By Any Other Name

After we picked up Snake from the SAT test the other day, we drove to Stonehenge. You can see it right from the freeway, it is pretty strange. Although the rest in my family were less impressed, I thought it was pretty spectacular. They all thought it would be bigger. I guess I was impressed with the idea that here was this world recognized monument and I was seeing it for myself. Then when you listen to the audio tour and realize how difficult it must have been to get these stones in place, I think you respect it even more. A common misconception is that the stones were put in place by the Druids. They know from carbon dating that this was in place long before the Druids were in the UK, more than 5000 years ago. That there are any parts of a 5000 year old structure still standing is pretty amazing to me. A few years back, they put ropes up so you can't get too close to the stones anymore. Probably a good idea.

After Stonghenge, we drove towards Bath. Bath is a very popular destination and because of that, you can't get a hotel room for only one night. The dreaded two-night minimum reared its ugly head at us. I didn't know where to stay so I pulled out my trusty map and picked a town that sounded alright and best of all it had a Best Western! Not that I particularly like Best Western Motels but I knew what that would be like and with teenagers sometimes life throws you enough surprises, you need to know what your hotel rooms are going to look like. Where did we stay? Well, we stayed at Bradford on Avon. Now wait a minute, doesn't that sound suspiciously like another well known town in England where a certain famous playwright is from? Yes, yes it does. But it isn't. And actually it was pretty darn cute. The Avon river runs right through the town. Avon is pronounced like haven without the h. I always thought it was pronounced like the "Avon lady" that sold you makeup. Live and learn. Almost every building in town is made of stone, so it gives a really medieval look to the town. And the Best Western was the best of all. Our Best Western was in a refurbished mansion that was a gift to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in the late 1500s by Queen Elizabeth I. He was sort of her boy-toy and she gave him all kinds of things including this house and lands. They also claim that she visited him there. Although the building has been remodeled several times, there is still a bit of charm to it. The doorways are completely unlevel, and short. Apparently no one at that time was more than 6 ft. tall because the doorways were barely that tall. I find it pretty charming to stay in something as mundane as a Best Western motel and find it has some kind of historical significance.

So the next day, off to Bath which is famous for its, uh, Roman Baths. Again pretty fascinating stuff. The Baths were built sometime around 43 AD on Britain's only natural hot spring. The water temperature is about 115 F. The Romans didn't understand how a spring works or really what a spring was so they attributed anything unexplainable to the gods. They built a bath house and dedicated it to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a goddess believed to have healing powers. Over the years in excavation, they have found many interesting things in the spring. Apparently it was customary to throw money and other objects as offerings to the goddess in the water. That still happens today. At one of the cold baths they have set up, tourists still throw things,mostly money, in the water. Kiki was excited to see a 100 Japanese yen bill in the water until I pointed out to her that was roughly 80 cents. As you might be able to tell in the picture, besides money people also threw trash. Sigh.


The ancient Romans also asked the goddess for help with things. Historians found messages inscribed onto sheets of lead and pewter that were apparently thrown into the spring. Sometimes the messages were for wishes for good health of a loved one or some other sentiment. The ones I found the most interesting were the curses people asked the godess to enact for a particular grievance someone had committed. The curses were pretty harsh for some pretty petty stuff, basically "please gouge out the eyes of the person who stole my sandals at the bath the other day" or "a painful death to the person who took my ox" that kind of thing. Although come to think of it, I could come up with a curse to the offering. "Please break the legs of the person who stole Kiki's soccer sweats from the pool lockerroom the other day". Hmmmm. Maybe next time I go to the Baths, I will drop in a little curse or two of my own. Be afraid, be very afraid.