Europe day 1: Avebury and Bath

Our long awaited trip to England and France has arrived!  

After flying all night from Houston, our plane landed at Heathrow around 7:30 a.m. After waiting in a long line for customs (almost 2 hours), and picking up our car rental from Avis, we got out cash (it was recommended to do this upon arrival), and headed out of London toward the countryside. (Jon took right to driving on the left side of the road :) Our first stop is Avebury. We traveled on the expressway for about an hour, which was kind of like our freeways, except they're were very few exits, and almost no restaurants or gas stations along the way. So, if you miss an exit and have to backtrack, you'll most likely delay your route by at least an hour.

Soon we were routed off the expressway and on to backroads, which is what we were really looking forward to.  We drove through the cutest, quintessential towns, exactly what you think of when picturing the English countryside, and after about an hour arrived in Avebury.  Avebury is a little village that has ancient stones, a lot like Stonehenge, but on a much smaller scale. We walked the loop and marveled at the ancient stone circles and gorgeous landscape, with sheep and dogs and flowers.  We stopped into a local place called Circle Cafe and purchased fresh, steaming hot steak pastys.  We ate with the locals and their dogs (we noticed Englishmen seem to bring their dogs everywhere), and then hiked to see a 6000 year old tomb from the late Neolithic period. 

Next is Bath where our first stop was Jane Austin's house and gift shop.  We missed the last tour by a hair, but Havah was thrilled to pick out a P&P themed mug and enjoy looking around this historic landmark.  Unfortunately we also missed seeing the Roman Baths as they had just closed.  Ugh. So, we wandered the streets of Bath, taking in all the architecture, and stopping a local grocery store to buy tea and pastries, then finished our day at The Scallop Shell for traditional English fish and chips.  After dinner we drove about 45 minutes to Stow on the Wold in The Cotswolds to sleep at a Bed and Breakfast named The Pound, which is a 16th century residence. 

(side note: my photos are mostly likely terribly out of order, and probably not captioned.  I've resigned myself with it being good enough, ha ha.  I'm content just to have blogged at all ;) Thanks for bearing with me!