A few weeks back, we made the last minute decision to head over to the UK for a long holiday weekend. We have covered about 75% of our Rick Steve's Best of Europe book and we had been talking about making the drive, yes, drive, over to Bath for a while. There are several ferries and even an auto train that allow you to bring your car with you across the channel. It is about a 2 hour trip to Calais, France where we picked up the ferry. The ferry only takes about 1 1/2 hours and it delivers you to Dover. It was a bit scary at first driving on the other side of the road but Craig did a great job. A friend once told Craig that it takes one good scare then you will be fine - not really comforting advice. Driving on the highway seemed very normal. Driving through the small towns and turned that was a little tricky.
Our first stop was Stonehenge. I find the theories about Stonehenge very interesting and was glad that we were able to see it.The weather was very windy and looked very stormy at times but it made for some great pictures.
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Wow! Rocks!
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Because we booked our trip at the last minute, we ended up staying at a bed and breakfast in Bradford on Avon. Not our first choice with 2 young kids. The owners were very accomodating and showed us their chicken coop where they get their eggs for breakfast. Colin was eager to check the coop everyday and one day found 3 eggs. We were surprised at how he knew exactly what to do and reached right in and got them.
The next day, we took the train from Bradford on Avon into Bath. Bath was first settled by the Romans and has since been know for it's warm springs which was used for many reasons including what was believed as it's healing powers. The Romans built a complex around the main spring which you are able to see. We also took 2 tours around the city. As a bribe, we told Colin that if anyone told him that he was a good boy, we would buy him a treat. After our first tour, he was complimented by another American tourist and he was able to get a large lollipop. We will definitely be using this one again. Bath was a beautiful city and we are already considering going back around Christmas time for their Christmas Market.
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| The Roman Bath |
Sunday was all about the kids. We took them to Longleat Safari Park. Longleat was the first drive through animal park outside of Africa. Inside the park was like a small zoo and also had a few rides. The kids loved it. The first thing we did was drive through the safari. We could have stayed in the monkey area all day. We were screaming and lauging at the same time. I don't think I have ever seen the kids so happy. It is a good thing we have an old, leased car because we weren't too concerned that the monkeys were removing some of the rubber parts. We spent a few hours inside the park and decided to take one last drive back through the safari area before the park closed. Just as before, we were all laughing and screaming when the monkeys were climbing all over the car. It was also funny seeing all of the windsheild wipers left on the ground. The kids are still asking to go back even though Chloe had a nightmare that night about monkeys being in our room. She must not be too traumatized because she asks every few days if we can get a monkey on our car again.
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| This picture sums up our trip to Longleat. |
It was a good trip, one I wouldn't mind repeating. It is comforting being in a country where you can speak the language. It was also nice to have had the car with us since we were able to stock up on things like Cheerios before we got back on the ferry!!
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