Original water line during Roman times. Notice that the road level is little shorter than the balconied terraces above, indicating how much the city had built on top of itself in 1500 years.

This is getting to be a bit of a tongue twister. The museum is very good, and I learned a lot from it, especially since it was in English. I have been to the Roman Forum, Pompeii, and Barcelona but because I don’t speak the local language, I was highly reliant on interpreting the information from my guide book or tour guide.  Often there’s limited information in English.  The museum in Bath also had a great audio tour, plus if you time your trip accurately, you can also access a guided tour that runs on the hour.

It amazes me that the Roman Baths remain undiscovered, after Rome withdrew from England, for about 1500 years.  It was only because someone’s basement kept flooding and work to discover what the problem was, led to the discovery of the old ruins, and subsequent growth of Bath again as a spa. How it remained hidden all this time is simply amazing.

They don’t want you to touch the water, because it is not treated.  Notice the water is a bit greenish and that’s because the bath is exposed to the sun and algae is growing.  This is contaminating the water. In Roman times, the baths were covered and not exposed to the sun, and the water was pure.  The water steams as it is about 48 degrees celsius and the outside air was about 2 or 3 degrees.  I think it would have been lovely to have been here the week before, as the heavy snow would have provided a lovely contrast.

I’ve learnt in History classes at school that the Romans were great engineers and that they conquered water. But these were abstract concepts to be learned (and memorised) at the time. How can one get a sense of an aqueduct from a photo to which you don’t have a sense of scale.  The Colosseum just looks like a big building that could be 5 stories high, not the 15 stories that it probably is. Every time I see a Roman ruin, I simply marvel at their achievements. They were truly the modern society of ancient times.

One of the things to do is to “take the waters” like countless others have done in the past 200 years. As part of your ticket to the museum, you get to drink a glass of water for free. Hmm, what did it taste like?  Well, the water was warm, felt a bit slimy, and had a smell.  There must have been sulphur or something in it, giving it a bad-egg smell. If you don’t inhale as your drink it, you won’t notice it as much. Admittedly, I managed to get a few mouthfuls down before I suddenly stopped as I had a gagging reaction.  I can’t imagine how people manage to drink 5 litres of it before breakfast!

But as they say, when in Rome …. so don’t be put off by my post and definitely try the waters.

We also visited the Bath Abbey to see the beautiful fan vaults, and they were definitely very pretty. I was also surprised to learn that the first governor of New South Wales is buried in Bath Abbey.  Cathedrals always amaze me, in terms of their height and the intricacy of the stonework. If you’re ever interested in imagining what society was like during the cathedral building age, the books by Ken Follett are excellent (Pillars of the Earth, and World Without End).

After visiting the Bath Christmas Market last year, I couldn’t wait to go back there this year.  The stalls all sell lovely stuff and there are plenty of stalls selling food and drinks.  Even though it was absolutely packed all day, we still had a good time!  It took a long time to walk around the stalls because there were so many people but there was a one way system in place which seemed to be helping slightly.  It didn’t matter that it was so busy because there was such a nice Christmas atmosphere.  We even went to a short carol service held in Bath Abbey.  The only only bad thing about the Christmas Market is that it is only on for 2 weeks but hopefully I will have chance to go again this year before it closes!

16-22 November

It’s been a week of inspiring eco-artiness and inspiration.

Eric Maddern - eco-storyteller

Monday I went to see the fabulous show by Australian storyteller, Eric Maddern, What the Bees Know: Songs and Stories to Sustain and Restore the World – an engaging and galvanising blend of story, poetry, song and environmental awareness raising. I saw a preview of this at the Ecobardic Minifest at Cae Mabon, Eric’s amazing eco-retreat centre in North Wales way back in May, but it was well worth seeing the full show, which had so much more in it. Eric’s charismatic presence filled the Chapel Arts Centre and took the small but committed audience on a 2 hour ‘bee-line’ from the malady to the remedy, honey being a traditional cure-all, and one of the rich gifts these industrious pollinators bestow upon humankind: beeswax, royal jelly, mead, various medicines, and most of all – the pollination of plants. The UK bee population dropped by 30% in 2007 – in Spain, it was 50%, and the USA is experiencing similarly sobering trends. Without these key pollinators, the cycle of life could grind to a halt (25% of the global species depend on plants pollinated by bees). Uber-brainbox Albert Einstein once said: “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”…Despite the gloomy predictions, Eric’s show left the audience feeling uplifted – the creative act is affirming in itself, and is another example of the remarkable power of the human imagination, with which anything is possible – including solutions to these mounting environmental problems. Homo sapiens may be the problem, but is also the solution – and has proven over the millennia, since it first discovered fire, flint and the paintbrush back in the caves of our ancestors – that it is nothing but ingenius.

