We headed to Dover, boarded a ferry, waved goodbye to the lovely White Cliff, and crossed the Strait of Dover (Pas de Calais) to Calais.

Photo of White Cliffs of Dover

The ferry took around an hour from Dover to Calais; and I set my foot for the first time on the Continental of Europe. Bonjour! We were greeted by Marcel, our bus driver for the tour; and continued our journey to Paris, the capital city of France.

It was a long drive from Calais to Paris, but it was not dull at all. All the scenes outside of the window seemed so fresh and enchanting to me… huge corn fields, nuclear power plants and gigantic windmills; it was like wandering into a brand new world, like “Alice in Wonderland”.

Accompanied with the chats and laughter with other tour mates, time flew; soon we arrived in Paris, and checked in at our hotel at around 4pm.

Photo of the Stonehenge

The Stonehenge was first erected more than 5000 years ago and being re-modified (categorized into 3 phases in general) until the most recent at around 1600BC.

There are a number of hypothesis for Stonehenge, but nobody really knows who and why they built the monument. The stones are said to be arranged astrologically and the general belief is that it was built for worship purpose.

My sister who visited the site earlier had warned me that the stones are much smaller than expected… it’s true. Stonehenge isn’t as gigantic as I anticipated, but it’s still pretty huge though. Set the size aside; I was really glad that I was able to see Stonehenge with my own eyes, it was a wonderful feeling.

What I didn’t expect was that the location of Stonehenge is actually pretty close to a highway (you can see the cars from the site). Modern development vs. prehistoric monument… such irony.

Pulteney Bridge across River Avon

I didn’t pay much attention to the bridge initially, it looked like a simple shopping-street at the moment we crossed it; I didn’t even know how its external looks like.

I only developed interest with Pulteney Bridge when visiting some souvenir shops near Bath Abbey and found a nice postcard of it… I thought to myself ‘Wow, what a beauty…’ and asked for direction to the river bank (which was just a block away) and snapped some photos.

The bridge is actually fame for its two ‘faces’; one side of the bridge is the beautiful Georgian architecture as seen above, the other side is rather shabby because of the shop alterations and enlargement in the 19th century. I didn’t have the time to see the bridge from the other side… but it might be a good idea just to see the beauty side of it.

River of Avon, Bath

Kennet and Avon Canal

The Kennet and Avon Canal was built in 1794-1810 to connect River Avon and River Kennet (which connects to River Thames); the canal runs from Bristol (passes by Bath) to Reading with series of locks and weirs to allow the boats to navigate through the valley.

The canal only enjoyed a few decades of glory as the railway gradually took over as the main transportation method in mid 1800s. The canal was hardly used in early 20th century and was eventually closed in 1950s.

The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust was formed in 1960s to restore the canal; and the canal finally reopened in 1990 by Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, Avon and Kennet Canal is a popular heritage tourism destination and played a great part in wildlife conservation.

I grabbed a sandwich and found a bench just outside of the Bath Abbey’s West Front. They were some street performers playing musical instruments and doing some tricks at the small square; and a group of Japanese girls were there to show a short Japanese traditional dance too.

The West Front of Bath Abbey

Bath Abbey was built in the 12th century, with a few major restorations during its 800+ years of history to what we are seeing now. Bath Abbey is the greatest Gothic church in England, and probably one of the most amazing Gothic architectures in Europe as well.

The Bath Abbey is opened for public for visit or prayers; the entrance is free but donations are certainly welcome.

The Great Bath of Roman Baths

The Roman Baths complex is now developed into a museum; an audio-guide was provided (with multiple languages to choose from) with a nominal entrance fees.

Inside the museum were mostly ruins from its original Roman site. The most famous spot within the Roman Baths is perhaps the green pool of The Great Bath. The pool is green because of the algae that grow in it; the spring water itself is just like water.

Mind that the water is not safe to touch or drink because it’s infested with bacteria.

People can drink the spring water at the classy 300-year-old Pump Room Restaurant instead. In fact I was thinking of having lunch there (the price was decent by UK standard) but gave up due to time constraint.

The Great Bath; ruins of the Hippocamp mosaic (bottom left); aqueduct for spring overflow (bottom right) – the stones are reddish because of the minerals from the spring water.

Roman Baths History

The first settlers at the hot spring were the Celts, who built a shrine dedicated to the goddess Sulis. The area was named Aquae Sulis by the Romans during their occupation of Britain (43AD – 410AD).

The Romans then developed the Roman Baths complex, with numerous huge and small bath tubs, Roman temples and courtyard; at its prime it’s said that the complex could fit in 3000 people in all the bath tubs.

