We readily jumped in the air, but not into the water at a bathhouse in the city of Bath.
After all the hustle and craziness that is London, I felt refreshed to be leaving the city for a day. Our bus ride had commentary provided by a quirky man named Richard and, based on his comments, he had been to every pub within a 2 mile radius of the bus. I quickly realized how soothing his British stories were and found myself slipping into sleep each time we boarded the bus. Throughout the day we arrived to different destinations (Windsor, Bath, and Stonehenge) for a few hours, boarded the bus again, then headed to our next stop. While on the bus, I caught up on sleep.
Stonehenge is a majestic sight on a landscape of green grass hills.
Between driving from Windsor Castle and Bath, I woke from my nap in awe of how green England’s countryside is. I had always envisioned England to be a beautiful mass of hills, grass and openness, but after spending time in London I forgot there was more here then just an industrial city. England is beautiful. Waking up from a nap to see the wonderful landscape caught me off guard. I couldn’t help by literally gaping at my view out the window.
The beauty makes me question whether or not it was only a dream. I remembered our trip to the Globe Theater earlier in the week, where we saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.” The landscape almost was too good to be true. It easily could have been a dream or fantasy. One site I mentally captured from the bus ride seems especially surreal. Opening my eyes from sleep I saw a large tree casting shade. In the shade was a group of elk. These animals were different sizes, shapes, and colors. Some had antlers, others didn’t. There was one particular elk with huge antlers, lying under the shade with all the others surrounding him.
There was just something about that sight that stays with me. I easily could have missed it if I hadn’t opened my eyes right then. I’m not sure if anyone else on the bus saw it and it happened too fast to capture a photo. I was stunned and curious as to why they were there. Had it been an elk farm? Was I only dreaming?
It felt real and mysterious and seemed to fit perfectly with the beauty of England’s countryside. This day trip outside of London really expanded my view of England. Seeing nature like that made me realize how industrialized London is and how different the city can be from everywhere else in a country.
–Danielle Peecher