There are various good folk offering ‘plan B’, notably The Global Bee Project. We can all do our bit (eg plant bee-friendly flowers in your garden).

Eric is still touring his show – catch it next Spring, or even book it for your venue or group. Next month he’s off to Copenhagen – the place to ‘bee’ for such a committed eco-campaigner. Long may the story-honey flow from his lips.

it's been a long time coming ... Image from Home, words from Eric Maddern

On Saturday I went to the spectacular setting of Bath Abbey to see a film by Earth from the Air visionary, Yann Arthus-Bertrand called Home – deeply beautiful and moving. The Abbey was packed out with nearly a thousand people. It was very forward-thinking for the Abbey to allow this film to be shown. It was an interesting experience – the large screen in front of the altar, the haunting music drifting up into the vaults, hushed reverence, enduring the discomfort of the hard pews … a kind of surrogate religiosity pervaded the film – I would argue a genuine one, based upon awe of Creation, the miracle of this precious and fragile planet we live on. Perhaps if they had more events like this the Church would find its houses filled once more. Many are overwhelmed and despairing at the crisis facing us. Is it time for eco-churches – centres of energy descent, where folk can ‘pray’ not for their own salvation, but the salvation of the planet? The consolation of faith perhaps has its place – life without a spiritual dimension is shallow and ultimately futile – but we have to act now, before it’s too late. A good place to start is the Transition Movement, as mentioned last week. Read about the burgeoning Transition Culture here

In a week of extreme weather ravaging Britain, this seems more poignant than ever.  The flood gates are open.

…

We arrived sometime in the after noon at London’s Heathrow airport on the second of October.  We picked up our car and headed across town to find our accommodations.  After settling in we set out on foot to explore the city.  London is a great town with so much to see and do, and the metro system (The Tube) is easy to use, so easy if fact we left our car parked the entire time (3 days) we were in London.  First stop was the Westminster area, which has the Parliament houses, Big Ben, the London Eye and tops on my list, Westminster Abbey.  We visited this area several times both during the day and at night where the feel is distinctly different.  The Abbey is spectacular, and we were able to catch a service there as well, in which the quire and organist played out an ominous tune reminiscent of a Halloween haunting.   We also rode the London Eye (a big Farris wheel, once claimed to be the biggest in the world, now second to the Singapore Flier) to gain perspective on this city of over seven million people.  We also visited other parts of the city like Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly Circus, a bustling shopping district with a carnival like vibe.  We also paid a visit to the Tower of London and the famous Tower Bridge, to whet our appetite for many more castles to come.

Before we get to the castles part of England, we needed to drive south to see that funky pile of rocks called Stonehenge.  The tour books belittle the arrangement of rocks as hardly worth seeing, due to its close proximity to major freeways.  It is true that there are a juncture of roads converging on this sight, but major roads they are not.  The English Heritage (a government conservatory) is so worried about the bad press, that they have plans of relocating the roads and tunneling around the site where necessary to protect the solitude of the site.  Funny thing is that the roads are not that big (single lane each way) and not busy enough to warrant such drastic measures (If they do move them, hats off).  The place by far exceeds the expectations painted by Lonely Planet, and that of our own, and falls in the must see category for those who have not been.  While we were in the area we spent some time in Salisbury and took in the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral.

Much to my family’s dismay (and embarrassment), I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and that led us straight to Bath, England.  Bath is the setting of several of her novels, and so vividly described within, that I needed to see for myself.  We dedicated two days to the exploration of her town, including the famous bathhouses that date back to the Romans in 72ad (the Romans built these lavish bath houses as a gesture of kindness for taking over the country).  The baths are still fed by a natural hot spring, and make for a great photo op.  We also visited the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey and walked the streets, alleys, and riverbanks to experience the fullness of this city.  The Jane Austen House was however closed as we passed by on that rainy evening, leaving happy smiles on my children’s dampened faces.  As a side note, I don’t like Shakespeare’s works, and so a trip to Stratford upon Avon would prove superfluous, but the castles of Wales were calling.

Ah the welsh and their Celtic charm.  Our first stop in Wales was Cardiff, a wonderful seaside town with tons of stuff to explore.  The hotel reception staff was a wonderful wealth of knowledge, and directed us to some fabulous sights.  One of the little surprises in Cardiff was a small village of period buildings and houses, all painstakingly disassembled moved and reassembled to their original glory in this mock village of the ages.  Each street represented a different time period in history.  On site were blacksmiths, shopkeepers, a leather tannery, Pottery spinners and other rural village displays for a unique look back in time.  Along side this village was a small Castle, a 17^th century remake of an earlier fortification that once stood there.  The gardens and ponds were spectacular but the castle structure was a little on the uninspiring side.  Later on we

Found our way to the Cardiff Castle, which was absolutely fantastic.  Walking the grounds, one gets the feeling of days gone past.  Climbing the steep stone steps to the upper most reaches of the keep provides an unrivaled view of the surrounding city and the port, which made Cardiff worth fighting for. 

