to come here and chisel off pieces of the rock and carve their name into the stone. It was sad to be able to make out one ambitious soul's name on one of the stones, reminding us of the importance of preserving our history.

After an hour we got on board our last bus trip and headed home. We arrived in London in rush hour and slowly slugged through traffic. To pass the time I bet with one of my roommates how long it would take to get back. Sadly, he guessed exactly how long it took, and I was forced to pay the hefty price of two pounds.

And now I'm doing laundry and finishing this before I go to bed. It's nice to be all caught up. More tomorrow!

And as a final note, someone uploaded a picture of me at Tintagel Castle.

What a beautiful landscape. You can see the hills, the cliff I'm on, and the beach below.