The long-promised Avebury Henge post

A few posts back I mentioned skipping Stonehenge (except for taking pics outside the fence) and visiting the Avebury henges (check out the wiki) and then promised photos.  I'm betting y'all are thinking I forgot, eh?  Nope, just have to be in the mood for blogging pics because it is so time intensive.

A few miles outside Avebury you start noticing stones.......surrounded by cows!!!

Yes, I was totally geeking out when I started spying them, totally amazed me how extensive this is and can't imagine the scope of work it took to re-create after people and nature took their toll.

Since there's no entry fee, I highly recommend a stop at The Henge Shop for souvenirs, I ended up spending far more because I didn't feel extorted, lol.  Oh, apparently there's a National Trust official shop there too. 

There's my gate thing again 

 Doesn't look too terribly steep

Might wanna reconsider that previous thought

 Stones, near and far

Is that not just gorgeous?  

 

Sheep grazing=sheep piles, yep I stepped in one

Yes, there are people who come here to worship with whatever their particular beliefs may be

Didn't realize it at the time but there was another path that you could follow around this section of stones, I missed out on quite a few more

Again my photography "skills" in no way captured the scope and "feel" here but if you visit the UK I do urge you to make this one of your stops.  I love the ability to get out and move amongst the stones, even being able to touch them without someone glaring at you and saying "No, that is not allowed!".  Just be prepared to do some walking to fully experience it :-)

Old but not rusty

Other than the castles, the Union Jack, and red telephone boxes (note, this is excluding all the London landmarks), Stonehenge is probably what most tourists put on their list of iconic UK images and places to visit so of course I had to go.......bit of a letdown actually, overcrowded and you couldn't exactly get close not without a park warden getting all cranky about it.

*I fought the law*

This lady however, blatantly flaunted the rules, stepped over the cable, and got up close and personal with the stones all the while wearing a grin that said "I traveled here, paid my money, and by gosh I'm gonna get my picture taken next to Stonehenge". I'm kinda impressed with her ballsiness.

Me, I obeyed the rules and followed the crowds.  Since there were a couple of other sites to see that day I bypassed the audio tour headphones (ickiness factor might have contributed to that) and did a quick walkaround snapping pics.

Follow the leader, lemming style

Shoulda saved my money and took pics from out there

While I am glad I  took the time to visit Stonehenge, I was slightly disappointed and I really can't put my finger on why except that it was so *touristy*.  Perhaps if I would've done the audio tour bit I might've felt a little less letdown?  A stop later in the day to the Avebury henges more than made up for my ennui about Stonehenge but that's gonna be a separate post due to me being on my wireless card in a slow-arsed edge network while writing this.  I have a ton of photos from there and want to post most of them and this connection is soooo not conducive to that.

See, I really was there!