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kmusserIt’s the autumn equinox, not exactly a coincidence that we’ve chosen today to visit Stonehenge and Avebury.
We choose Devizes to stay in because its halfway between the two monuments. We do Stonehenge first. I came here during my first trip to England, back in ‘92. While the stones themselves haven’t changed any the site has, including a rather nice audio tour that includes some of the recent archeology done here. Mostly though I enjoy seeing Michele here, she missed seeing them on her previous trip to England and I think feared never having the chance to come back. We are also sharing the site with a zillion other tourists, but really once past the initial crush getting out of the parking lot it’s not too bad, I think the path circling the monument encourages folks to spread out. I am glad we came at it from the north though - the traffic in the other directions looks horrible.
Avebury is what I’m really looking forward to, another of my favorite places - and we’re meeting up with some friends here. We’re in for a surprise, last time I was here there were maybe 4 other cars . . . but that wasn’t on the equinox. The lot is completely full, I’m lucky to grab a spot as someone else is leaving. The hordes here aren’t tourists, but Pagans come to celebrate. We’re able to find our friends at the pub despite the crowds, and wow do we look normal compared to the folks all decked out, we’re like stealth Pagans. We have a lovely lunch (with tasty cheese) and then go for a walk among the stones. For those that haven’t been here, Avebury is a huge circle (check out the aerial view) with a small village in the middle. Walking about it seemed like each field had it’s own circle of folks celebrating and there was drumming in the air. The energy of Avebury is powerful at any time, but filled with earth loving folks honoring that - it was amazing. Also neat was just seeing Pagan folks treating a holiday, well, like a holiday.
After saying farewell to our friends and the sheep, and fellow revelers it’s back to Devizes. We have a lovely dinner at an Italian hole in the wall. Overall a most excellent day.
We choose Devizes to stay in because its halfway between the two monuments. We do Stonehenge first. I came here during my first trip to England, back in ‘92. While the stones themselves haven’t changed any the site has, including a rather nice audio tour that includes some of the recent archeology done here. Mostly though I enjoy seeing Michele here, she missed seeing them on her previous trip to England and I think feared never having the chance to come back. We are also sharing the site with a zillion other tourists, but really once past the initial crush getting out of the parking lot it’s not too bad, I think the path circling the monument encourages folks to spread out. I am glad we came at it from the north though - the traffic in the other directions looks horrible.
Avebury is what I’m really looking forward to, another of my favorite places - and we’re meeting up with some friends here. We’re in for a surprise, last time I was here there were maybe 4 other cars . . . but that wasn’t on the equinox. The lot is completely full, I’m lucky to grab a spot as someone else is leaving. The hordes here aren’t tourists, but Pagans come to celebrate. We’re able to find our friends at the pub despite the crowds, and wow do we look normal compared to the folks all decked out, we’re like stealth Pagans. We have a lovely lunch (with tasty cheese) and then go for a walk among the stones. For those that haven’t been here, Avebury is a huge circle (check out the aerial view) with a small village in the middle. Walking about it seemed like each field had it’s own circle of folks celebrating and there was drumming in the air. The energy of Avebury is powerful at any time, but filled with earth loving folks honoring that - it was amazing. Also neat was just seeing Pagan folks treating a holiday, well, like a holiday.
After saying farewell to our friends and the sheep, and fellow revelers it’s back to Devizes. We have a lovely dinner at an Italian hole in the wall. Overall a most excellent day.
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Date: 13 Oct 2012 15:23 (UTC)Thank you for sharing your travels!