The Adventures of Jane Hat ~ WBTA 2018 | Complete

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THIS is the line. Signs say Non EU Passports
That is a lot of people!

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Getting closer to London
Have you been to Universal Harry Potter land? This reminds me of the train ride leaving London heading to Hogsmead.

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We went to Harrods!
I definitely want to go to Harrods and shop.

That hat is perfect.

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Soldier Donald is a little blurry
OMG my Fiance would love this. Donald is his favorite.

Once in the room, we kind of collapsed on the bed, ate food while watching T.V., set the alarm for 8am and fell asleep around 9:30pm.
Up to this point, we had gone 33 hours without sleeping in a bed!
You handle jetlag really well. I would have crashed long before that. I'm struggling with daylight savings time moving the clock an hour right now lol.
 
Following along! Holy cow that passport control area of the airport over there!! I would've freaked. I went thru there when I had a connecting flight from barcelona to the states but never that long of a line!
 
That is a lot of people!
Have you been to Universal Harry Potter land? This reminds me of the train ride leaving London heading to Hogsmead.
I definitely want to go to Harrods and shop.
That hat is perfect.
OMG my Fiance would love this. Donald is his favorite.
You handle jetlag really well. I would have crashed long before that. I'm struggling with daylight savings time moving the clock an hour right now lol.
Oh, the one in Florida? Yeah, I've been but within the first year of opening, so Diagon Alley wasn't made yet

Yes! We aren't really interested in the department store stuff but the food is AMAZING quality. So freaking yummy.

See? Just another reason to go ;)

Thank you :) I've traveled quite a bit and my sleep doc says I'm constantly jet lagged anyways, so it evens out lol. Rich, I knew, was just letting his ADD and adrenaline keep him awake lol

Following along! Holy cow that passport control area of the airport over there!! I would've freaked. I went thru there when I had a connecting flight from barcelona to the states but never that long of a line!
:welcome:
Yeah, it would have been alarming if I wasn't still groggy from my meds lol. You still need to go through passport control when transferring? I that was only if you were leaving the airport?

Love the bag. I probably would have bought several.
Thanks! I have many totes/reusable ages that I really need to limit myself lol
 


Yeah, it would have been alarming if I wasn't still groggy from my meds lol. You still need to go through passport control when transferring? I that was only if you were leaving the airport?

Yep, we had to go right through it but I think it was in some area where outsiders dont go through as everyone on the plane that was transferring went to the same area and stood in line again and had luggage etc all searched again. It caught us off guard as we only had an hour layover LOL.
 
Small update ...
So days 3 and 4 have at LEAST 100 photos for each day. My third party hosting site is having trouble loading them. I'll be doing smaller uploads. These are truly the photo Heavy days of our trip, so bear with me here.
Been a smidge busy so haven't had a chance to upload in smaller batches though.
I'm hoping I can do this sometime within the next 3 days.

Does anyone know how many images we can have in a single post?
 
Yep, we had to go right through it but I think it was in some area where outsiders dont go through as everyone on the plane that was transferring went to the same area and stood in line again and had luggage etc all searched again. It caught us off guard as we only had an hour layover LOL.
Oh wow, I didn't know that! I don't think I've had an international stop that wasn't a layover (stay overnight/exiting airport) so I had no idea! Well, really good info to have for the future, thank you :)
 


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I am doing holiday stuff and working on my thesis, so no update terribly soon.
 
Stonehenge


We slept like rocks the night before, just out. I had woken up around 5am to use the toilet (it is so nice to have an ensuite!) and ended up researching a bit on the tour for today. I was still a bit tired but I had trouble going back to sleep. Meanwhile, Richard was still snoring away like a loud rock.

I did end up waking him up and we decided to eat that dessert set we got from Harrods yesterday, to, uh, have more energy to wake up.

The Harrods Chocolate Bar had some gold flake on it and was rather good. I believe it was the first time Richard ate gold. Next was the Victoria Sponge and Richard actually liked it (it was yummy!), and he normally doesn’t like raspberry things. The Tropical Choux I have in my notes as like a peach cream puff but fruity. I liked it but Richard did not. I rather enjoy citrus flavors and so I did very much enjoy the Lemon curd but was a bit too strong for Richard to like, he doesn’t enjoy citrus flavors much. Lastly, we ate the Millefeuille and I think I ended up eating most of it because I LOVE these desserts. This was was mild in sweet so I could eat all of it without getting too sweeted out.


