British family's joy at meeting Barack Obama near Stonehenge

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/sep/05/barack-obama-stonehenge-meets-british-family-twitter

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A British family have spoken of the "euphoric" moment when they bumped into US president Barack Obama, while walking through the Wiltshire countryside.

Obama had made an impromptu visit to Stonehenge, just a mile from Janice and James Raffle's home.

After hearing helicopters overhead, the couple wandered through fields with their sons to investigate. Janice Raffle took to Twitter, saying: "I can see president Obama! Any messages?"

She said later: "He waved at us and we waved back. He started talking to us and asking our names and he shook all our hands."

James Raffle added that the president seemed to be something of a worrier: "He was worried about the kids on the barbed-wire fence," he said. "He was worried about Janice because she was overrun with boys."

Obama squeezed in the visit to the ancient site after the final day of the Nato summit in south Wales. Seeing Stonehenge had been on his "bucket list" of things to do and he afterwards reportedly described the visit as "a highlight of my tour".

Janice Raffle, who does charity runs to highlight the declining bee population, later posted a photo on Twitter of the family posing with Obama. She said: "To think we were playing in the garden ten minutes before this."

pic.twitter.com/QoADeRReMd

Heather Sebire, English Heritage's Stonehenge curator, who gave the president a tour of the site, said: "Mr Obama was fascinated by the story of the stones, what we know about them and the mysteries that have yet to be solved.

"He asked lots of questions about how old the monument is, how long it took to build it, and what was its purpose.

"He particularly loved seeing the colour and texture of the stones. It was a beautiful still evening and it was a privilege to show the US president around this unique monument which continues to inspire and intrigue people."

But not everyone was so pleased that the president had chosen to visit Wiltshire. Motorist Andrew Turner tweeted: "So Obama wrecked my A303 journey today, then I see him up close to Stonehenge."