A visit to London, England, is always filled with history, art and culture. Equally delightful are the numerous day trips that a visitor can embark on from London, with palaces, castles, gardens, scenic wonders and more, all merely a short train or bus ride away.
On one such day trip from London, I too came away with memories that will last me a lifetime.
My husband and I boarded a tour bus from Central London one cold December morning, ready to spend a history-soaked day in Stonehenge. The bus quickly filled up with eager tourists and after a short introductory speech by the tour guide, off we went.
A VISIT TO STONEHENGE
Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies in Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire County in England and is one of the most popular day trip destinations from London. After about a two-hour drive, as the bus approached the hallowed site, I got the first distant glimpse of the timeless megaliths.
The tour started at the sleek visitors center where after getting our tickets, we entered a museum of exhibits. The Stonehenge Exhibition displays artifacts such as jewelry, pottery, and tools discovered at the site.
But most people, including us, crowded around to see the reconstruction of a 5000-year-old human face assembled from bones found at the site.
Outside, the reconstructed Neolithic dwellings were another attraction. The huts recreate the prehistoric homes found at Durrington Walls, about a mile away from Stonehenge.
Inside, the space was laid out with seats, a sleeping area, a fireplace and household items, bringing to life the everyday activities of people who lived here around 2500 BC.
THE MYSTERY AND HISTORY OF STONEHENGE
No one really knows why Stonehenge was built, but theories abound. Some say it was a religious site while others speculate it was used as a calendar. According to scientists, it was probably an astronomical observatory.
There is one certainty that prevails amidst the mystery – Stonehenge was built in three phases, starting in the fourth millennium BC much before the construction of the Pyramids of Egypt.
And when the final phase was completed, the Neolithic Age had given way to the Bronze Age, and a total of about 4500 years had passed by.
Around 3100 BCE, a mammoth circular ditch, about six feet deep, was dug here with a 360-foot wide bank, heralding the First Phase. This megastructure, known as a henge, had a large entrance on the northeast with a smaller entry point to the south.