The complex was not properly maintained after the Romans left and many structures were fallen apart. The Roman complex was redeveloped again in 18th century, including some of the current structures.

Our guide drove us around the city to see some places like the Royal Crescent and The Circus.

Most buildings in the city were built of limestone, which were originally yellowish (some said golden); but lots of the buildings looked dark and brownish because of the age and pollution.

The city was undergoing a massive restoration and cleaning during my visit in order to return the city to its yellowish appearance. Lots of roads were blocked because of this, and the traffic was pretty horrendous.

The Royal Crescent, a row of building that was built in an arch (crescent) shape. You can see from the pic that some parts of the building had been cleaned and looked more yellowish (the rest were darker)

Brief History of Bath

Bath is famous for its Roman baths which was built by the Romans during their occupation of Britain (43AD – 410AD).

Bath re-achieved its glory in the 17th century after Thomas Guidott published his work about the curative properties of the hot spring waters, which caught the attention of the country and the royals.

In the 18th and 19th century during the Georgian times, Bath was a resort city for the royals and the wealthy. Lots of the current Bath’s architecture was built during that period.

The wooden door of the entrance was pretty heavy; I got into the church and I was the only person around. The church was so quiet and peaceful, I felt like I could spend hours just sitting in the church even though I am not a Christian.

Photo of the St Cyriac’s Church

History of St Cyriac’s Church

The Church of St Cyriac was built in late 11th century by Edward of Salisbury (Lacock) and William of Eu (Lackham).

Only a few fragments of the church survive; the structure today was mainly constructed in around 1450 as the church was rebuilt thanks to prosperity of the wool and cloth trade during that era.

Parts of the church was built or rebuilt over hundreds of years to become the St Cyriac’s Church it is today. [reference]

Red Lion Pub (top left); street, buildings and houses in Lacock village

The driver first brought us to have a glance of Lacock Abbey, which was used for some filming of Harry Potter movies. I wonder why we were the only group of tourist there; the abbey should be flocked with Harry Potter’s fans if it was really used for the filming… perhaps it was still early. We then dropped by the village for an hour break…

The village itself is quite a beauty; with its old and nicely decorated buildings. The abbey and the village are mostly owned by the National Trust, which works to preserve and protect the coastline, countryside and buildings of UK.

In order to preserve the ‘originality’ of Lacock, TV aerials and overhead cables are not allowed in the village. Life should be ‘pretty interesting’ in Lacock, I guess.

Another attraction of Lacock is the Fox Talbot Museum that commemorates the life and work of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), former resident of Lacock Abbey, and one of the pioneers of modern photography. The museum wasn’t opened when I visited there, too early.

The driver stopped midway on the journey, and pointed us to a large horse-like figure, on a hill slope distance away.

Honestly I was blurred about what he said (something about chalk), as I never read or heard anything about that prior to seeing it. I only learnt later when I surfed online, that the ‘horse’ is Cherhill White Horse, or Oldbury White Horse.

Cherhill White Horse and Lansdowne Monument

Cherhill White Horse is one of the famous chalk figures that have been carved into hillsides in England; also known as hill figures.

The figures are usually created by clearing the grass and soil on the hillside, and exposed the bedrock which is normally white chalk, a form of limestone.

There are vary reasons for carving the figures; most of the white horses are believed to be carved as a symbol of good luck.

The age of the figures varied too, from as old as Bronze Age to as recent as the past century. The Cherhill White Horse that I was seeing was created in 1780.

The figures need to be maintained to stay visible; a major restoration was carried out on Cherhill White Horse in August 2002, involving re-cutting the outline of the horse, fixing shuttering to hold the chalk in place, and resurfacing the horse with 160 tonnes of fresh chalk. [reference]

Lansdowne Monument

Nearby the Cherhill White Horse is an obelisk, the Lansdowne Monument, which was erected in 1845 by the Third Marquis of Lansdowne to commemorate his ancestor, Sir William Petty. It’s said that the obelisk is the highest point between London and Bristol, interesting ain’t so? [reference]

It was getting dark, time to end my London foot tour. I boarded on the Underground with one last thing in mind… I dropped by the station near Big Ben to have a glimpse of the night view of the clock tower and House of Parliament before heading back to Chiswick.

Big Ben and House of Parliament at night

I have wonderful memories of the night view of Big Ben and House of Parliament during my visit in 2002… it didn’t disappoint me this time again. The buildings were splendid at night, a recommended visit for all.

Shopping at Sainsbury

My sister lived in a convenient location; supermarkets like Mark & Spencer, Sainsbury and Tesco were all nearby. Later at night my sister brought me for some grocery shopping at Sainsbury which doesn’t have any outlets in Malaysia. We bought lots of ‘fast food’ like ham, sausage, cheese and fruit juice.

