(no subject)
Wow, the "tell me something interesting" answers to my poll actually were really interesting. :)
Here's something interesting from my life in return (though some of you already know this): at 4:51am on Wednesday morning, I was at Stonehenge watching Midsummer sunrise!
This was the result of a fairly spontaneous adventure - midsummer here is much more obvious than in Melbourne (in Manchester, sunrise/sunset on Midsummer Day were at about 4:20am - and that's daylight saving time, else it'd be 3:20am! - and 9:20pm respectively), so I felt the inclination to do something specific to mark the occasion; and when we went to Wales, the idea of hiring a car and driving somewhere had come up, with Stonehenge as a definite possibility. Combining the two was merely a logical but ingenious next step.
The actual stones at Stonehenge are now fenced off for most of the year, and visitors are restricted to viewing them from a distance. For the solstice, however, access to the stones is permitted all night, through to the next morning. Special facilities for the event were provided (car parking, lighting, food and drink, medical services etc) and we were among probably a thousand or so people who turned out for it. I'm surprised there weren't more, but glad of it - the site was crowded enough as it was!
Seeing the stones first from a distance, across the plain from the road, lit with the eerie blue glow of the provided lights, was a spine-tingling moment. We walked the mile across the fields from the carpark mostly in the dark, amongst a constant stream of other visitors arriving and leaving, to find the stones surrounded by a whole encampment of people with blankets and rugs huddled around. I was shocked and a little disappointed, though, to find that the prohibition on climbing on the stones wasn't being enforced at all, and that there were hordes of ravers, mostly drunk and/or stoned, clambering all over the stones in the middle of the circle!
There were a fair assortment of interesting characters present - costumed Druids and SCA-looking types; fire-twirlers; drummers; dancers; and at one point, a Green Man on stilts. Around 2am it began to rain quite heavily, but with the shelter of an umbrella and my handy all-purpose cloak, we stayed reasonably dry and comfortable (unlike some poor souls without so much as a raincoat).
A little past 3am, the sky had started to lighten to the east and streaks of light were visible on the horizon. Over the next hour and a half, we watched the dawn gradually break and the stones grow clearer in the morning light. Clouds obscured the direct horizon at sunrise, but the glow of the sun mounting the edge of the earth cast everything in a magical, surreal light. Just then, a group of Druids nearby started a deep, droning chant which continued as the rest of us stood in silence and watched the dawning of Midsummer Day.
And then, as the sky brightened, we staggered back to the carpark and fell asleep, damp and muddy, in the car, amidst the growing warmth and sun of the new day.
Here's something interesting from my life in return (though some of you already know this): at 4:51am on Wednesday morning, I was at Stonehenge watching Midsummer sunrise!
This was the result of a fairly spontaneous adventure - midsummer here is much more obvious than in Melbourne (in Manchester, sunrise/sunset on Midsummer Day were at about 4:20am - and that's daylight saving time, else it'd be 3:20am! - and 9:20pm respectively), so I felt the inclination to do something specific to mark the occasion; and when we went to Wales, the idea of hiring a car and driving somewhere had come up, with Stonehenge as a definite possibility. Combining the two was merely a logical but ingenious next step.
The actual stones at Stonehenge are now fenced off for most of the year, and visitors are restricted to viewing them from a distance. For the solstice, however, access to the stones is permitted all night, through to the next morning. Special facilities for the event were provided (car parking, lighting, food and drink, medical services etc) and we were among probably a thousand or so people who turned out for it. I'm surprised there weren't more, but glad of it - the site was crowded enough as it was!
Seeing the stones first from a distance, across the plain from the road, lit with the eerie blue glow of the provided lights, was a spine-tingling moment. We walked the mile across the fields from the carpark mostly in the dark, amongst a constant stream of other visitors arriving and leaving, to find the stones surrounded by a whole encampment of people with blankets and rugs huddled around. I was shocked and a little disappointed, though, to find that the prohibition on climbing on the stones wasn't being enforced at all, and that there were hordes of ravers, mostly drunk and/or stoned, clambering all over the stones in the middle of the circle!
There were a fair assortment of interesting characters present - costumed Druids and SCA-looking types; fire-twirlers; drummers; dancers; and at one point, a Green Man on stilts. Around 2am it began to rain quite heavily, but with the shelter of an umbrella and my handy all-purpose cloak, we stayed reasonably dry and comfortable (unlike some poor souls without so much as a raincoat).
A little past 3am, the sky had started to lighten to the east and streaks of light were visible on the horizon. Over the next hour and a half, we watched the dawn gradually break and the stones grow clearer in the morning light. Clouds obscured the direct horizon at sunrise, but the glow of the sun mounting the edge of the earth cast everything in a magical, surreal light. Just then, a group of Druids nearby started a deep, droning chant which continued as the rest of us stood in silence and watched the dawning of Midsummer Day.
And then, as the sky brightened, we staggered back to the carpark and fell asleep, damp and muddy, in the car, amidst the growing warmth and sun of the new day.