We were still craving more castles and Wales has no shortage.  For good measures we wandered thru in Tintern Abbey, before heading north to see Beaumaris Castle and Conwy Castle.  Both of these were spectacular and in partial ruins, which made them all the more interesting to explore.  We visited several other castles along the way and found our way to the shops in each of these little towns.  It was only fair, if I got to see my castles and Abbeys, then the kids got to shop. Tristi and I always love walking the historic districts of these little (and some not so little) towns.  There are always interesting little shops with equally interesting shop owners and other locals that make the experience special.   

From the north of Wales we headed back into England proper.  It was hard to pass up Liverpool (home to the Beatles), yet with such a tight schedule we needed to head straight to York.  York is a picturesque medieval walled city that has a history spanning well over a thousand years.  Our draw to this walled city was York Minster, the 900 plus year old masterpiece of stone and stained glass.  It’s not just the Minster that makes this area so beautiful, but the setting in which it lies.  The manicured lawns and gardens, towering trees turning a multitude of autumn colors, and the narrow cobbled alley ways lined with wonderful old buildings give this place it’s uniquely English character.  During our time in York, we ventured outward to visit the Howard Castle with it’s outstanding gardens (the castle is set on over 13000 acres) and one of my favorites Fountains Abbey.  This Abbey, which is in a state of partial ruins, is also set on nice acreage, with a river flowing thru a forested setting, with several lakes and numerous walking paths in and around the grounds.  Within this ruinous structure, stands one of the tallest fortified towers ever built in an abbey type of setting.  The tower however is proportionate to the massive structure that once housed the religious center, an incredible building in it’s own rights. 

From the York area we headed north to Durham for a look at another great walled city.  The Durham area offers several great castles, Warkworth and Alnwick, both worth paying a slow and easy visit to.  The Alnwick castle, had a great area set up just for kids, where they could dress up in period costumes, do copper plate etchings, sword fight with evil Knights (really a kids interactive game with a wooden sword, that scored the number of kills) play chess on a life sized board, and even get beheaded by a guillotine (ah, the magic of mirrors).  Further into the castle, there was a really creepy haunted castle, where you could get vertigo in the spinning bridge walk (very cool) and the house of mirrors maze where you can actually get lost.  As you find your way out of the house of mirrors we were attacked by a fire-breathing dragon, which actually congratulates you for your bravery (of course the dragon has a wonderfully charming English voice) in making it out with your wits and your life.  The kids had a wonderful time (big kids included) and then the castle tour begun.  Unlike many of the castles we visited this castle was well preserved and lavishly appointed in proper English style.  The entire experience at this castle was top notch and worth the heavy toll collected at the drawbridge.

Still further north we found ourselves in Newcastle upon Tyne (Yes, the birthplace of my favorite beer).  Aside from the Beer, we came to see Hadrain’s wall.  This is a wall separating the north (just south of Scotland) from the south (England).  It spans from sea to sea and at one time had great fortifications built every 5 miles along the 73.5 miles wall.  We drove about half of the wall and visited several of the ruins along the way.  This fortification however was built long before the English Scottish battle.  Who else, besides the Romans, could have built such massive fortifications that would last over two thousand years?  Being a wall guy, I enjoyed the remains of once great work, as for the kids, rolling down grassy hills and chasing unsuspecting grazing sheep proved to be much more entertaining.  If you are short on time, skip the wall and Newcastle for that matter (the brewery is no longer in Newcastle) as there is little other than a modest cathedral and a hand full of historic buildings to take in.

It was time to head north into Scotland, and visit the granddaddy of all castles, Edinburgh.  This massive structure graces the rocky hilltop of the town by the same name.  The castle had its beginnings over a thousand years ago, and has had many additions throughout the centuries.  It is quite evident in some cases as the choice of stone and building styles reflect the period architecture and building techniques.  This is not however so bad, as the castle is so large that it feels like a city and architectural variance in this setting perhaps even adds to it’s charm.  No visit to the castle is complete without paying a visit to the crown jewels.  Aside from Mary, Queen of Scots’ crown and some really cool swords, lies the royal coronation stone.  This stone is used as a resting place for the bum of the to be crowned king or queen as they receive their honors.  This stone has been used for nearly every crowning event in England’s 900+ year history of Kings and Queens.  Edinburgh the city, and its lively Scottish heritage are not to be missed.  A night on the town walking the shops, and a quick visit to a pub or two will give you a taste of the people that make Scotland so special, and truly different from it’s mother, England.

