Michele booked a tour out to Hampton Court Palace and Stonehenge. Our driver picked us up in the morning and we were with him for twelve hours! This was perhaps my favorite tour of the trip. Our guide had endless knowledge of English history, especially royal history. It was fun to confirm all the facts I had learned from silly television shows. He was a previous Stonehenge employee with all the inside knowledge and connections.
Our first stop was Hampton Palace Court. We were hungry when we arrived so we had a quick lunch. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather!!
My cupcake was delicious!
The playground was fit for royalty!
The original Hampton Court Palace was built in the 16th century by Henry VIII's Cardinal, Wolsey (I don't like him from the show - The Spanish Princess). Henry and all six of his wives stayed here at some point. Subsequent kings, queens and aristocrats lived here.
There was an entire room for making chocolate!
This was designed to remove poop from the water!
We stopped at a pub on the way to Stonehenge. It was delicious!
Stonehenge was amazing. No one is sure why Stonehenge was built. It is thought to commemorate the dead and is aligned with the movements of the sun and moon. It was built in several phases around 5000 and 4200 years ago. There is evidence that a particular stone, the Altar Stone, is actually from north east Scotland meaning that it traveled at least 430 miles! There are many theories about Stonehenge that were fun to learn about.
Visitors during the day cannot go into the circle of stones and can only observe from afar. Because we were on a night experience, we were able to go inside the stone area. Further, we had a private tour and were able to spend over forty-five minutes exploring with Johnny.
Celtic handfasting is a marriage ceremony performed in front of these stones.
The birds were fond of our guide.
We learned so much!
Harper and Ethan were also able to feed this particular bird.
This bird, Gertrude, also had a funny story and history. She prefers to live here at Stonehenge with the employees instead of her flock.
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