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Last night was interesting. One of the people sleeping in the room started to snore very loudly at about 1 in the morning. I needed my sleep and i know I could not sleep with the vibrating sounds coming from the other side of the room. I turned my iPod on, put my earbuds in and turned it on a low volume to drown out the horrible sound. I was worried I would miss my iPod alarm for the tour I had planned for today. Luckily, my friend went over and shook him just enough to have him turn over and stop the snoring.
The tour started off very early - 7:30 to be exact. I went with a fellow hostel mate that I met the day before.. He actually suggested to go on this tour. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see some amazing sites.
The tour included: Stonehenge, Avebury Village, the ancient ruins of the Glastonbury Abbey, the Chalice Well Gardens and the Magical Red Spring. Here is a link to some information about this tour:
http://www.andersontours.co.uk/tourdetails.asp?id=174
Our first stop was Stonehenge. It took approximately an hour or so and we visited for about an hour. It was an incredible feeling as we approached this wonder. From the highway, I could see the grey circular formation amongst the rolling green hills. I could not believe my eyes. I probably took about 100 pictures. The sun occasionally peaked through the clouds to allow for a different feeling and look to the pictures. We hurried back to the bus and were on our way to Glastonbury to explore the village and the Abbey.
The driver was quite funny. It was his first time on this tour and the guide did not know the way either. We drove past the roads we were suppose to take 4 times. It may have taken longer to arrive our destination but, we were in awe as we drove past the ancient country homes and the picturesque countryside. The smell of sheep manure lingered in the air which was not very pleasant but added to the charm of this experience.
The abbey (basically a church), was absolutely phenominal. The massive stone walls, perfectly etched stonework and the overwhelming peacefulness I felt at this site was nothing like I've experience before. I felt like I was invading this space but wanted to capture every moment with my camera. It was not long afterwards that my battery on my camera died and I could not take any more pictures. I stared at the structures and tried to keep a mental record of what I was experiencing. I hope the few pictures I did manage to get, reflect my experience here.
We had about 2 hours here. Without the camera, I felt lost. My hostel mate and I decide to take a stroll around the village of Glastonbury. It was filled with many smaller churches and over the years, it has become a 'tourist town'. Many New Age type shops, bookstores and restaurants are located here.
We moved on to the Chalice Wells Gardens and Magical Red Spring. The garden was beautiful and it reminded me of my own gardens back home. There were many types of trees, shrubs and flowers. The spring was located at the top of the hill. We climbed the stairwell and waited our turn to drink for the "magical spring". I leaned over and took a drink from the lions mouth, using my hand. The water tasted very hard and metallic. The spring has a reddish orange stain on the rock where it oozes out. The aftertaste lasted for about 20 minutes. I wonder if it helped me in some way?
The last stop was Avebury village. By this time, I was completely exhausted and needed a nap. I tried to close my eyes on the bus and get some sleep, but it was very difficult with the constant movement of the bus. There were probably about 50 round-abouts that we went through. I'm not sure how they work but it seems to work well for the people of England.
Avebury has a stonehenge as well, except it is even older than the popular Stonehenge. It is much larger but also several stones are missing. The town itself was very small. We only visited for about half an hour and then made our journey back into the city.
All in all, it was a good day. I arrived back at the hostel, went out to dinner and went to bed very early.
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