England, Scotland and Wales may technically be under the same rule, yet each is so very unique onto itself.  The people, the culture and even the language tell you that these are three totally separate countries, but they are all subjects of the queen (well at least part of earlier conquests).  Even more odd is the occupation of Northern Ireland and the longstanding issues this has posed.  Sorry I digress, lets not review the Queens other real estate holdings around the world, instead lets get back to our journey.  Ah yes, Ireland.

We flew into Belfast, Northern Ireland on the morning of the 16^th (October).  We took a quick spin around Belfast and then headed south into the heart of Ireland, Dublin.  There are only 3 things Dublin is famous for, Guinness (my second favorite beer), Pubs serving Guinness, and Irish dancing.  We only had two days to fit in all of the pubs and tour the Guinness factory, but somehow we managed.  The tour was just OK but the fresh from the tap Guinness was the best I’ve ever had (it almost became number one).  I wanted to be sure that it was not just the excitement of being in Dublin or being in the factory, so we set out across town to sample some other pints just to be sure.  All of the pints sampled went down with ease, and the Irish music made them taste that much sweeter.  The following morning we headed south to Kilkenny to visit the Kilkenny castle.  It was hardly worth the time, so we headed to the pub for a pint.  Just kidding, we waited to go to the pub until we reached Cork, several hours later.   Tristi and I parked the kids at the hotel and headed out to see some Irish dancing at a great little pub just a short walk from where we were staying. 

It is hard to describe the Irish pub experience when the dancing breaks out, yet dare I try.  We are sitting at a small table in just about the center of the room, when the staff starts moving all of the tables and guests (mostly all locals) to either side of the room to make space for the dancing.  The room fills with excitement as the crowd waits for the dancing to commence.  Two gals and a guy come out and start a basic routine, with their tap shoes in perfect synchronization, the music keeping time and the patrons clapping to the beat.  The dancing progresses with people joining in and the pub becomes fully charged with energy.  There are cheers and laughter filling the last of the audible space in the room, and you find yourself somewhere swirling in the mix.  Time is of no consequence in this four dimensional experience.  It is something that only those who experience it, can fully relate.   The following evening we wanted to take the kids so they could share in the experience.  Nika and Noah still had ill memories of seeing the bar life in Santorini, Greece and opted to stay in again at the hotel and order up some more pay for view movies (yes the channels were on parental lock).   It was a Sunday evening and the three of us headed out to find an Irish pub.  It was not hard to find, as they are more common than gas stations, yet we must have looked in at least a dozen before finding just the right one.  Sunday is live band night, so Irish dancing is not to be found.  The band we saw was really good, and the crowd was not bad either, but it was missing the magic that Tristi and I enjoyed the night prior.  I guess Sara will have to return some day to have the full Irish experience. 

The following day we headed out to see Blarney castle.  Earlier I mentioned three things that Dublin is famous for; if you expand this list to cover all of Ireland, then there are four.  If you come to Ireland you must go to the top of the blarney castle, hang upside down and kiss the Blarney stone.  Aside from the stone, the castle is set along side converging creeks and lush grounds.  The intensely green moss covered rocks, stand sentinel around the castle, and disguise the entryway into the caves at the base.  The castle proper is in partial ruins (just the way our family likes best), which tells the story of time itself, and allows imaginations to run wild.  It is for this reason we relish the state of the castle.  Our Ireland trip was short, but we take with us many great memories, especially the people, who’s celebration of life is visited frequently at O’ Connell’s Pub somewhere around five.    

Good morning and welcome to this week’s blog post about my trip to England! I decided to include two entries from my journal for this week for two reasons. One) the first entry wasn’t even a full 500 words, and two) I really wanted to get the entry about Stonehenge in there. As I wrote in my journal entry (further down) there’s just a resonance and power to Stonehenge that is nigh impossible to encapsulate with words or photos. If you ever have the opportunity to visit it, I would strongly recommend doing so. But enough about me blathering about my journal entries, go forth and read for yourself!

Oh, and if you’re new to the blog, Welcome! This series of posts actually starts at my old blog that you can find over on Blogspot here. I would recommend you visit it first. If you couldn’t tell, my original journal entries are in grey/white and my commentary is in orange.

