This past weekend my friends and I took a weekend trip to London! I booked an all-day tour to Windsor Castle, Roman Baths, and Stonehenge, which was definitely my favorite part of this study abroad experience so far! Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge history fan, so I was incredibly stoked for this tour.
First we stopped at Windsor Castle, which is where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip live. As it turns out, we were in London for the Queen’s birthday celebration so all of London was decorated with photos of the Queen. Windsor Castle is the oldest operating castle in Europe, and is one of the most beautiful castles I have seen.
After Windsor Castle, we headed to the ancient Roman Baths, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These baths are still running from the same hot spring the ancient Romans used. The baths had tons of Roman artifacts and I learned a lot about Roman life. I definitely hope to come back to Bath, UK, to explore the beautiful city more!
Lastly, and my personal favorite, we visited Stonehenge. Stonehenge is in my bucket list top five, and I could not have been more excited to finally see a historical site that I have wanted to experience my entire life. Stonehenge is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so the UK definitely has a lot of history I cannot wait to come back and explore. Stonehenge has fascinated me since I was little, and I was happy to learn on the tour that Stonehenge is actually an astronomical calendar. On the summer and winter solstice, the sunset and sunrise line up exactly through the stone arches. I had a ton of fun on this tour and saw some of the highlights of England!
Unfortunately, Big Ben is under construction so we were not able to visit the famous Benjamin. Although, we toured every other spot in downtown London. I, of course, had to take a photo in the iconic red telephone booth! We also visited Parliament and Buckingham Palace, where we saw the famous British guards.
To cap off our fantastic weekend in London, we rode the London Eye and saw the best view of London! The London Eye was a lot higher than I thought, but was a memorable way to close our last night in London.
Just before we left, our flight was delayed by several hours. I was happy about this because it meant I had time to explore the British Museum! This was one of the best museums I have been to, and my favorite artifacts included the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and an Easter Island head. Experiencing more world history was a great way to close a fantastic weekend!
Cheerio!
-Alissa Smith