Stonehenge and Avebury

C: I didn't really like Stonehenge that much, because we didn't get to go in, and Dad wouldn't let me climb up on the fence so I could see it.

Dad: Climbing on the fence didn't make it any easier to see Stonehenge.

C: Avebury was actually kind of cool, because it had this really shiny white and light green path made out of limestone (the pale green was from sheep poop). We ran around and played Robin Hood. The rocks were not that interesting because we weren't allowed to climb on, and anyway, they were impossible to climb on. They were too steep.

Sam: At Avebury there were big hunks of sheep poop on the ground, and it stinks like crazy. I really don't know how they got the stones there.

C: Well, the prehistoric people tied vines to the big rocks, and dragged them, which made the big ditches.

Mom: Is that your theory?

C: Yup. That's my hypothesis.

Mom: Is it testable?

C: No, not really. We don't have the really long-ago guys. But that's just my hypothesis, so if you don't believe it, you don't have to.

Mom: Did you want to say anything about coming through customs?

C: And when we came back into the US, they had to wash our shoes because it might have hoof and mouth disease, or something else.

Mom: One of the questions on the customs form was "Have you recently been through sheep or cow pasture?". Our answer was "yes" and when the customs agent saw all of the sheep poop still on our shoes, he said we were entitled to a free shoe cleaning! It took about 30 minutes for the Homeland Security officers to hand-scrub all of our shoes.

(Oh, and you might wonder why we deprived our children of the experience of going inside to see Stonehenge. The reason is this: We could see it perfectly well from the road for free. If you paid the $12 each to get in, you got to walk on the boardwalk around it, not much closer that from the fence, and it was very crowded with tourists and tourbuses. We thought we'd get just as much out of seeing from the road, and the kids would enjoy Avebury better because they could run around inside, and touch the stones. We, the adults, did wonder why, with the publicity surrounding the hoof and mouth outbreak, a world heritage site is sending worldwide visitors home with sheep poop souveirs. We are researching this for a future entry (and home-school topic, of course!)