Monday, June 29^th 18:26 (Bath)

After eight (almost nine) hours of walking around Bath, I returned to the University to record the day’s travel. I will say this much: I appreciate the view of the hill from the bus, but realize the distance traveled mean I’m not likely to return to tour after returning to the room. It’s a bit of a hassle, and could get expensive quickly. I seem to have lovely timing as there is a heatwave (by heatwave I mean highs of 85 Fahrenheit) this week with 3 year highs. Mind you, these three year highs are still less than the daily temperatures reached in Oklahoma. (Another note about this… it may not sound hot, but this is without AC. AC is something I thoroughly took for granted before this trip. That and a good circular fan. 85 may not sound hot, but go without an AC unit to cool down indoor temperatures or a fan to keep air moving and it becomes stifling rather quick) Side note: I want good dreams again. (Side note to the side note… I’ve had several good dreams since) Onto my adventures today. I started it with a ride down to Bath on the bus and a short, self-guided walk around Bath Abbey, while waiting for the start of a “Free Walking Tours of Bath.” Half an hour and one mistaken identity (though I was the tour guide) later, the tour guides arrived and gave us a quick (2 hour) walk through Bath that included rather intensive explanation and examination of the architecture. (By the way, I would strongly recommend taking one of these tours if you’re in Bath. They’re free and awesome.) After that tour I hopped on the Tower Tour of the Bath Abby. 3/4^th the way up the narrow, steep, spiral staircase I got hit by a case of vertigo (and wondered why I was torturing myself. I’m not fond of heights) and practically crawled the rest of the way up. After an amazing trip across the Abbey roof (I took a couple pictures) we were introduced to the ringing room and then shown a staircase (even more narrow and steep) that took us up to the bellroom and then the tower roof. The view was simply amazing, and absolutely breathtaking. I made sure to have a picture taken of me while I was up there, to prove I actually went. The trip back down was easier than going up, and the guide presented us with a bookmark that proclaims “I’ve climbed up the 212 steps of BATH ABBEY tower and down again.” I felt accomplished. I then turned my attention to the heritage Bath Abbey Vaults museum. After a quick jaunt through the small museum I returned to ground level and visited the Roman Baths exhibit museum thing and decided £11.50 (yes, I was a bit of a cheap skate) was too rich for my blood and took off to find the Victoria Park. I spent a couple hours meandering through the park before returning to Bath Abbey and looking inside and taking a ton of pictures while there. Following that experience I caught a bus back to the University. I enjoyed the view the entire way. Observation: my writing by hand is getting faster. I also extremely look forward to the trip out to Stonehenge tomorrow and hope my decision for the afternoon tour isn’t a bad one.

Tuesday, June 30^th 18:19 (Bath)

Well my fears about when to take a trip out to Stonehenge were unfounded. This morning (and last night) there were several showers that cooled Bath some. I went into town at 11:30 after booking another day at the University as I want to take a walk through the skyline and visit the American Museum tomorrow and maybe a trip into town to see the Roman Baths at my father’s strong recommendation. I started my day with writing and mapping. I’ll finish my mapping and notes and consider my start for my halfings game complete. I have other adventure hooks I’ll write out in Houston. In town I visited the Victoria Art Gallery and burned close to an hour of there and down by the river in the Beazer Garden Maze, (The Garden maze was really nifty and sparked an interest of mine to find a few hedge mazes to wander through. It is a goal for the future though.) followed by a half hour of live music by the Bath Abbey before I hopped on the mini-bus to Stonehenge. There were many things to see on the way out to Stonehenge, though the “Tank Crossing” sign followed by a tank just off to the side were among the more interesting sights. I was slightly saddened to miss taking pictures of either sight (they rolled by too quickly). The pictures I took of Stonehenge don’t entirely do it justice. There is a power there that isn’t expressed in photos. It is a magnificent site and I wish I’d had time to wander the Salisbury Plains before leaving. Unfortunately I had merely an hour and spent the full hour walking around the great stones. I do wish I had been able to walk through the middle of them.  The ride back was scenic, quiet, and enjoyable. I could quite honestly say I would enjoy a road trip through the English countryside, stopping at whatever looks interesting. I ate in town and met an interesting man on the trip back. We talked about creation, religion, normalcy, writing, peace, and running. It was quite the bus ride back. Very enjoyable. I think that some of my best (and worst) experiences on this trip were the random people I met and hand conversations with. It really helped to liven and make the trip more personal.

