Today we were off to the English countryside. First stop: Stonehenge. The spot was picked out as a spiritual center over 5,000 years ago, and the structure was constructed over thousands of years. What I found surprising, other than the fact that pre-historic peoples were able to construct such a monument, was that construction continued for such a long time. Often, after a change of power, the new rulers will destroy the symbols of the old regime's power (for a recent example, see the statue of Saddam). But, either no such change of power occurred (unlikely) or everyone agreed that Stonehenge was worth building. I, for one, am grateful for such a prodigious consensus.
The next stop was Oxford, which besides housing one of the planet's most prestigious universities, is also a quaint small town. There were many hidden alleys, and cute shops. We founds a fabulous ice cream parlor, which was a boon given our poor choice of establishments for dinner. Unfortunately, the Great Hall and the Chapel of Christ's College were both closed when we arrived, but I think we saw enough. (The Great Hall is where they film the Hogwarts dining hall scenes, but we actually happened upon another filming location from PoA...you'll have to wait for the photos to find out where.)
Tomorrow's agenda includes Hyde Park, the Parliament, the British Museum, and Titus Andronicus at The Globe.
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