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The photo of the set, pictured from yesterday


We ended up kind of watching TV as we woke up. Rich like to flip through the channels and watch various British shows. I do the same thing when I go to new countries lol.
After we had wasted enough time, we went to breakfast around 8pm. Our breakfast was complimentary with our accommodation reservation.


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Rich here to remind you that it’s September 7th ;)



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My Vegetarian English Breakfast.
The veggie sausage wasn’t quite impressive, but most definitely edible.
The beans were a bit ‘meh’ but still okay on toast.
The toast was unlimited. Of course, I also had tea.




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Rich had the Full English Breakfast.
The difference was normal pork sausage and bacon.
He also had tea.



We both enjoyed our breakfast and were thankful to have such a filling meal at the beginning of our day. After breakfast, we went to the end of a street where a bank was and tried to exchange the expired pound coins like what the Cast Member said at the Disney Store yesterday. Well … only the Bake of England can exchange those coins and they can’t doing anything. Okay then.
Went back to the room and looked up the information. The BoE only exchanges pound NOTES, not coins, so we would have to contact the Royal Mint in order to do it. The only location was far across the city and truly was not worth it for about £12. So, guess who has some souvenir money?!

We got ready for our big tour today. Our schedule said the tour bus will pick us up at Kings Cross at about 10:50am, so we headed over, a 2 minute walk, and got there just a few minutes before. The bus was not there. While waiting, a tourist lady asked where Trafalgar Square was and we helped her find it on the map she had. We also found others waiting for the same tour and we were all worried that it was cancelled or something. They did arrive, about 20 minutes late, I believe.

The next photos were taken, mostly, by Rich and was from inside the bus …


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This one was taken by me, because random people are fun to have in memory photos.


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This was specifically taken for Rich’s dad because he and Rich’s mom went to go see Hamilton in Chicago.


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There were 4 other stops after ours and we ended up finally out of London at 2pm. I believe these next two photos were taken in more of the ‘suburbs’ of London.


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Rich liked this car. He also just likes cars in general.


When we first sat down, it wasn’t very crowded but then it ended up being kind of the loud/chatty area of the bus and I just got really anxious. When we stopped at a rest stop, we moved to the back of the bus.

The rest stop was added into the itinerary because the toilet was broken/locked. Once at the rest area, I went to a tree and hugged it. It helped calm me down.



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Found the Knight Bus! It looks like it found work after the movies :p


This particular tour to Stonehenge included a stop at Avebury and a stop that is not common: the West Kennet Long Barrow. Most tours stop in Salisbury.

The West Kennet Long Barrow is one of the largest Neolithic burial tombs in Britain and is over 5,000 years old. In addition to the age, this burial mound is special because it is more a mass tomb, most of them are for a single individual. Scientists do not know why this one is so large. Yet.


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The Burrow It goes back quite a ways but we only had access to just about where those rails are on top


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The outside entrance view while coming up to it


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View on top looking back. All the raised earth is part of the burial mound.
The small hole in the ground allows light in to the end of the accessible tomb beneath.


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This place is still actively used by Pagans and they regularly leave offerings.
This is one, a bit blurry but it’s some flowers and wood.


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A blocked off area of the Burrow.


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This offering has some ash markings and a rope knot.


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Looking to the back of the Burrow


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Looking out towards the entrance.


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Standing at the entrance, this is to the immediate right, where you enter from the field.


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This is the entrance going into the burial mound


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Looking at the whole entrance area, you can see the step access to the top and just behind the large stones is the pathway to the entrance.


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One last image


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That big mound is man made from ancient times.
The largest man made upheaval of earth in the country, I believe.
No one knows why this was done, but it’s extremely steep.


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We hiked up a hilled farmland and had some wonderful views coming down :)


The whole experience was, elevating. We understand most Pagan practices and it was fascinating to see a lesser known ancient site that is still used. There were markings with chalk along some parts of the interior, most symbols but there was also an alien head drawn on for some reason.
It was also humbling to see another way of honoring the dead than going to a standard cemetery (in the U.S. at least).

