On Tuesday, Oct. 27th, we drove to Bath for the day. It's a lovely city, and most of the buildings are made of the same type of stone, so everything in the old area looks similar. We went to the Bath Abbey first, and looked around, and then did the Tower Tour. Dave and I both felt a good spirit in this abbey. It felt different than the other abbeys and cathedrals that we've been to. On a pamphlet that they hand out to visitors, there's a very nice summary of the life of Jesus Christ, which we enjoyed and appreciated reading while we waited for our tour to begin.

Notice the ceiling. We saw the top side of it on the Tower Tour.

And the tower tour was great, including the bells and clock, and as they showed us how the bells ring, the guide asked if anybody wanted to pull the cord on one. Josh grabbed the rope she extended to him, but looked at her to be sure, and sure enough she just said "go on." and he pulled it and rang a bell that was heard throughout the city!

The contraption that rings the bells now, in modern days.

The old way to ring the bells - the ropes.

Another way to ring the bells, which made it possible for 1 person to do it instead 8 of people using the long ropes.

Between the ceiling and the roof.

Behind the clock face. Someone used to sit here for a 12 hour shift with a gas lamp to light the clock, before the invention of light bulbs.

 Funny story: as we were leaving this little room, I looked and there was a really big spider right behind Janae! I did a little warning yell and Janae freaked out! :) Haha.

What it looks like on top of the ceiling. Refer to picture above, of the ceiling from the floor in the main area.

A couple of the bells. Bummer that we didn't get a picture of the big one, which fell out of it's frame years ago while people were in a service. They thought the church was falling down and ran outside!

Views from the top of the tower of Bath Abbey. 

In the lovely city of Bath.

Entrance to the Roman Baths

The famous Pulteney Bridge. There are little shops and restaurants along each side of it. We got lunch from one of them. It was tiny, so they charged about 1/3 more for the food if you wanted to eat inside the cafe!

The Pulteney Bridge and it's drainage system.

 The Roman Baths! So cool.

A stone that was found which helped them date these Roman Baths.

Different pieces that were found.

With a projection of how it probably looked before it was ruined.

The altar in the temple, with modern pieces fit in to show the original composition.

This is the original piece that was found by some road workers, I believe, in the 1800's, which led to the discovery of the Roman Baths!

Photo bombing! :)

One of the original drains

Fam pic at the Roman Baths

Drinking the mineral water, which is very good for you. BEFORE....

.... AFTER. YUCKY.

 Really cool Christmas store!

We went to Dave and Sarah Bowman's for dinner on Tuesday. They were the couple that invited us over for dinner when we met them at church in Oxford on Sunday. They had prepared a yummy meal of fajitas. They are a darling family. They have 3 little kids, who Josh and Janae had a great time playing with. :) Their dad, Dave, does online marketing, too, so Dave and him had plenty to talk about! I enjoyed talking with Sarah and getting to know her. It was really a nice evening. I've hooked up with Sarah on Facebook now. :)

We started our day with a drive to Jane Austen's house in Chawton on Monday, Oct. 26th. Jane Austen's brother, Edward, was adopted by a relative of their father and became very wealthy. After the death of Jane's father, Edward gave Chawton House to his mother, Jane, and Jane's sister, to live in as long as they wanted to, free of charge. Jane  only lived here 8 years before she died young of an illness.

Janae, Tyler, Michelle, Joshua

In the kitchen of the house, trying to write with feather pens and ink.

And of course we dressed up! :) Dave didn't want to. :(

Tyler, playing the piano. Jane Austen played the pianoforte every morning.

Costumes from the BBC film "Emma", of Jane Austen's book.

A replica of the bed that Jane and her sister would have slept on.

One of Jane's writing desks.

I really enjoyed going through Jane Austen's home and reading about her life.  It was touching.

Our next stop was the famous Stonehenge! We first went in the museum and read and looked at displays about it and what people have found in the surrounding area. 

As remembered by Dave, and posted on Facebook:

Factoids about Stonehenge:
-Built between 2400-2200 BC
-Each stone was brought from far away, the largest were transported 150 miles, by boat, then over land.
-Some of the stones weigh 25 tons.
-There was a small inner ring of stones inside the main circle, and below each has been discovered the remains of a body. So it appears it was a burial place for people of great importance to the ancient Celts, maybe their kings or priests.
-There are hundreds of other burial mounds within a few miles of Stonehenge
-Before the stones, burial sites were created there that date to 3000 BC. So the site was a special burial place well before the stones were erected.

The mounds in the distance are burial downs.

Janae, Michelle, Joshua, Dave, Tyler
So cool that we got to be here together!

It was cold and windy!

Dave and Michelle, the dad & mom at Stonehenge. 

Huts that are probably like ones that the ancient people here lived in. Reconstructed after studying artifacts and such.

We didn't take any pictures last Sunday, Oct. 25th. We attended church in Oxford. It was a little tricky to find. As we went in the church, an elderly sister missionary greeted us. She asked where we were from, and when we answered Utah, she asked, "what part", of course. We said Lindon, and she said that she and her husband are from Lindon, too! They are from the Central Stake, serving a 2 year mission in the Oxford area! It was fun to connect with her. The ward was very welcoming and sweet. Janae was the only YW there! There were about 10 ladies in RS. A cute family introduced themselves to us after Sacrament Meeting and told us that they're from Bountiful, UT! They went to Oxford 11 years ago for Dave, the dad, to go to school at Oxford for his graduate degree, and then they decided to stay! They invited us over for dinner the following Tuesday! That was so nice of them!