I love going to Bath as you’ve probably gathered if you read my blog – it’s a bit like Jane Austen fairyland for me. From the minute you see the signs on the motorway and make the turning onto the winding, leafy road which descends into Bath itself, I always feel as if I’ve left the real world and made my escape! Part of the pleasure is the feeling that you are going back in time as you travel past the Tollgate tea shop,which is always busy at any time of day, Dyrham Park, a lovely 17th century Baroque house, and little villages, no more than a few houses each with tantalising names like Pennsylvania – yes, really!
This top photo shows a view looking toward the Cross Bath – the view from the other end was used in the filming of Persuasion. There is something so elegant about the line of columns – so pleasing to the eye!
I don’t think there is anywhere else in England where there are so many examples of Georgian houses and buildings all in one place. Although I’ve been many times over the years there are still new places I find, interesting shops, museums, restaurants and pubs to discover, not to mention all the wonderful walks to go on. I always come back with aching legs! Recently, I saw these amazing sculptures in the square by Bath Abbey – the contrast between old and new made a good photographic opportunity.
The last view is of Abbey Green just a short step away from the Abbey itself. This area with its little shops and lanes is a favourite of mine – narrow alleyways lead off to places like Sally Lunn’s, and the Bath Sweet shop – still a favourite with my children, and take one’s footsteps to the river and Pulteney Bridge.
Writing in June 1799 Jane Austen wrote about Bath shops to her sister and about her purchases:

My cloak is come home. I like it very much, and can now exclaim with delight, like J. Bond at hay-harvest, “This is what I have been looking for these three years.” I saw some gauzes in a shop in Bath Street yesterday at only 4d. a yard, but they were not so good or so pretty as mine. Flowers are very much worn, and fruit is still more the thing. Elizabeth has a bunch of strawberries, and I have seen grapes, cherries, plums, and apricots. There are likewise almonds and raisins, French plums, and tamarinds at the grocers’, but I have never seen any of them in hats. A plum or greengage would cost three shillings; cherries and grapes about five, I believe, but this is at some of the dearest shops. My aunt has told me of a very cheap one, near Walcot Church, to which I shall go in guest of something for you. I have never seen an old woman at the pump-room.

Elizabeth has given me a hat, and it is not only a pretty hat, but a pretty style of hat too. It is something like Eliza’s, only, instead of being all straw, half of it is narrow purple ribbon. I flatter myself, however, that you can understand very little of it from this description. Heaven forbid that I should ever offer such encouragement to explanations as to give a clear one on any occasion myself! But I must write no more of this. . .

Bath Abbey Rehearsal

DAY 3:  Outside the Bath Abbey chorus entrance, getting ready to go in for our rehearsal with the Chantry Singers. 

Bath Abbey at night

 

Roman Baths Tour

 DAY 4: Chorus Niagara members touring the Roman Baths, a fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating back to the first century AD. 

Roman Baths Tour

Roman Baths Tour

Bath is quite possibly one of the best cities in the world for spotting interesting characters who gather to entertain the hoards of tourists passing through on a daily basis.

The best place to spot these characters is around the world-famous Abbey and Roman Baths, whereupon you might stumble across the guitar-playing rasta man who encourages the crowds to sing along and does requests – he’s all about user participation. Wander around the corner to the bench lined square where performances from the more advanced microphone using, opera singing, actual money making buskers might crop up.

But my personal favourites are the violin player who sits under the arch before the Abbey, who, as one passer by put it, “Good grief, sounds like a cat being strangled, you’d think she’d learn to play before sitting in public!” – but bless her, her heart’s in it and the busker who plays all the classics including Here Comes The Sun and Bob the Builder, beautiful.

But going beyond the entertainment factor – these characters make great photographic subjects, just see below.

This busker attracts special attention from a group of tourists

Smiley Dave performs all the classics

To see more street art pics, see my set on Flickr.

Yesterday I had a chance to go with the hubby to Bath.  He was going there with a co-worker for work while I was going there to get out of the damn house.  It gets pretty…..well…… intense if I’m not able to get out the house every once in a while.  To put it simply, I go a little batty.

Anyway, we left the house at about 7am to catch the train from Tring into the city.  Once we were in London, we had to go from Euston Station to Paddington Station where we met the happy co-worker and caught the train to Bath.  The ride on the train takes about an hour and a half, but it was pleasant with great views and lovely conversation.  When we got to the ancient city, I wandered off to have a look around and the guys caught a cab to go off to their appointment.  I meandered up their main shopping street where I found their quite nice Oxfam book shop (you can take the girl out of the country and make her carry a lot of books up a flight of stairs but you can’t take the girl out of the used book shop!) and got a couple of books.  I then found my favorite WH Smith in the country where I finally found a copy of the much anticipated Inside Crochet magazine.   I’ll have a review of it in tomorrow’s post.  

