Harlaxton Day 5: Bath and Stonehenge

As the Romans once said, salve!

Today’s field trip destinations were the city of Bath, the Ancient Roman Baths, and Stonehenge.

After an amazing English breakfast at Nutford House, we all sleepily packed onto our charter and began our two and half hour journey. However, we very occupied during the trip listening to the interesting presentations from students, bopping to music, and of course, a little napping. I don’t think we will ever fix our sleeping schedules.

Once we arrived at Bath, we walked through the city’s bustling, bourgeois streets that were lined with cafes and the most coffee shops that I have ever seen. Exploring this city was especially interesting since we could all visualize how Jane Austen portrayed it in Persuasion. Eventually, we made our way up to the Royal Crescent, where we enjoyed our lunches with a fantastic, scenic view. Afterward, we made our way back to the central part of Bath where we got to see a ballroom in which Austen might have met some of the English men and women who inspired her memorable characters and their dynamic personalities.

We then made our way to the Roman Baths. Upon entering the Bath, we were given audio devices that allowed us to listen to descriptions and stories of the Bath, including its religious significance, the benefit its mineral waters had, and the impressive architecture that has allowed it to stand for over 2,000 years. At the end of the Bath, we even got to drink the water. Only after it had been purified, of course. 

We then left the Bath and returned to the bus for our final trip of the day. Stonehenge exceeded my expectations; it was mind-boggling how these ancient people arranged gigantic boulders to form one of the ancient wonders of the world. Who knew that stacks of rocks could be so interesting?

After a long day of sightseeing, we still had a nearly 3-hour bus ride back. After the final presentations were given, most of us talked about our favorite parts of the day, what we would do with our free time when we got back to London, and at least for me, rested the entire way back.

Back at Nutford House, we had just enough free time to get dinner in the city. Now we are all preparing for our quiz, class discussion, and plans for free time tomorrow!

Here’s to another two weeks!

Evan