Stonehenge: Or, the Train Incident That Wasn't As Cool As Inception

Sometimes, I have great ideas. Like, when I was six, I thought if I jumped off the top of a slide, I would fly. Luckily, the only consequences were a really hard fall and a sore landing. Stonehenge was kind of like that. But worse.

Spencer has, on multiple occasions, wisely told me that "you can't live if you aren't comfortable." On the way to Stonehenge, he furthered his philosophy by explaining that comfort is not merely part of the physical, you have to be mentally comfortable as well. This would come into play throughout the night.

We began Wednesday by meeting for class at the OSAP office to discuss "The Children of Hurin." After a spirited debate on whether it was fate or choice that led Turin to destruction, we moved on to other aspects of the book. Finally, it was time for lunch, and the group headed to Pizza Hut.

After lunch, we journeyed to the train station to get tickets to Salisbury. Because of group rates, we had to split into two groups: Casey, Melissa, Will, Maddy, and Meghan went together and Bailey, Spencer, and Josh joined me. Because Josh was being sketchy about what time we needed to leave, our group ended up not buying tickets at the time.

I spent the day getting ready for the journey (and making sure that I was ready for my tutorial Thursday afternoon). Once Spencer finished with his tutorial, he and Josh made their way over to our flat. Then a really stupid crisis unfolded as we tried to figure out how to buy tickets online and on machines at the station. It basically ended with Josh complaining about the British public transportation system and frustration.

But Josh ended up getting pictures of his fox and we got tickets in the end, so it was ok. Although we didn't catch the same train as the other group, we had hopes of getting to Stonehenge on time. We got on the train, we got off at Reading ... and heard people call our names. It was the rest of our group. We all were together again.

While waiting at the station for our train to Salisbury, Will decided it would be a good idea to dance with me in the station to his rendition of Margaritaville. Casey and Josh got a show, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and never return.

Long story short, we got on the train, got off the train, and eventually made it to the point where cars were parking to get to Stonehenge. It was now around 3 a.m., by my estimates. Of course, it was late (or early), so my narration may or may not be accurate. Oh, and it was rainy. And muddy. So we hiked to Stonehenge.

Spencer and Meghan, happy to be at Stonehenge.

Stonehenge turned into a giant party scene.

I'll come out and say it: We were crazy for wanting to go. We were crazy for going. And we're lucky we came out of it with our only problems being tired and smelling (Unless you're Josh and accidentally washed your passport. Or me. But that comes later).

We lost Josh. We went to go find Josh. I lost Spencer to the Druids (who, by the way, were the only sane people there). I went into the crowds, which made me want to cry. We found Josh. Josh went to save Spencer. Spencer made it into the center of the Druid circle, to the front. I'm still not sure how we retrieved him. Taylor and Alex showed up, in their suits, from getting a lift from some guy they paid to drive them. Finally, our group left and walked back to catch the bus.

I went to Stonehenge. I didn't hear the pipes of Pan.

The group, except Bailey who took the photo. Love you, Bailey.

We went to the Salisbury Cathedral, which may be one of the most beautiful places I'll ever go, ever.

Salibury Cathedral

We explored the cathedral, and I came across the prettiest stain glass window ever. On a disappointing note, a copy of the Magna Carta is at the cathedral, but we wouldn't be able to view it until later on in the day. So we missed that.

The Prisoner's Conscience Window. I love this.

After finishing, we went to the train station (we also grabbed breakfast at a place called The Boston Tea Party. That made me laugh. It was good.) and waited on our train. We got on the train, which was full of people making their way back from Stonehenge. I sat on the ground and fell asleep. That should have been a sign for things to come.

We changed trains several times, and finally made it back to Oxford. I thought I was free ... and then Bailey informed me that we needed to go one more stop. So we hopped back onto the train ... and saw Oxford go by. As I was preparing to throw him off the train, Spencer ditched us, and Josh started quoting "Inception":

"You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where the train will take you? Because you'll be together."

Either that, or we'll eventually kill that joke.

Eventually, we made it back to Oxford. I took a shower. Went to sleep. Slept through my tutorial. Sent my tutor panicked emails apologizing. Rescheduled my tutorial for next week. Prepared to go to Dr. Snyder's for a dessert party and a viewing of "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Bailey fell asleep multiple times through that. Snyder also impersonated Gandalf. That was entertaining. And so ended a very, very, long day.