Las primeras dos fotos son de la campiña inglesa, que saqué en el camino. Algo que me sorprendió desde el principio es lo parecido que es el paisaje al uruguayo, especialmente el paisaje que se ve yendo por la Interbalnearia hacia Punta del Este. Cerca de Nottingham ya es bastante parecido, pero cuanto más al Sur íbamos, más igual yo lo veía.
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Saturday the 27th was a long and busy day. We visited Stonehenge and Bath, both truly fascinating places which are also quite far away from Nottingham, almost 180 miles. Well, that's not so far, I know, but with the great organization skills of the Travel Society, we left 45 minutes late and then we again stopped for 45 minutes at a service area (I still don't get why they assume it's going to take us 45 mins to pee), so it took us hours and hours to arrive.
The first two photos are of the English countryside, taken on the way. Something that surprised me from the first day was how similar it looks to the Uruguayan one, especially the views you see travelling from Montevideo to Punta del Este. Near Nottingham it's similar enough, but the more to the South we travelled, the more identical I saw it.
Stonehenge me sorprendió. No diría que fue una decepción, pero es mucho más chico de lo que me imaginaba. O sea, las piedras son altas, y todo, pero el círculo en sí es chiquitito. Para nada lo imponente e impresionante que esperaba. Quizás parte de eso es porque uno ya no puede entrar y caminar en el círculo, tocar las piedras, etc. Está cercado, y a una distancia bastante grande, así que lo único que se puede hacer es caminar alrededor del alambrado y mirar (y sacar fotos). Muy interesante de ver y el material del audio tour agregaba un montón, pero ta.
Stonehenge surprised me. I wouldn't say it was a disappointment, but it was much smaller than I had imagined. That is, the stones are tall, and all, but the circle itself is quite small. Not near as imposing and impressive as I had expected. Maybe that's partly because one can no longer walk inside the circle, touching the stones, and so on. It's fenced now, and the fence is pretty far from it, so all you can do is walk around and look at it from a distance (and take pictures, of course). Very interesting to see, and the material of the audio tour really added to that, but I was slightly underwhelmed.
Caminando desde el estacionamiento
Walking there from the parking area.
Varias vistas:
Ven lo que digo? En algunas vistas se ve más grande, pero ahí atrás mío está el círculo entero.
See what I mean? It looks larger from other angles, but there behind me is the whole circle.
Estaba empezando a lloviznar...
It was starting to drizzle.
Y además hacía mucho frío.
And it was also quite cold...
Los numeritos como ese 4 que se ve ahí marcan dónde parar y escuchar la parte correspondiente del audio tour. Como dije, muy buena, explicando cada detalle de la construcción y las diferentes teorías acerca de los propósitos del círculo.
The little numbers like that 4 you can see there mark where to stop and listen to the corresponding section of the audio tour. As I said, really good, explaining every detail of the construction and the different theories about the circle's original purposes.
La piedra de arriba es la Heel Stone, la "piedra talón", y está bastante alejada del círculo (incluso el camino que va alrededor pasa entre los dos). Según mi guía, su sombra entra por diferentes arcos del círculo (visto desde el ángulo de la segunda foto) según el mes que sea.
The stone on the first picture is the Heel Stone, and it's set relatively far from the circle (in fact, the path goes between the two). According to my audio guide, its shadow will fall through a different arch depending on the month.
Y finalmente, estas dos fotos son del camino de Stonehenge a Bath, sacadas desde un acueducto de donde había unas vistas espectaculares. Y por suerte era así, porque el tránsito estaba pesadísimo y tuvimos bastante rato para admirarlas!
And finally, these photos are of the road from Stonehenge to Bath, taken from an aqueduct from which you could see some spectacular views. And fortunately it was so, because the traffic was awful, so we had quite a bit of time to admire them!
