Big Rocks and a Pub

After getting back from Japan, we were hungry, so Will led Jason and I to our first experience at the UK staple, Nandos.  It’s no Sardi’s, but I’ll admit it’s pretty good food.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  Sauces on sauces.

When the weekend came, Will went to London while Jason and I hung out and watched college football on Saturday.  Seeing Maryland play, even if Ohio State did a number on us, was awesome.  It felt like home for a bit, and Jason and I went outside to toss a football around the courtyard.  Our skills were clearly lacking, but whatever.

On Sunday, we woke up early to watch the Japanese Grand Prix.  Both drivers were doing reasonably well, but that wasn’t important.  For those who don’t stay up to date on F1 news, Jules Bianchi, driver for Marussia, had a terrible accident around lap 44.  There had been a torrential downpour prior to the race, and rain continued to fall during the race.   After Adrian Sutil spun off the track, a yellow flag came out, and marshals worked to remove Sutil’s car from the track using the standard tractor.  Though he had slowed down, Bianchi went off the track at the exact same spot, and he crashed into the back of the tractor, sending it a foot into the air.  Absolutely horrific.  You can search for more details, but Bianchi is in very critical condition with a major head injury.  Along with the rest of the F1 community, we’re all hoping for his recovery and sending prayers and thoughts to him and his family.  #ForzaJules

The RB10 nose and Ricciardo's helmet, showing support for Jules

As I’d imagine most people reading this know, Sebastian also has announced that he will leave Infiniti-Red Bull Racing at the end of the year.  It’s a melancholic feeling once you’re part of the team to have your four-time world champion driver leave, but as we are new to the team, it’s hard to
really judge what feelings are appropriate.  Nonetheless, that’s racing, and Seb will go on to do great things, and we wish him all the best.  Jason’s manager had joked this week to Jason, “What did you tell Seb to make him leave?” hahaha.  Meanwhile, we look to the future as we take Daniil Kvyat on as our new driver for next year.  Kvyat is a product of the Junior Red Bull program and currently races for Scuderia Toro Rosso (Red Bull), our Italian sister team.  This is an exciting time as we try to build our new driver into a champion.

Beautiful day for another roadtrip in the Q50!

After the race, Jason and I decided to take a day trip to see Stonehenge and Bath.  On the way there, we passed through an awesome city called Marlborough that is definitely on our list of things to go back and see.  A bit later, we saw a bunch of cars parked up a road off of the highway, so we decided to see what was up there.  And we found Woodhenge.  Yeah, Woodhenge.  Not a joke.

Woodhenge.  Told ya.

After that glorious find, we decided to move on to Stonehenge.  No words needed, just pictures.

That was impressive to see, truly remarkable stuff.  It’s one of those things that you really can’t totally comprehend the first time you see it, like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben or the Colosseum.   It’s crazy.

Jason and I then moved on.  We came across another town called Devizes with a gigantic brewery.

Devizes 

Huge brewery

There were a few more cool sights of the English countryside as we approached Bath.

Then, we finally reached Bath in the early evening.  This place is gorgeous.  It’s a cool city, with lots to see and things to do.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.  Jason took the good ones.

Like I said, Jason took the good pictures

For our last event of the day, we stopped in a pub, which was my first ever experience of a proper English pub.  The place is called The Salamander, and it’s one of the top rated pubs in Bath.

We got ourselves a nice Sunday roast and some good local beers brewed by Bath Ales.  Jason got cider, and my beers were slightly below room temperature.  For the record, not all pubs are like this with warm beer.  But I must say…and I’ll be the first to admit, this is blasphemous…it was pretty good.  Not my first choice, as I’m sure it’s better cold, but the two beers I got (Forest Hare and Gem) were enjoyable at that temperature.  The food was delicious.  Jason got a burger, and I ordered some rare roast beef with potatoes and horseradish.

Finally, we made our way home, exhausted.  It was a great weekday trip, and we plan to do more in the future.  If anybody has some good suggestions for day or weekend trips in the UK, please let me know!  Still a ways behind, so I’ll be writing again soon!