~ Continued in next post ~
 
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I hope to update the rest of Stonehenge day tomorrow :) Ran into a bit of a family crisis today.
 
What tour company did you use for Stonehenge? I love all those little dots on the hill that I'm pretty sure are a bunch of sheep. I get abnormally excited when I see sheep and have to shout out Sheep! when I go by lol.
 
I'm following along. I love those Mickey ears your friend made, she did a wonderful job!
 
Stonehenge
Part 2



We all finally loaded back up onto the bus and drove about 20 minutes-ish to our next stop …


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Avebury!


Avebury is the largest henge in the world. The stones encompass a whole town and actually have roads going through it. Though, if you want to visit the area, there is a specific area just outside of the main part of town to park. When we arrived, there was some sort of camera crew and a trailer in the parking lot, along with many cars.

There’s a path that you walk to get to a street in the town. Taking a right off that trail is where you’d find the entrance to a portion of the henge, which is were we started.


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So those are sheep in the background. The stones are in sheep fields. There were a lot of droppings.


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Rather unflattering but, I had to have a picture touching a stone.


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This is the road that goes through part of the henge. The people are part of our tour group.


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The stones were erected for, what is thought, spiritual practices by Pagans. Unfortunately, a while after the stones have been erected the locals associated them with the devil, a misconception of Pagan practices, and pulled them all down. One of the stones you can sit on, they called the Devil’s Seat. More recently, a man invested quite a bit of money to unbury the stones and erect them into, what is believed to be, the original positions.


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Rich enjoyed the stones


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These stones are smaller and were aligned with Fey lines, which are lines across the earth that have stronger energy, usually mystic. I thought it interesting that they lined up with a Christian church.


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We walked across part of the town and this GIANT stone was on the opposite side. That road was crazy busy. It was hard to cross, let alone take a photo without a car in it.


That rock is where we were told by the tour guide that we had free time in the town. Everyone started going in opposite directions. We hung around the large stone for a bit, ended up taking a photo of a couple too.
We decided to go straight to one of the only pubs in town before they got too crowded for lunch: The Red Lion.


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When we went inside, we had no idea where to order or what to do. I went to the restroom first and Rich was suppose to find out … but he kind of didn’t. So we went into an area and asked someone bussing a table and he said this place wasn’t fancy or anything, order at the pub counter.
Well, okay then!
This was both of our first time visiting an authentic pub and it wasn’t clearly marked, but, thanks to the guy’s instruction, we were able to order our food and drinks.


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This was the local ale, which Richard tried. He made it a point to try all the local ales he could during or European portion of the trip.

Rich trying that ale

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Rich’s meal: Black and Blue Burger; Beef burger seasoned with fajita spices, topped with melted Stilton - served with a smoky tomato relish dip and fries.


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My food: Southern-Fried Chicken Burger;


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Well this would have been helpful at the entrance …


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In case you can’t read it:
The Red Lion was first licensed in 1802 and is famous for its 86ft-deep well which dates from the 1600s.
The Well Room is named after Alexander Keiller who excavated the ancient stone circle surrounding the pub


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This is that well, they turned it into a table!


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Looking straight down


When we departed the giant rock and went to the Red Lion, we passed (from across the street) a beautiful tree. I knew I HAD to go and give that tree a hug. I’ve done this since I was quite young, there was usually a tree I get attached to during a trip. A tad odd, but it’s me.


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The tree next to one of the henge stones


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On our way to the tree, there were some houses off to the side and Richard really liked the thatched roof houses


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After hugging the tree, we touched the tree together


Next to this tree was another stone, but noticably smaller than the rest. This one had lots of coin offerings nestled within these little nooks and crannies in the rock itself.
The area just to our right (looking at the tree and stone) was some more stones and there was the camera crew filming something. I wish we could have gone to look but we didn't have too much time left.


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We touched this too


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The tree and the rock. So beautiful.


