Jess' Journeys // Let's Talk About Stonehenge

Just in case you've been living under a rock for your whole life, Stonehenge is a really huge deal. It's one of the "Seven Wonders of the Medieval World", and it's just outside of the town of Salisbury, England. No one is really 100% sure who built it, or why. They estimate that it was built sometime between 2000 BCE and 3000 BCE. There are tons of theories and a lot of speculation about that. You could read on the subject for years and still not have read everything.

I wanted to visit so badly. The pictures in magazines and online are always so pretty. I was so excited about seeing the stones up close. In 2005, I finally got my chance!...and I was disappointed.

Here's the thing. All of the pictures make it look like a monument in a huge, grassy field. Which technically it is. What they don't show usually is the road that runs nearby, the dirt walkway leading from the visitor center that goes under that road, or the big, dirt, circle walkway that's roped off, maybe 200 feet from the rocks. They also don't show the crowds of people that are standing on the dirt walkways or the security guards that are standing on the dirt walkways watching all of the people. After you're done walking in the circle, you get to exit through the gift shop and buy all sorts of Stonehenge merch. I'm not going to lie. I'm a great consumer, so of course I did my duty and bought all sorts of things in the gift shop. The whole experience felt just like visiting the world's largest ball of yarn.

Here's the thing. As disappointed as I was by the sight itself, the worst part is what led to that. They didn't take these measures just because they could. People used to vandalize Stonehenge all the time. Just look at old pictures of it. Of course people want to leave their mark, and people want to take tiny ships off of the stones to take home as a souvenir. The problem is that when you're talking about such a widely-known landmark, you're not getting one or two people that want to do that, you're getting millions. If someone hadn't taken action, Stonehenge wouldn't exist anymore.

The ropes and walkways aren't the first things that have been done to keep Stonehenge in existence. I would highly recommend looking up the restoration of Stonehenge online. Fair warning though, it will crush your dreams of this magical, ancient landmark in the middle of rolling hills.

 As far as my bucket list goes, I'm really glad that I can check off Stonehenge. I just hope that in the future, they can find a way to make it a more mesmerizing place to visit.

Welcome to me in high school. There are tricks to make it appear that you're a lot closer to the stones than you are, such as cropping above the rope lines. See how far away the people in the background are? They're just on the other side of the circle from us.