DRUIDS

Upon returning to Southampton came the task of convincing people to join me for what sounded like the best idea ever, celebrating the summer solstice at stonehenge with what would end up to be 36000 people including several druids in robes. We took the train to Sailisbury and from there a bus to the stones. We arrived at sunset and got our first glimpse of the back lit stones as we reached the top of the hill. The sight was pretty remarkable and we knew that it would definately be a memorable night. By the looks of the crowd one might think that they had held tryouts for solstice participants because Englands finest had shown up. There were Druids in Robes, burnt out hippies with bongos, people from all corners of the globe, English uni students, and of course raving "pikeys." There was a surprisingly large police presence for what seemed like a peaceful crowd. Going back to my earlier cctv posts, UK policeman really scare me. Even worse I feel like no one else is that bothered by them. When we entered there were policeman at the checkpoint with video cameras filming and taking pactures of everyone who entered. Throughout the night into the morning there were also small remote control planes that flew overhead with cameras on the bottom monitoring one of the least rambunctious crowds.
The epiceter of all the activity in the park was obviously inside the circle of stones, but we decided to first chill out on some of the burial mounds that surround the site. Thats right, burial mounds. There we met some really funny and cool people from all over. Eventually we mustered the courage to enter the circle which we were told was like a mosh pit at a concert, and it lived up to its reputation. Inside were people yelling, banging on drums, playing trombones, crowd surfing off of smaller rocks, and druids feeling rocks with their eyes closed. Definitely one of the best scenes these eyes have ever witnessed. Earlier in the day me and Gordon had decided that stonehenge would be a hilarious spot for a rock video, you know with someone playing a heavily distorted solo on top of one of the rocks. Fortunate for us, we got to do the next best thing: air guitar on one of the smaller rocks. Unfortunately the fluid mass of people on all sides of the rock as well as on top of the rock eventually had their way and I was unintentionally knocked off the rock. Thanks to a stranger though I was eased down and landed uneventfully.
After making our way out of the rocks I met up with Kate a friend of Jamie's that stayed with us in Wilmington and who let us stay with her when we visited Cardiff. We met her friends and had a good time with them meeting the ridiculous characters that were abound. By this time the sky was getting lighter and the big moment of the sunrise was approaching. People were cheering, dancing and shooting off Chinese fireworks. Suddenly there it was, a small orange glow on the horizon, this was bound to be epic. However, in true English fashion, the sky was overcast and the sky simply went from dark to light pretty anticlimactically. The crowd began to disperse and we said our goodbyes to Kate and the stones and headed back towards the bus. Everyone was in good spirits and had a little druid in them. We made it back home without letting the sleepiness overtake us and enjoyed an epic amount of sleep. A summer solstice success.

*I unfortunately brought my camera on low batteries and only got a few shots off before it began repeatedly dying. There will be better pics on the way once Mindy uploads her pics.