Stonehenge..or the silly stones

From when I was little I heard about Stonehenge. Maybe it was Astrix and Ob that made me start having this idea that if you go to England you see the rocks, just like if you go to Egypt you see the pyramids. Both have mystories surrounding them.....

So we got out of the car, Steve informed me that "you'll spend 10 minutes looking and we spent 2 hours driving to see a bunch of silly stones".

About an hour and ten later I told him our ten minutes were up!!

To be fair it is a bunch of stones, granted placed just so. But when you get into the compoud they give you a radio so that you can here a documentry (pretty much) on the development and stories behind the stones.

And here I am a giant!!!!

There use to be a forest surrounding this area.

Steve was a bit disgusted by how many pictures I took of this place......over 100 pictures.

I really wanted to do a runner across the ropes and get really close.....touching history and all that.....

In the end it just fueled my imaginaton.

Brighton: by the seashore

Brighton. A beautiful coastal city that is south of London. My first reaction when I got down to this beach was "if we end up living in England can we live here?"

Crystal blue skies and water for as far as you can see, it was a perfect day down on their rocky beach.

That is the infamous Brighton pier....the second. The first one burnt down (later I walked by it, the "skeleton" of it was still creeping out to the ocean) so they rebuilt it since it is such a tourist attraction.

This is located not to far from the beach. This is an elaborate palace that the king before Queen Victoria had built. She of course thought it was a waste, but it is a beautiful display in the heart of Brighton.

An entrance into the compound's garden's. Really nice......

Steve told me a while ago that every Englishman had a castle.....to bad Steve's didn't look like this *wink*

This is the most excellent Stephanie (a fellow Canadian and now doctor since the last time I saw her). Maybe it was that her accent was still intact or maybe it just because she's Canadian, either way I likey her lol.

Palace at night.



I think this will start being our thing. Everytime we are at a coast we're going to write down and draw an arrow to the nearest country. So far we got Japan and France....

Road to the Beatles: Liverpool

Liverpool. Located in the Northwest of England, it was an important port for the country. This is also where a lot of the Irish influence in the country is. All you have to do is listen to their accent and you'll understand.

This is down by the docks. Apparently these buildings are very famous throughout England....I don't know why though.

Also very famous...for some reason. When Steve took me to see "Blood Brothers" at the west end this was depicted in the far background. He was surprised when I didn't know where the story was set.

Read it. I was there. It's actually quite an interesting museum considering it's centered around four men.

Everyone in North America will understand. This is one of the first things I saw in England.

I had to go and see the landmarks. I guess this sign has been stolen so many times they just started painting it on buildings. It took us awhile to find this one.

Across the street from Sgt Peppers. We were going to have lunch there but it's CLOSED.

The "famous" street that has the Cavern bar.

This street is dripping with Beatles stuff.

A blurb about the club.

Inspirational?

That's me in the Cavern. This club is way underground. I swear we took five flights down. This is a recreation of the old bar with all the old bricks.

This is the famous stage. On the back wall is covered with graffiti from all the acts that have played there.

The bar is actually kinda cool. Very industrial in the all brick no windows sense. Not a great place to see a band (due to all the supports straight down the center) because unless you are standing in front of the stage you aren't seeing the band.

Liverpool is where Steve took his University.

When we went to his University I was kinda shocked at how small it was. But this was home for Ste for four years.

We went around and checked out what had changed in the past years. Some things had, others not as it goes. But let me tell you I have so many ideas for pranks now.

Soccer at Vila Park

One thing that was a must on Steve's list was going to a "football" game at Vila park while we were in England. The game caught on camera was the Vila vs FFC match. Unfortunately they scored a goal in the final minutes BUT we had good seats.

What I find very interesting was that they segregate the fans. Most of the seating is for the home fans with one of the stands having an understanding is where families go....and the away team get a small section. This is because of the ummmm altercations that had occurred in the past due to the fans mixing to freely. The Brits, well they take this sport seriously.