On our way back to the bus, we wanted to get a photo of the front of that church we saw earlier. Of course, we didn’t have this urge to do that until we crossed the busy main street AND THEN we had to cross it again to get to the church. We stood there for a solid 3 minutes waiting for a spot when we could cross. It was quite a busy stretch of road!


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I had to document the main street to remember how crazy it was


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I love British style architecture


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The outer part of the henge, with the raised area where the stones are and the trench around it




~ Continued in next post ~
 
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What tour company did you use for Stonehenge? I love all those little dots on the hill that I'm pretty sure are a bunch of sheep. I get abnormally excited when I see sheep and have to shout out Sheep! when I go by lol.
We used Anderson Tours :) At the end of Stonehenge Day I will post the total cost of stuff with links included :)
Yes! The dots on the hill are all sheep! There are tons of sheep in the countryside.

I'm following along. I love those Mickey ears your friend made, she did a wonderful job!
Thank you :) I'll be sure to tell her you like them
 
Joining in to read the rest of your adventures as I'm booked on this years's WBTA.

Jill in CO
 
Joining in to read the rest of your adventures as I'm booked on this years's WBTA.

Jill in CO
Thank you for reminding me Jill :) I thought I had completed Stonehenge day already. I hope this trip report helps you out!
 
Stonehenge
Part 3​



Back on the bus, we headed to the Stonehenge site. I was really anxious because we had 10 minutes until the souvenir shop closes and I REALLY wanted to get some items that I saw in the online gift shop. So I kind of hurried up the tour person, but it turned out that I didn’t need to. They kept the gift shop open for us.

There was some Mead and Strawberry Wine that I really wanted to get and Stonehenge cookie cutters. We ended up getting those plus an Elderberry Wine, which entitled us a free wine tote bag. This bag was extremely helpful in carrying the bottles around. We had fun shopping for some other things and then we had to go out of the gift shop since it was, finally, closing.

There were some exhibits outside that we visited shortly while waiting for the rest of the group. They are meant to be the type of dwellings that you would have found around Stonehenge at the time of erection.

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There was also a stone slab representing how the people could have moved the giant stones. They are crazy heavy. Many men had to pull on the same rope to move them. The stones were quarried from much farther away then where they were found.


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Rich posing with the heavy stone

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I told him that pose was not adequate, he had to really PULL!
Pull Richard, pull!


We had noticed our water canteens were low, so we tried to find a drinking fountain to fill them up, but there wasn’t any at the visitor’s center (where we were). The guide told us that the cafe will fill them up for us (for free!). And yup, they did. It was quite nice of them.
So, if you need water and have your own drinking container, the cafe at the Stonehenge Visitor Center will fill them up for you.
The way that it works now is that the visitor’s center is a good bit away from the henge, so taking the internal shuttle bus is the fastest way. Of course, you can walk it and there were a few people walking back.


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On the shuttle bus, looking back at the visitor center


Next to the henge is a huge sheep field and the sheep were gathered in the area closer to where visitors walked. We had security guards escorting us because the Stonehenge site is closed at this point. The tour allows us entry into the henge after hours (or before, depending what tour your schedule).
One of the sheep actually made a bid for escape when it found out the fence wasn’t electrified. Lol so we had a fun show of the guards corralling the escaped sheep. When the sneaky bugger finally was put back on the other side of the fence, he just started bleeting in protest lol


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Sheep and Stonehenge


Once the sheep was where he belonged, 3 security guards escorted our group off the normal path and towards the stones. Everyone went straight for the inner area of the circle. There was really only one rule: No Touching the Stones.


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We made it. We are at the inner circle of Stonehenge.


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How does this selfie thing work again?


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There we go!


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Some graffiti on one of the stones


Then, I really had to do some Jane Hat photos, they were, of course, priority!

::MinnieMo JANE HAT ALERT ::MinnieMo

There are multiple because, well, you really only get to go to the center of Stonehenge once in your life.

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I decided that I needed to just soak up the energies of the center, so I laid on the ground to soak in the energies and connect to the Earth. Since we couldn’t touch the stones, this was the best way I could think of doing so.


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Rich found it amusing


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Then I got him to lay down on the ground with me


It turned out to be a wonderful angle to get a full, close up, view of the more central stones.
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It was around this time when a member of our group, which happened to also be part of a social media group for the cruise, said something that I found pretty hilarious.