After hitting the essentials, I decided to mosey on up to the Bath Fashion Museum.  This is one of the few things that I hadn’t done yet in Bath so I figured that this would be a good time to check it out.  As with all admittance fees in Bath, I found the 7 pounds a bit hefty to go to a museum, but I pressed on thinking that it may well be worth it.  Sadly, it wasn’t.  The museum is pretty small and in a basement under the assembly rooms.  The lighting and the paint colors chosen all made it feel rather like the War Rooms in London than a place showcasing fashions of the past.  There was one exhibit there that was sort of interesting.  It was a retrospective collection on the work of Bill Gibbs.  The exhibit was interesting though sort of messy.  The walls facing the clothes were covered in a nearly indecipherable mass of pictures and bits of writing from a fashion writer who seemed to write more about himself than about the actual subject which made it quite incomprehensible.  The handouts which you needed if you were to make any kind of sense of the exhibit were badly photocopied and really dog-eared.  Is the museum in such a precarious financial situation to not to be able to afford a laminating machine and a color printer?  Only a handful of copies of this are really needed since the room was too claustrophobic to hold more than 10 adults at a time (and surely not all of them would care enough to pick-up a copy!).  The clothes were pretty impressive, what could be seen of them through the very dim lighting.  Once again Kaffe Fassett and I meet in Bath as he worked with Bill Gibbs in the 70’s and there were several of his pieces on display in the exhibit.  Here’s a couple that I managed to take photographs of through the glass display cases….

A Kaffe Fassett Sweater

The Color work is unmistakable

The fashion museum may have been a disappointment but the sunny day and lovely Georgian architecture of Bath were seriously pleasing.  Just wandering around this city shows just how much planning and forethought went into it as it is nearly impossible to get lost.  And if you do get lost, you really don’t give a shit since the views around each corner are so lovely.  

Normal street in Bath

Bath isn’t typical of British towns as it actually had a design.  Unlike London or the myriad of smaller towns and villages that simply grew without a lot of organization, Bath had a central planner and was built, for the most part, all at the same time.

A church and the Abbey in the background

The center of Bath is more or less the ancient Abbey and the Roman Baths.  I’ve been to the baths a few times and decided not to go in this time around.  However, the Hubby did get a shot of me “crocheting the Abbey” for you.

After we were done sightseeing in Bath we caught a train back into London.  Since it was already the end of the day, the Hubby wasn’t going back to work.  I decided that since I was already in the city, I wanted to investigate reports that I had heard that yarn was sold in some department stores.  So, we took a tube to Oxford Circus and there we visited John Lewis.

I want to move in to this store.

For starters, it had the nicest yarn selection that I have yet seen in this country.  It was also the most reasonably priced selection that I have yet to find here.  In fact, I actually found a yarn that is cheaper to buy here than it is in the US.  I found Mirasol Sulka for 4.85 pounds.  The usual going rate for it in the US is from $8 to $10, usually on the higher side.  Even with the exchange rate, it is a lot cheaper in a department store in the UK.  They had, what looked like, the entire Debbie Bliss line as well as the Rowan line.  The folks working in their craft department were helpful and the whole place was well organized and lit.  The entire store reminded both of us strongly of the Marshal Fields flagship store in Chicago.  It not only had clothes and make-up, but furniture and upholstery fabrics and things of that nature.  We also visited Liberty’s department store in the amazing faux Tudor building where they stock the Rowan line of yarns as well as a very nice fabrics department as well as a lot of knitting and crochet tools.

We then went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant that the Hubby knew of nearby.  It was here that I met the bottle that killed my resolve not to buy anymore yarn until Maryland Sheep and Wool.  We got a bottle of plum wind to go with dinner and for some reason, I ended-up drinking, well, more than half of it.  After our excellent meal, a very giggly Sarah with Hubby in tow marched (or, to be slightly more precise, careened) back to John Lewis for a little after dinner yarn shopping therapy.  I got 7 more skeins of the Mirasol Sulka, 3 in cream and 4 in navy blue to match some of the light green that was already residing in my stash at home.  I also got 5 balls of Freedom Spirit by Twilleys of Stamford that was quite reasonably priced.

Yeah, I totally fell off the wagon on that one.  I blame it on the drinks.  3/4 a bottle of wine and decent priced yarn within walking distance is a dangerous combination!

On the way there we managed to get a photo of me crocheting the iconic red telephone booth.

Can you see me giggling?

My lapse heralded the end of the night with the siren’s call of puppies needing to go to the bathroom as well as a serious need for some sleep.

Heute gibt es wieder eine neue Folge „Bildungsbloggen mit Caro“, die euch jetzt mal ‘ne Runde von ihrem Ausflug nach Bath erzählt. Da war sie nämlich heute mit Aline, Laurianne und Mathilde. Wer von Bath noch nie irgendwas gehört hat, dem sei gesagt, dass es sich dabei um eine 85.000 Einwohner-Stadt etwa 20 km östlich von Bristol handelt, die bereits vor 2000 Jahren auf Grund ihrer Thermalquellen von den Römern besiedelt wurde. Zu historisch? Dann versuchen wir es mal mit Literatur: Die gute Jane Austen, „Stolz und Vorurteil“ oder „Emma“, hat sich nämlich eine Weile später als die Römer auch am River Avon nieder gelassen und von 1801 bis 1806 fleißig Romane geschrieben, die heute vorzugsweise uns Anglistikstudenten vorgesetzt werden und mit Keira Knightley oder Gwyneth Paltrow in der Hauptrolle über Kino-Leinwände flackern. Das also zum Thema Bath.