I really enjoyed seeing a soccer game first hand at this level.

The atmosphere was something else!! All the chanting (not so nice chants......) the collective roars and groans.

Steve looking over an article of the new manager. He's been doing very well for the team. They were in the bottom 10 (20 teams in the premiership league) and he has since brought them up to a solid # 6 this year. Next year hopefully top 4.

In London: The Tower

The Tower of London, or the White Tower. The stories that are woven around this one building are through history. The tower has been worked on and improved since William the Conqueror took over England in 1066. He used the old Roman wall as one of the walls in the original compound. At this time the tower was out of London. He decided to build it there because he feels the people of London need a constant reminder that he is there new ruler.

Through history the "Edwards" have had the most to do with the development of the Tower of London. Edward the first was the one that built the original outer bailey. To do this his men had to extend the bank. Later on these new walls have a story all there own, as the new wall on the extend bank contains the "traitors gate".

This is just outside the compound. This is a very interesting place to go if you have lots of time in London, it deserves an afternoon with everything to see.

Main gate and bridge into the compound.

The main gate.

The royal crest.

One of the Beefeater's that live and work in the compound. They give AMAZING tours that last about an hour. The Beefeater's that work here live in the outer bailey. To be able to work as a Beefeater in the tower you have to have at least 20 years military experience, attain a certain rank and have a spotless record.

The White Tower. It was originally grey stone like the rest of the compound but then there was a "white movement" in England and they painted many of the important places white. I suppose so it looks cleaner or to show purity.....which be be interesting considering how bloody the history is surrounding it.

Straight in fount is where the Crown jewels are kept.

There is a massive line to even get into the building. Things move faster than you think they might because once you actually get close enough to the crown jewels you are on a trend mill that keeps you going forward. If you try and walk backwards a bit to see something for a bit longer one of the Beefeater's will say something to you. Not only are the crown jewels in here but also swords and a bunch of gold dish wear.

In a smaller tower beside this building is where you can see the crowns of other monarchs, but they have had their jewels removed and had been recycled through many of the monarchs crowns over the years.

The White Tower wasn't for prisoners at all. It's original intent was as a keep with only a small space to place prisoners if they needed it. In fact it's bloody history is undeserved considering that only 7 actual executions ever took place in the compound........they all took place on a hill over looking it. Such a difference don't you think?

A very decorated weapon of war........

This is looking the other way away from the crown jewels. Everywhere in the compound is cobble stones or stone tiles and very traditional. It lives up to your expectations of an English castle.

Looking down from one of the walls this is a small portion of what you can see. In the far right is the home of the Governor (I believe). Where all the people are standing they actually have just walked up a hill from the outer Bailey.

Inside the Tower of London. I thought this was actually just for display purposes but it is actually the way they stored their guns. Just an excellent use of space.

Steve was able to "touch history". This is one of the iron helmets that would have been wore into battle.

Yet another helmet.

This part actually is a display of the kinds armor and his horse's armor. It's a bit blurry but the banners above tell you which king had what.

Chop chop, and that's they way they did it.

Broad swords.

This lined the wall......it is massive.

The second floor of the tower. This is the chapel.

Some pictures of the way it was built.

Traditional "hooded" fireplace.

A model scale of what it looks like.

There is a myth about the ravens. There are six ravens that are attached to the White Tower. It is said that if the ravens leave that the monarchy will die (or in this sense the Queen). They feed them very well.

What I found really interesting in the tower was the compound's chapel. This is where the tour ends. It's a small chapel but there are big things in it.........or under it I should say. After each execution up on that hill (and the 7 private ones in the compound .....public figures such as two Queens) were taken back to the chapel. A floor slab would be taken out and the body would be deposited there, dosed with lime and in a few years time it too would have a guest to share the space with. They speculate that Queen Ann's bones lay beneath the altar.

The outer Bailey.

Traitor's gate.

Outer bailey.

Just outside the Tower............the Tower bridge.