sunrise at Stonehenge

to humans, it's a mystical monument. to birds, it's just another place to perch.

STONEHENGE

What is it for?

What does it mean?

Who made it? And how??

Who knows! But it is certainly an impressive site. And one that now holds a special memory for me and my partner.

Ben had a long weekend recently, and we decided to use one of those days to checkout the 'henge. We woke up at 0300 so we could leave at 0400 and arrive by sunrise at 0700. I had thought for a while that Stonehenge was in Scotland? for some reason? so I was surprised to learn that it's in southern England - actually closer to France than any other part of the UK! It's by a little town called Amesbury, not far from Salisbury (of steak fame).

All that to say, it was a cool three-hour early morning road trip where we watched the moon set on the drive, and then caught the sunrise at Stonehenge. The heritage center opens at 9:30, but there's a trail just off the road where you can see the stone structure fairly decently from the distance. There were a few people set up in campers and others just in cars watching the sunrise as well. A few photographers with nice cameras, and even someone with a drone.

I had never got up so early to watch the sunrise before. Sure, I've been up before sunrise, and driven to work as the sun rose but have never intentionally payed attention to it. It was so lovely! And extra special to see the sun's first rays of the day streaming through the mystifying ancient stones.

Oh, and, a life update: I got OFFICIALLY ENGAGED! Earlier this year, when I planned to move to England with Ben, it was with the mutual intention that we would get married later this year. So, while you could say we've been ~emotionally engaged~ for a few months now, the shiny ring is what makes it official, right? And he still surprised me by presenting me with the ring that day!

So yeah, the day started off early and amazing. After watching the sunrise (and acquiring new bling), we went into the town of Amesbury to find breakfast. The first cafe we found that was open was called Friar Tuck's Café, and it was fantastic. We got some savory breakfast pastries; they were croissant-like flaky dough, filled with chicken & mushroom (mine), and cheese & onion (Ben's). I would describe mine as chicken pot pie without the vegetables (so, the ideal chicken pot pie). Plus of course we got coffee, and I couldn't resist getting the spooky cupcakes, too.

tap or click on this collage to see my tumblr blog of UK/European food reviews! Plus, some home-cooking makes its way on there occassionally.

The heritage center opened at 0930, so we went back and got tickets for a closer look at Stonehenge. Based on the view we had from the path off the road earlier in the morning, I was initially underwhelmed by it's size. But close up, obviously the size of the structure is more impressive. The off-road path must have been further from it than I realized!

Travel Tip

Traffic quickly backed up once it got closer to 10am, so I am very glad we went so early and got in right at opening time. If you go to Stonehenge, I would highly recommend going first thing in efforts to beat the traffic. See the sunrise even, if you're an early riser!

Do I recommend seeing Stonehenge? The random structure of big rocks?

I do. It's an impressive, beautiful site, surrounded by a peaceful landscape made up of sheep farms and burial mounds. That said, once you've taken in the scenery, there's not much else to do. So, I recommend it be part of a trip if you're already going to this part of England, but probably not as the main attraction.

Side note, and mostly and FYI to any family or friends that may visit me here eventually, but next time I (take you to) visit Stonehenge, I'd love to spend more time in Amesbury, and see what's in Salisbury as well. The café we had breakfast at in town was lovely, and there were good shops too that opened later. If we hadn't been so tired from getting up to go in the middle of the night, I would have liked to spend the rest of the day there to check out other historical sites in the nearby town.

Left: mid-morning light, as we were about halfway down the spiral path around Stonehenge. Right: zoomed in from across the field at sunrise.

And that was my morning at Stonehenge! Share a happy memory you have from sightseeing (monument, landmark, historical site, etc.) in the comments.

take care of yourself<3

~heather

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