Exploring Europe

Today Jenny and I took a nice day trip by "coach" to Bath (named after the baths built by the Romans from the only hot springs in England) and Stonehenge.
It was about a two hour bus ride to Bath, where we saw some amazing architecture and beautiful buildings. We took the all-too-popular tour of the Roman Baths in the center of the city. It was neat to see how well preserved the remains were, and how well engineered since the hot spring continues to filter into the bath itself.
After this brief visit to the old city, we got back on the bus for Stonehenge. Travelling in a tour group proved to be an asset at both sites as our guide was able to get us in to both attractions without much wait. Stonehenge, a "world heritage site" is pretty much indescribable. We got within about 50' at some points on the narrow path around the site. Apparently the outerlying henges (or ditches) were dug around 5000 BC, and the stones were put up between 4500-3500 BC. I don't know how they can tell anything about that, but it's still amazing. If I can figure out to put pictures up here sometime, I'll get a good one up for you to see.
When we got back to London, we high-tailed it over to the Theater District where we secured some 1/2 price front and center tickets for "Fame." It was a nice way to end our stay in London.

Finally in London...
Jenny and I arrived Thursday morning, and tacked an hour onto our 13-hour trip overseas to get to central London by train. After checking into our hostel (just about 10 minutes walk from the Thames and a great view of Big Ben and the Parliament House), we walked all over the place. We saw the Cabinet War Rooms where Churchill stayed during WWII and held lots of impotant meetings -- resembled a giant, intricate bunker. We saw Downing Street, St. James Park, the Parliament House and Big Ben (which, unbeknownst to either of us, is named for a 13-ton bell and not the clock itself).
This morning we walked across the Thames to Westminster Abbey, where we got to go inside and see the stained glass windows, intricate marble carvings, engravings, statues, and the tombs of some quite famous individuals (including Kings and Queens, Churchill, Dickens, Shakespeare, Handel, Eliot, and more that I can't remember right now). After that we jetted over to Buckingham Palace to try to catch the Changing of the Guards. It would have been much neater had we actually been able to see more than the backs of 3 guards. But the cliche uniforms and marching band music were cool. We had lunch and watched some street entertainers in Covent Garden's piazza on our way to St. Paul's Cathedral -- which is the second largest dome-cathedral in the world (after St. Peter's) -- and also where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. The site has been occupied by the church (not in the same physical form, though) since 600AD. We later passed the London Tower Bridge and got to tour the London Tower itself where we saw the Mideval Tower, the White Tower (original tower around which the larger one was built), and the Crown Jewels! The structure itself was like a city within a city, and our first real "Castle Experience" so far. After that we made it over to the Imperial War Museum dedicated to commemorating the effects of WWII, and saw their Holocaust Exhibit. Even though it's a bit of a downer, it was worth seeing.
Tomorrow we're heading out west to see Stonehenge, Bath, and some other more rural areas. Should be fun!