I'm a little sad that I had to part with my new friends but, I'm so excited to continue exploring England. I've been on and off trains all day just to see one site... the Stonehenge! I've read the lonely planet book on England from cover to cover about 150 times but, never saw that one should book 2 MONTHS in ADVANCED to have a tour... SERIOUSLY!?! They are giant rocks!! UGH! 4 damn hours on English trains and I may not even see the monument without a fence between!?! Screw that! England doesn't know who they are messin' with!
^^ That was my journal entry after I read in my book that damaging little sentences of advanced booking. Well, apparently the Lonely Planet people are a bit behind because as soon as I got off the train, I was greated by a double decker yellow bus that read "Stonehenge Tours." As I was walking towards the bus, a strong gust of wind blew me into the building! Man, that hurt but, I was glad no one was around to see the tiny American with the big backpack blown into the station building. I've already made an impression on the people of Canterbury and now this? I was definately batting 1000.
When I got to the door of the bus, I saw two men inside giggling like 12 year old school girls. The drive opened the door and said "Well, you got blown the hell in! I think you left a dent in the building! That will cost ya!" Yeah, thanks MARTIN (his name)... didn't help me or anything and they say Americans are rude! I'm a TINY LITTLE WOMAN!
So, needless to say the Holahan mouth started to work before the brain and I gave Martin and his mate a strong talking to and advised them to wear cups when I am around because I am a "ball buster" (sorry mom). They both laughed so hard the one gent fell over and the driver banged his head against the window by accident (who's the klutz now?!)
I had the bus driver drop me off at Sarum Castle, well, at the trail to Sarum Castle. As I was walking through the trail, I saw brown cows to the left of me and sheep to the right. The scenery was a bit surreal. I felt like I was in a movie and none of this was possible, I was going to wake up and be heart broken because of some dirrty (naughty) British man who I pine for but, because of our separate lives in countries that are 3,400 miles apart we could never have a romantic life after this random meet cute on a house switching holiday (okay, that was a ton of romantic comedy movies rolled into one sentence but, HEY! Thats me). I knew it was real when the wind, once again, blew me and my bag into a patch of bushes! The branches informed me that this event is infact, very real... informed me in the face!
I hiked about 2 miles before I saw any "castle." On my hike, I saw farm land that spread out as far as the eye could see. The grass was being blown in the wind making it look like waves in an ocean. I stopped walking and just stood there for a moment, soaking in the beautiful almost artistic scenery. "Mom would love this, I really wish she could see this. Although, I don't think she would want to hike on such a windy day. Dad would love this hike!! OH! And Johnny!! I bet he did this! I bet he was here!!" Tears filled my eyes at the magnificent sight of rolling mountains, insanely almost fake green grass, and the gloriously huge ancient houses on the farms. I continued on.
After about 30 mins, I saw the first sign of life on the trail other than myself. 2 irish sheep dogs (black and white) trotting towards me. "God? Is this really happening? People never get to experience such beauty unless its on t.v." Finally, after fighting the wind for the next 20 mins, I stopped to make a video for my family. I wanted to show the strength of the wind on the trail. I was almost blown off the cliff but, was weighted down by my backpack (thank God). Then, there it was... a clearing and then reminance of a castle. I ran up the side of the hill like Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music" but, didn't start singing because let's face it... I may be cute like her but I definately do NOT sound like her (then again, who does?)
I have had requests for details of what I've seen but, the truth is... there are not enough words to describe the perfectly preserved area. Although the castle was no longer standing, the courtyard looks like it was untouched. I took pictures and will load them to the stories later.
So here is what I learned: The base of Sarum Castle is 2 miles around... get that? 2 miles around! That's right!! I walked the base of the castle before I found the actual trail to the bridge to the courtyard. So, what should have taken me about 30 mins to walk, took me about an hour which didn't leave me much time before catching the last bus towards stonehenge.
It started to rain at the bus stop. I was told to be there at promptly 4:10pm... the damn bus didn't show up until almost 15mins to 5! I could have kicked that guy's old wrinkled tush from here to new-glocken-shpeal!!! Then, he was driving so damn fast, that all of my pictures were blurry and basically a waste of memory on my phone but, I kept them anyway for the purpose of this story.
When we arrived at Stonehenge, he told us that the bus would be back to pick us up at 6pm. It was pouring outside and the wind was clocked at 40mph on the level ground (55mph on Sarum Castle). Anyway, I picked up my audio device and started my trek towards the glorious stonehenge. As soon as it was in my sight, I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't believe it. There it was, Stonehenge. I've been dreaming about what it would look like since I saw it online and in my book while planning this trip. I even wondered if I'd really appreciate the sight or if I would see it and think "they are rocks... so what? I traveled all this way for this?? What a load!" Instead, a smile formed on my face and once again tears filled my eyes (apparently I'm a cry baby in England). The audio was useless because of the amount of wind continuously blowing and the rain seemed to be bigger, colder, and more abundant. People were running everywhere to get out of the rain, trying to save their umbrellas and cameras and there I was... standing in the eye of the storm gazing at Stonehenge. I thought "I didn't travel 3,400 miles to run inside! I'm guna stand here gosh darnit! I'd set up camp if they let me." When I couldn't feel my hands, toes, or face I thought that was sufficient enough for me to go take cover in the shop or at least get a hot tea. Dad would have been disappointed in me if I left any sooner than that because he taught me better than that!
It felt like I was standing there for hours! When I finally checked the time, 10 mins had passed from the time the bus left. I had to endure this weather for another HOUR before the stupid bus came back for us. Personally, I think the bus driver took his sweet time because of the asian family that was riding on the tour. Only one person out of 10 spoke English and they all seemed very nervous about their car and the bus not coming back at all (I really didn't blame them for the anxiety, I wanted to ask them for a ride back but, I don't speak Chinese).
While waiting, I decided to go talk to 2 of the guys that were on my bus trip from Sarum to Stonehenge. Both were in their 20's and grew up in Spain. They moved to Southampton about 3 month prior in search for jobs. They told me (in half English and half Spanish) that the job market and economy is just as bad as the U.S. They both have their Master's in Psychology (WOOT WOOT) but, were dishwashers here because of lack of experience. I never caught their names but, I will definately remember them because they ASKED ME what to see in England!!!! They lived here for 3 months and haven't seen ANYTHING!!! I just couldn't believe it! What the heck were you two doing here????
We parted ways at the train station. I continued my route to Bath.
