A Pile of Rocks

 One of our scheduled trips out of London was to visit Bath and Stonehenge which were a couple of hours out of the city. Bath, which our guide Daisy pronounced Baaath was a Roman outpost whose claim to fame was the mineral springs where they built an elaborate bathhouse with plumbing and pools. The whole location of Bath suited the Romans as it was built on seven hills like Rome. The Romans settled in Bath in AD 60 and utilized the native limestone which is quarried under the city. Today Bath has around 90,000 inhabitants and 2 universities. It is situated on the Avon River of Shakespearean fame. The town today is primarily Georgian in style with construction of 4 or 5 stories of limestone. Daisy told us that inhabitants used to be taxed by number of windows and therefore you can see false windows of stone where tightwads valued English Pounds more than sunlight.Jane Austen lived in Bath if you are inclined to read fussy old maid literature. Jane hated Bath and only lived 2 years there, probably to the benefit of Bath . It was raining while we visited Bath but I was very impressed with the city and the architecture. Another Jane, the actress Jane Seymour lives on the outskirts of Bath. We also travelled west to Oxford, the home of Oxford University. What can you say about Oxford that hasn't been said in millions of words? One of the foremost colleges in the history of mankind.. Teaching started there in 1096 and it is the oldest English speaking university in the world; the 2nd oldest college in existence. Oxford as a city has around 170,000 inhabitants and is about 70 miles from London. 29 Prime Ministers of England attended Oxford.It is a beautiful city which makes me realize how young our country is. We then went to Salisbury Plains to view Stonehenge. Built between 3000 BC and 2000 BC by Bronze age inhabitants, the purpose is still argued. The circle of stones are up to 24 feet tall including the portions underground ,and weigh around 25 tons each. They were transported from around 18 miles away and some came from Wales, all by primitive Bronze age people. Arguments abound as to their purpose. Were the stones a burial ground? Yes. Were they a center of worship ? Yes. Were they a site of astronomy study?Yes. Just how all of this relates to each other is argued and unknown , which is the real beauty of Stonehenge. It is truly a magic place and perhaps the mystery should never be unveiled.The only thing I can add in my limited knowledge is that it is an awesome pile of rocks. Maybe Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were British.