Hello
all, this is mackenzie santamour. due to technical difficulties i am using the other kenzie's profile to post.
As I mentioned in my last blog, this week’s post is coming from Europe! We
are currently in London and have had an amazing time so far!
Today
we woke up nice and early, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the tube.
we went to Victoria Station to catch a coach bus for an all day
exploration of the countryside of England. We got on a Mercedes-Benz coach bus to tour three of
England’s main attractions: Stonehenge, the ancient city of Bath, and
Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Shakespeare’s school room and guild hall. Our tour
guide was an older gentleman by the name of Magnus; he wore a bright red vest,
tie and blue overcoat with a black top hat with feathers sticking out of it. He
was very knowledgeable and quite humorous.
We
left the station a little after 8am and our first stop was Stonehenge. We were
able to get up pretty close to the monument; you could see all the cracks and
weathering of the stones. The structure is 4,500 years old and it is amazing
how well it has held up; although there has been some reconstruction of the
stones on certain parts. It was a bonus that the sun was shining so brightly
because the stones cast a great shadow on the green grass. Surrounding the
structure were burial mounds and beautiful twisting roads.
Freezing in front of Stonehenge
Next,
we made our way to Bath, it was about a two-hour drive from Stonehenge to the
city. We were able to view from the bus a couple thatch roof cottages, and different
types of farms. Bath is an ancient Roman city that had community baths, which
contain three Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water in each one. The
baths replenish almost everyday and contain 43 different minerals within the
water. In the prehistoric times, the
people did not live in the city because they thought it to be sacred ground.
There were three main men who helped make the city great, these men were:
Richard Nash “Bonash”, Ralph Allen, and John Wood the elder. Nash was the
assistant to ceremonies Captain Webster, who later died and Nash took his
place. Allen was the postmaster of Bath, and Wood was an architect who ended up
redesigning the Queen’s square, King’s circus, and assembly room (his son
finished this after his death). The city buildings used a limestone that was
infused with iron giving it a honey colored effect. While in Bath, we viewed
two exhibits at the Fashion Museum: Royal Women and A History of Fashion in 100
objects. I always like looking at the shoes; it amazes me how slender they are!
The royal dresses included Alexandra Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth,
Princess Margaret and various other designers like Christian Dior and Norman Hartwell. After the museum we toured the roman baths; they were absolutely beautiful! The sun was shining down on the water, which was
green/blue in color.
City of bath
bath in bath
Fashion museum
very slender shoes
1840's silk wedding dress
early 1950's evening dress by norman hartwell
featuring Raschel machine lace and tulle
2011 Wedding Ensemble by Bruce Oldfiel Featuring an Ecru Silk jacket and skirt with embellished sleeves
2012 Embroidered dress by the house of Dior
2016 J W Anderson
Cream mohair tweed knitted dress
and bustier
Next,
we drove through the hillside, which are called the Cotswolds where we saw beautiful
greenery. The fields were divided by what was called hedgerows, which are
basically just very large rows of bushes. The farming that takes place in this
area is mostly wheat, barley, oats, cattle, sheep and pigs. We drove by where
Jane Austin lived in the Sydney House and the town of Yate where J.K. Rowling
lived. We finally made it to Stratford-Upon-Avon to where Shakespeare lived and
also the schoolroom and guild hall. We saw where the children were taught their
lessons, and we enjoyed a scone and champagne. We also were able to practice
our calligraphy with a quail feather and ink!
Hillside of Cotswold
featuring hedgerows
Shakespeare's schoolroom
and guild hall
Calligraphy by lori faulkner
"Kendall College of art and Design"
That
was our England in one day trip and I would love to go back to Bath and spend
more time viewing the Baths because that was my favorite part of the day!
That
is all for now, we are leaving for Paris in the morning; check back in to hear about our train to Paris and our first day there!
Thanks
for reading,
Mackenzie
Santamour