He said to me” Excuse me, could you move your shadow?” HAHA!! Once Rich and I stood up from laying down, our shadows were cast on one of the stones because of the setting sun. This man was being a pretty awesome dad and was documenting his daughter, who also ended up sitting down, enjoying the energies and spiritual aspect of this site. I thought it was really sweet, he was doing his dad best to encourage and support her, it was pretty awesome. That question is just something you don’t really hear that often lol. After more photos, ended up joking with him about Peter Pan and shadows. It was all in good fun.

We took MANY photos while we were here, enjoy …

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Behind the scenes look at everyone looking at the stones.
Rich was suspicious of my intentions and wanted a ‘good photo’


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A ‘good’ photo. It is rather nice.


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Not touching the stone, but dang close



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At least my shadow can touch the stones …


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This photo shows how the stones are made to interlock on top, see the notch at the top of the stone on the left?
They’re basically like old legos. Old, heavy legos.


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There is a road that goes right past Stonehenge



~ Continued in next post ~
 
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Stonehenge
Part 4


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The guy in the yellow vest is one of the security guards.


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Where one of the solstice stones was suppose to be


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This is my favorite photo of the trip.
I had to lay between two stones to get this photo. It was hard because I was trying not to touch the stones on either side of me


While I was slightly wedged between two ground stones, a security person saw what I was doing and told me it’s okay if I brush up against one while trying to take the shot because what matters to them is the intent in which the stones are touched. So, accidental brushing is okay with the stones when you are obviously trying to respect the ’no touching rule’.
In fact, he said that the biggest problem with stone touching are the meditation groups because they think they are entitled to touch them. I’m assuming these are groups like Druids or other Pagans. I hope not ALL groups are like that, cause the whole point of those beliefs is that nature is respected.
The security guard was a good fellow and we even showed him the photo I took.

After this encounter, it was Rich’s turn to have the camera and I followed him around while carrying our souvenirs.


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This is a marker for where that solstice stone is suppose to be


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Beautiful sunset. You can see the ditch around the henge.


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Fallen/ground stone


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This lighting is magnificent!


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Taken with an android phone, no editing on any of these photos.
This sunset is just amazing


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Why hello there Richard!


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Had to get that couples selfie. I quite enjoy the arm holding the camera effect.


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Mwah!


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Had to get a little silly


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Got Rich in on it too! We’re walking away from the henge since our time is now up.


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Stonehenge


A video of the inner circle of Stonehenge. Enjoy!


Just before leaving, one of the security guards says we can put our hand really close to one of the stones because it's said to emit it's own energy and you can feel the warmth. We could only put the back of our palm near it ... but I accidentally touched it. No one saw but it was a pleasant sensation of energy and excitement.
We got back on the bus and were dropped off at Victoria station in London, they didn't bring us back to King's Cross. So, we ended up having to buy a one way ticket for Rich so we can ride the tube back to the hotel. We ended up getting there around 11pm.

With that, our day ends. It was an amazing experience that was truly once in a lifetime.



Pricing
The USD prices next to the British Pound prices are what we ended up paying after conversion rates.

  • Anderson Tours Special Access Inner Circle Evening Tour for 2: £198 | $273.26
    (tour link is the next available tour at the time of writing this post)
  • Red Lion in Avebury: £22.58
    Half Pint House Ale - £1.80
    Southern Fried Chicken Burger - £9.79
    Black & Blue Burger - £10.99
  • Souvenirs at Stonehenge: estimated £87
  • One ticket from Victoria Station to King's Cross Station: £4.90
 
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Small update with previous posts. I updated the exact amounts that we pre-ordered currency in the Departure post. I added a video of Rich drinking local ale in Stonehenge Part 2.

The next day, Harry Potter Day, is hugely image heavy, even more then Stonehenge day. So, that one may take me a few days to work on. I'm guessing AT LEAST 5 parts to it. After that, the images taper down and I shouldn't be so overwhelmed with posting them.

Thanks for your patience everyone
 
I'm still following. You had some really great photos! Looking forward to reading more.
 

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