Day Nine: Bathing in Stonehenge

Actually, the Roman baths in Bath were another highlight of the trip. Time-traveling 2000 years and walking on the same stones as the ancients Romans is pretty cool.

Of course, I had to snap an ironic photo of the site.

We then ventured to Stonehenge. I guess I was expecting them to be…bigger? Or were we just not close enough? The most amazing thing—I mean, besides the obvious, that these stones were huge, heavy, and moved here—were the crows, flying around, gathering, landing on the stones, and taking off again. I tried to get good video of this but not sure I succeeded. But again, an amazing walk on an historic site; a Gettysburg battlefield or colonial American fort doesn’t quite match up for me.

We returned to our original London hotel, and had dinner at an exotic steak place (with choices like Bison, Wagyu, and Scottish Angus Gold—I chose the latter), and repacked for the trip home the next day.

The flights were uneventful, though at Heathrow, the counter woman telling us that our bags were checked through Petersburg was rather unsettling. Asking, “Pittsburgh?” only received the answer—multiple times—of “Petersburg.” Worried that our bags would end up in St. Petersburg, Florida or Russia, I then craned my neck to see the boarding passes that she held said, “Pittsburgh.” A sigh of relief, a wait to board, and two flights and some bad on-board food later, we arrived back in Pittsburgh, recovered our car, and were bound for home and a very familiar bed—and waiting cats!

And a pledge—maybe an ocean cruise with the ship as a floating hotel room, but up-early bus tour? Never again!