Road Trip!

Tuesday the 7th was going to be quite an adventure. Mainly because we were hiring a car for the day to drive around Southeast England. Two things that made me nervous about it - driving on the left side of the road and driving a manual stick shift. However, I shouldn't say I was nervous, since I didn't do any of the driving! Mom and I were the map readers, dad was front seat navigator, and Brian was the lucky driver. He knows how to drive a manual car from the U.S. (even though our car at home is an automatic) and said it wasn't too bad. Luckily, the pedals are the same and the stick gears are in the same positions as well - he just had to get used to shifting with his left hand instead of right.


About 8 a.m. he picked up the rental car and about 9 a.m. we were on our way. Our first stop was north of the village Uffington in the Vale of White Horse. This is where a mysterious prehistoric hillside chalk carving of a horse is located.It has recently been dated to about 1400 BC. Just above the White Horse is Uffington Castle, a Neolithic hill fort. It was nice to get outside and seem some lovely countryside and explore the rolling hills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffington_White_Horse


Our next stop was Stonehenge. It's a popular tourist spot, and it's very close to the motorway. As we approached by car coming down the hill, the most impressive sight is to see it from above. There is an audioguide tour available to tell you about the stones and how they might have been built and what the purpose might have been. They don't know anything for sure. Not too long ago, you used to be able to walk right up to the stones, but due to vandalism, they are sectioned off, and you follow a path all around the stones. I think they would be impressive to see during sun set or by moonlight or something.


Lastly, we drove to Bath to see the Roman baths and beautiful architecture of the town. We popped in the Bath Abbey, walked by the elegant Georgian architectural buildings by John Wood the Elder and the Younger, and visited the Roman Baths, built on the only natural hot springs in England. We also had a pub dinner in town before we had a few hours drive back to Oxford.

It was great to tour England via car and it wasn't as scary as I thought (but ask Brian, he might have a different answer since he drove)!