Queen and The Stones Really Rock, Part II

     Stonehenge and Oxford!


     Continuing on with our bus tour, we left Windsor and the Queen's grounds and headed to Stonehenge. On the way, we ate a boxed lunch, provided for extra cost by Golden Tours, but it was tasty and plentiful with a huge cucumber sandwich, apple, crisps (chips), granola bar, and two drinks.

    The weather had turned cold and rainy while we toured Windsor Castle, so by the time we arrived at Stonehenge, and not having brought our rain gear, we found ourselves quite chilly. A shuttle bus drives you out to the rocks (you can walk it, but it's far and we were short on time) where you can do a guided audio tour of the circle of stones. I found myself more interested in the ancient stones than I thought I would be, however, as I was very cold, I kind of just hurried around the circle and shuttled it back to the warmth of the gift shop. The boys were right with me on that, and I felt kind of bad about it because it was the main attraction Dan had wanted to see. But, he felt he got enough out of it from his time there. (We did by a jacket for me at the gift shop. The boys were okay without one.)  Stonehenge also has an indoor display and the boys quickly perused that and then we headed back to the bus. On the ride away from Stonehenge, (and these are visible on the way there too) we saw many ancient burial mounds built into the landscape, which was fascinating that they survived all this time.

   Onto Oxford!

   By the time we arrived at Oxford, the weather had returned to a warmer, partly sunny day (probably because I bought a jacket, right?) and stayed that way during our brief tour. Oxford is a university town with very old buildings (universities and student housing, shops, restaurants, etc.) with ornate architecture. We saw the colleges where the likes of Richard Burton, Lewis Carroll, Mr. Bean, Hugh Grant and other famous people attended. Also, parts of Harry Potter were filmed here. Then, it was back on the bus and we headed home.

  A wonderful tour indeed!  Pictures below:

 

Matthew, (pictured above in the neon--green striped shorts, loved Oxford. He felt it was a town he'd like to live in some day!

       Tomorrow's blog: Westminster Abbey!!!!!