JMU Dance Takes London: green and trees and air

Sunday, July 1:

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS, my best friend from home who turned 21)

Anyways! Tis the day we went to Stonehenge and Bath!

We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch our tour bus for the trip. Luckily it was totally worth it! The bus we took throughout the day was comfortable and pretty nice for a bus. And our tour guide was a hoot. Him and our bus driver Martin (if you have seen the Parent Trap you will understand how fun it was to have a bus driver named Martin) provided quite the entertainment for the day!

Our first stop was Stonehenge! Located smack in the middle of nowhere and when I say middle of nowhere I really mean luscious green countryside of Wiltshire. I think the mystery of what Stonehenge really is and why it is there is what made looking at it so interesting. We were given an audio tour, but I found myself a little distracted by the views and opted out of the listening. The sights were enough info for me! We only had a short and sweet hour at Stonehenge, which ended up being just the right amount of time. Much longer and we would of started taking jumping pictures (oh wait, we did that).

Our journey from Stonehenge to Bath was absolutely beautiful. We went through a number of tiny villages and as our tour guide pointed out, all of which had undoubtedly a pub, central to the village. I am kind of a nerd about old buildings and history, so seeing all of the old villages was truly something special.

Bath was unbelievable! It is called the golden city because most of the buildings are made from the same color limestone. Bath is also special because it stands out from other cities in England for its architecture. The city transported me to Italy, a place I have been dying to go to for forever now! So it was nice to be able to experience something completely different from London. When we arrived we were dropped off in front of Bath Abbey, a beautiful church in the center of town. We decided to stick with our tour guide who led us up through the streets past Jane Austen's home! YES the actual home she spent many years writing and growing up in! Into The Circus, a circular formation of apartment buildings inspired by the Roman Colosseum. And finally to the Royal Crescent, another set of beautifully architected apartments overlooking the city of Bath.

We then decided to part ways with our tour guide and get the most delicious Italian lunch at the Martini Ristorante. We were greeted by the friendliest group of waiters and a cozy little interior. Not to mention the best spinach and ricotta manicotti with a creamy tomato sauce, can we say yum! If you know me at all, this was one of my favorite meals of the trip! After lunch we all broke up and a few of us headed to the Jane Austen Museum. Unfortunately you had to pay to walk around so we settled for the gift shop! We mosied around enjoying the beautiful city and came across an adorable vintage store and bopped into Prince Charles own store, Highgrove. We couldn't leave Bath without experiencing the Roman Baths. So we went into the famous Pump Room, where you can get tea or lunch or if you are cheap like us just try the Bath water! Which we did...and as my good friend Carolyn put it "It's like when your necklace gets stuck in your mouth at the pool". And as our tour guide would say, one sip is most likely enough haha...

To wash out the taste of metal in our mouths we grabbed some ice cream and hit the road. Back through the beautiful countryside of England we saw Salisbury fields and closer to London got a peak at Windsor Castle! We ended up getting back to the dorms later than expected and of course starved. A few of us decided to try the infamous Pizza Express right around the corner from our dorm. Turned out to be a bust. Bails and I shared a disappointing pizza. BUT to end the night Spain won! WOOHOO the streets were filled with cheering and a ridiculous amount of Spaniards. Where they all came from? No one knows. To celebrate I finally got my Twix McFlurry, thats right American friends a Twix McFlurry aka heaven :)