UK - first day January 19th 2008

We finally landed in the UK earlier this morning and are taking the country by storm so to speak. We have a long weekend to get in as much as possible - typical American. It has been cold and rainy, but I finally got to wear my Roxy hat from Oregon :). After trying to upsell us at the Hertz counter to a 6000 Audi, we opted to stick with the Ford Escort to save money. I had visions of riding with 007...but he made it up by surprising me with Rick Springfield tickets for March! I love this man!!! I've wanted to see Rick Springfield in concert since high school. We survived the day driving on the left and arrived in South Hampton at about 12 noon local time. The Hilton is a small boutique which is quite charming and quiet! We drove out to Stonehenge and all I can say is wow! It was absolutely breathtaking coming over the crest of the hill and seeing it literally in a huge field with nothing around but burrows (burial mounds) and sheep galore. I am so amazed at what this world has to offer us in terms of history. Pictures don't do it justice. The sheer magnitude of the stones is captivating. One wonders what purpose they actually served. We then took a small jaunt down a very hilly countryroad to the town of Salisbury - home of Salisbury Cathedral and one of four original copies of the Magna Carta. Seeing the actual document in Latin left me speechless. I was truly overwhelmed by the amount of history involved and what revolutions in human nature that it spurred. So ok, today was our history day. It was a whirlwind, but we did spend some time walking around the town square and made a stop at Whittards for 2 canisters of hot chocolate. Justine has depleted my current stock! We opted for room service and watching BBC game shows. So, that was our first day here. Looking forward to tommorrow.