Day 2 (28th Oct) – After a day of breathing the stinking London air, I’m glad to be out of the city and into the surprisingly beautiful surrounds of London. Off I went on a "Evans Evans Tour", which took us to some of the best sites outside of London which includes:
Windsor Castle
The current Queen’s primary residence. It’s so big, I can’t find a camera angle to fit it all on a single photo! No wonder it’s the largest castle ever built. You know what’s weird? Heathrow airport is not far from here. Being the busiest airport IN THE WORLD, I have no idea how the queen gets a good night sleep here!
I did get to see the famous palace guards, which also double as soldiers. They look so stiff, and give that famous ‘serious’ look. I feel sorry for them though, as there were teenagers literally making fun of them.
The castle itself, is as expected, full of history, and some very fine collections of art. We’re talking paintings and drawings from the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Dyke, Rubens etc etc. The castle is over 950 years old!
Stone Henge
At first glance, most would think, what is so interesting about a couple of stones arranged in some strange manner? Until you realise it’s built by someone over 3000 years ago! No one really knows how it go there, and who put it there. People come here purely because of the ‘mystery’ behind it all. Being a typical tourist, I took no less than 20 photos of the same stones. Pretty silly, now I think about it.
Bath
Again, why would anyone be interested in going to a town called "Bath" to literally see a ‘bath’ in middle of a town that nobody uses anymore. Of course, the history of it all starts to become overwhelming and one starts to appreciate just how great the Romans were when they built this almost 2000 years ago! Compared to other civilisations at the time, the Romans definitely knew how to enjoy themselves! This bath or what they call "Aqua Sulis" is built on top of a natural hot spring, complete with massage rooms and a temple. It was a city for the rich! At the same time, this site is considered ‘sacred’ and built as a dedication to Roman’s water god "Sulis"!
By the end of the day, I’ve got to say Europe is one big history lesson. My tour guide admits that "1-day" tours are also known as "Not Enough Time" tours. I would have liked to spend more time at each of the places today, but hey, I’m here for TRAINING, not to study history. I have a lot more to learn…
Back to reality..
