Avebury, Stonehenge and Glastonbury Oh My!

Ok, so it doesn't exactly fit, but deal with it.

We began the day by hopping on the Vespa around 10am, heading for Avery, or at least that's where I thought we were going. I swear that was what Sam had said. Then I saw signs for this place called Avebury. Then I realized I misheard him, but for the rest of the time there, couldn't wrap my mind around it being called Avebury. I mean, think that something is called Avery for a minute...go on try it...say it outloud. Then say Avebury. It sounds like you have a weird stutter or something. Anyways, so AveBURY, is an ancient religious or spiritual site. Similar to Stonehenge, its simply stones, however, instead of being a small circle or two, its a series of concentric circles of stones carried from Wales, hundreds of miles away. Yet, without an explanation, we really have no idea what its all about. Sam and I postulated quite a bit, but otherwise, got to go right up to the stones, layed around a bit, and then pushed on.

Next, was Stonehenge, about 45 minutes away. It was £12 to get in, yet there was a metal gate between me and the stones, so I decided to use it to my advantage, play with the focus on my camera and get some pretty cool pictures. Check out my shutterfly for more!! Within an hour or so of this site there are so many others like it, including Avebury, crop circles, and burial sites, yet after that, according to Sam, there isn't much. What is it about this area that has so many ancient relics? Does it mean that this is the only major site of ancient peoples, or merely, the environmental, and cultural conditions has allowed it to survive?

Finally, we went to Glastonbury. Glastonbury, is known for a few things. First, it was said to have been found by Jesus's Uncle, who took young Jesus there in 53A.D. Crusaders of the holy grail have not fully crossed this site off its list, of where the present location of the holy grail is. It's also known to be the burial site of King Arthur and Queen Gueneviere. Apparently, there was a fire at the Glastonbury Abbey, in the 1100's, and pilgrims(people coming to see religious sites) stopped coming. So it seems that the monks, mysteriously found the bones of these ancient and most likely fabled characters, to bring more revenue to the abbey, and finance the rebuilding. Obviously, either story is shaky, both the Jesus one and the King Arthur one, but it doesn't stop the town from having a mystic feeling. It's defiantely a hippie town, like Ithaca, or even Berkeley, and is currently known for its annual Glastonbury festival, which I just missed it looks like. Oh and it even connects to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, because when Henry split from Rome, to marry Anne, he insisted that all the abbey's answer to him instead of the pope. Unfortunately, the abbot at the time, decided not to follow Henry's decree and found himself hung on the Tor.

So essentially, we went to the abbey, checked out the ruins for a while and then checked out the Glastonbury Tor. The Glastonbury Tor, is a mountain, essentially, that has been used as religious/spiritual site since the fourth century A.D., (although sources say it goes back to 10, 000B.C., but there is no archaelogical record to confirm that). In the 15th century, St. Michael built a small church on the hill, and it has been attracting visitors, much longer then the supposed relics the abbey had. So we walked up like a kabillion stairs built into the mountian to see the church, and the panaramic views.

Then we hopped back on the Vespa, headed home, and ate some pizza. Exploring rural England via Vespa was awesome(minus squished ear, and twisted knees). Instead of falling asleep in the car, bus or train as I go, I of course had to be alert on the back of the Vespa, forcing me to enjoy the countryside. The wind was in my hair, and the feeling of nature all around was amazing.

Up tomorrow, the Roman Baths!!