Photo of 30 St Mary Axe

It seems that London is crazed to build modernized buildings since the 90s; and the Gherkin is probably the defining masterpiece.

The building was designed by Lord Foster and team of engineers and was constructed in 2001-2004 to replace the old Baltic Exchange building which was severely damaged by an IRA bomb in 1992.

Its official name is 30 St Mary Axe, which is obviously its address. The nickname Gherkin is referring to its shape; some press actually called it the erotic gherkin when the project was first announced. Swiss Re was the first owner of the tower, and still the largest occupant of the building.

Despite the curved shape, the building only uses one piece of curved glass in 30 St Mary Axe – the lens on top of the building. However, the building won multiple architecture awards not just because of its structure, but also for its energy saving and other features. [Facts]

The Gherkin claimed to have the tallest restaurant in London (at its top – 40th floor) but it is only opened for tenants and guest. I guess I should start networking with some London businessmen in order to get to the top of 30 St Mary Axe next time.

A glimpse of the Tower of London

Note that the Tower of London is not really a tower; it’s more like a complex instead. It was first built as a fortress by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was named White Tower back then (some people still calling it this way).

The main attraction of the Tower of London is probably the Crown Jewels which have been kept in the tower since 1303; but the most interesting tale of the tower is perhaps the Tower Ravens…

According to legend, if the ravens left the tower, the White Tower would fall and a great disaster befall the Kingdom. Till these days, at least 6 ravens are kept within the tower compound at all time. [Reference]

Tower of London was also used at a prison for royals, nobles and religious dissidents in the past history. The tower is often referred as one of the most haunted places in London because of the large number of prisoners executed here.

Photo of the London Bridge

London Bridge does have a long history of glamour and tragic though; the first bridge across the Thames in London area was built by the Romans on the present site around 52 AD and was made of wood.

The original timber bridge was replaced with new timber bridge for probably a few times before a stone bridge was finally built in the 12th century. The construction of the bridge started in 1176, and completed with the gates, chapel, shops and houses in 1209.

The stone bridge stood for over 600 years despite facing structural damage numerous times; the bridge was finally replaced by another London Bridge in 1831. This ‘new’ London Bridge however didn’t last as long as the previous one, as structural problem again arouse since early 1900s.

The bridge was dismantled and replaced section-by-section with a new concrete structure since 1967; the dismantled parts were sold to the McCulloch Oil Corporation and transported to Arizona to be rebuilt at Lake Havasu City. [Reference]

The current London Bridge was opened in 1973, and thankfully it’s not falling down.

London Bridge is Falling Down

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down;
London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady…

One of the most well-known nursery rhyme in the world; the song is referring to the incident in 1270s when Queen Eleanor (the ‘fair lady’) was appointed to repair the collapsing London Bridge. Queen Eleanor misused the funds, which led to a major collapse in 1281.

Tower Bridge was opened since 1894 after 8 years of construction; it got its name from the nearby Tower of London.

Photo of the Tower Bridge

It was around 5pm when I reached the bridge. The sky was getting dark sooner than I expected, and the temperature dropped dramatically as well.

I was glad to find a cafe just between the bridge and the Tower of London. I bought a half-priced sandwich (it was expiring on that day, they sold it cheap; common practice in London) and a cup of hot coffee… and found a seat with a nice view of the Tower Bridge.

To my amaze… while I was indulging my sandwich, the bridge opened to allow a cruise to pass by. It was my 3rd visit to the bridge (twice in 2001), but the 1st time I saw the actual event. The crowd nearby was obviously excited as well, waving to the cruise’s passengers; and getting similar gesture from people on board.

The bridge doesn’t open often in normal days, but it opened for a few more times before I left… my lucky day perhaps.

The bridge opened… allowing a cruise to pass through

Good thing about travelling by foot is that we might stumble across some interesting places that are not famous tourist spots…

Somewhere along River Thames; a small but beautiful park, and an elegant building; sort of like a college or library… not really sure about the name and purpose of the building though

The white building is the Horse Guards; the red building is the Old Admiralty Building;
while the ground covered with pebbles is the Horse Guards Parade, which is set to host
the beach volleyball competition of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

I wanted to visit this building after seeing its unique architecture across the lake from St James’s Park… but somehow my poor sense of directions had let me to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and National Gallery before finding the Horse Guards, which is actually just beside the St James’s Park.

The architecture is not the real sensation though; the most vivid memory I have at the Horse Guards is actually the unpleasant smell from the horse stables (dungs I assumed)… I never thought that horses could stink that much.