Stonehenge Rocks! and Other Adventures

Summary: It’s good to get out and see the English countryside and forget about how much money it costs to live in London.

Word of the day: bookie
My co-worker James (who pretty much provides me with a new word every day) says this is a betting house. Of course, what is a betting house? -- a sort of gambling parlor. We don’t really have those in the U.S., as far as I know. All of our grocery stores are supermarkets, and our betting houses are gigantic casinos -- that’s just how we do it.

What I learned today (the past few days): London is always beautiful on the one day you want to stay in. Well, at least I went to the grocery store. Oh well, I’m kind of partial to cloudy days anyway.

The next time I go to London I will...probably try to find a cheaper place to live. Not that I think I will ever live here again. (Yay international journalism, but I won’t ever want to be across the ocean from everyone I love again.) Anyway, the truth is, half of my paycheck goes to rent. I’ve heard this is true with a lot of people in London, but still, I probably spend about 100 to 150 pounds (mind you, $200 to $300) more than I should per month. All my friends in their long-term hostels like to make fun of my posh flat overlooking the Thames with a view of the towering buildings of companies I write about. I am so lame for living here. (Don’t tell anyone, but my landlord hires a cleaning lady who actually made my bed for me on Friday!)

Let’s just say, I’ll be paying for the fact that I chose to have a nice flat in London for a looooong time. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t feel bad: I’ve lived in several non-ideal places, including a basement with tons of spiders and my friend’s parents’ house, and my first month at college was in a dorm room with a boy-obsessed drug addict and an Army girl that went to sleep at 8 p.m. (who later became my good friend) in one small room. So I deserve this.

Rocking Out of the City
I definitely needed a break from city life, especially after the insane amount of interviews I’m doing for my feature due next week (so if I’m not responding to e-mails, this is why). My trip to Stonehenge and Bath with the other BUNAC Work in Britain kids was perfect. And hopefully drinking the healing waters of Bath’s hot springs will keep me going this week.

Stonehenge, while a pile of rocks, was certainly awe-inspiring for the fact that it’s thousands of years old. Definitely a mystical sight to see in person, surrounded by rolling green pastures and grazing sheep that get photographed more than Paris Hilton.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Bath is positively charming, as we labeled it. It’s sad that it seems as if it’s not a real city, but rather, a city existing on tourism alone. However, the old Roman-inspired architecture, flower pots in the streets and spas from thousands of years ago made it a sigh-of-relief city. And while I know I overuse the word precious (because of my precious former roommate Carolyn), I think everyone would agree that it's a good word to describe Bath.

My fellow Emma fan, Jessica, and I also soaked in the Jane Austen Centre (almost all of her novels mention the city and a couple take place there). We also traversed the ruins of the Roman baths (below).

So anyway, I’m full of historical romance, and am going to go finish Emma and balance my checkbook and cry.

I am now listening to: Everything! Matt Padgett, as I like to refer to my boyfriend as, has sent me an early Christmas present, and now I have the tiniest iPod in England!

[Edit: I replaced a photo with my own and deleted photos I did not take.]