Nein Quatsch, etwas mehr kann ich ja schon noch berichten. Heute morgen um 10 Uhr sind wir mit dem Zug von Bristol Richtung Bath gefahren und die Zugfahrt, dauerte im Übrigen wahnsinnige 15 Minuten, war ja so niedlich. Naja, nicht wirklich die Zugfahrt, aber das, was man draußen vorbeiziehen sah. Englischer geht es echt nicht mehr. So niedliche Wiesen und Hecken, kleine niedliche Cottages und pompöse Landsitze – einfach toll. Bath selbst ist angeblich auch ziemlich nobel, zumindest hört man das immer wieder, wenn es ums Thema Mietpreise und Shoppen geht, allerdings haben wir ja vorrangig Sightseeing betrieben und Schaufenster begutachtet. Richtig intensiv haben wir uns vor allem mit dem Römischen Bad und der Bath Abbey beschäftigt, die direkt nebeneinander liegen. Ich persönlich hatte ja irgendwie erwartet, dass die römischen Quellen sich etwas außerhalb des Stadtzentrums befinden, aber die liegen tatsächlich mitten in der Hauptgeschäftsstraße, in der Lindt-Schokolade übrigens als die Spezialität schlechthin verkauft wird. Nun ja, „The Roman Bath“ ist Baths Hauptattraktion und das merkt man nicht nur an den relativ hohen Eintrittspreisen, die wir dank eines 2für1-Gutscheins und Studentenausweises geschickt mehr als halbieren konnten, sondern vor allem an den Menschenmassen, die sich durch das Museum quetschen, dem Bill Bryson persönlich übrigens seine Stimme für den Audio-Guide geliehen hat. Wir sind also etwa zwei Stunden, gepresst wie die Sardinen, auf den Spuren der Römer gewandelt, haben Mosaike, Artefakte und (k)nackige Hintern beguckt; um dann natürlich auch das Wasser zu testen, das ganz schön warm war und ziemlich dampfte – das nur mal als Anmerkung, falls das auf den Fotos nicht so rüber kommt. Die Bath Abbey ist halt ‘ne Kirche – zwar eine ganz schöne mit witzigen Ornamenten und schönen Fenstern, aber nicht wirklich spektakulär oder irgendwie weltbewegend anders als andere Gotteshäuser. Amüsant ist nur, dass an der Fassade die Himmelsleiter dargestellt ist, an der alle Engel hinauf klettern und einer wieder nach unten muss. Zu genial! Nach unserem Kulturprogramm ging’s dann auf eine leckere heiße Schokolade ins Riverside Café und danach noch mal auf Schaufensterbummel durch die Innenstadt. Gegen Abend wurde es uns dann aber doch langsam zu kalt, also wieder zurück in den Zug und ab nach Hause, schließlich wollen wir im Frühjahr ja auch noch was zum Angucken haben, wenn wir nochmal nach Bath fahren.

*** English version:

Here we have today’s brandnew episode of „Educational blogging with Caro“ who is now going to tell you a bit about her trip to Bath where she’s been to with Aline, Laurianne and Mathilde today. Who hasn’t ever heard of Bath before should know that Bath is a city with approximately 85,000 inhabitants, lying 13 miles east of Bristol, that was settled by Romans because of its hot springs around 2000 years ago. The ones of you that are more into literature will probably know Jane Austen, “Pride and Prejudice“ or „Emma“who did the same as the Romans just a bit later and not to do some wellness, but to write novels preferebly given to English students at university or shown in cinemas starring Keira Knightley or Gwyneth Paltrow.

But let’s get back to our day trip. We left Bristol at about 10 am this morning and it took us only 15 mins to get to Bath by train. And it was so cute – not the drive itself, but what could be seen outside. It was so English – green fields and hedges, lovely cottages or noble mansions. Bath itself is said to be pretty noble as well, especially when people are talking about rents and shopping, but as we went there for educational purposes only (haha) we only dealt with the main sights and did some window shopping. Our main fields of interest have been the “Roman Bath“ and “Bath Abbey“ that are situated directly next to each other. I actually would have expected the hot springs a bit more outside of the City Centre, but they are totally close to the main shopping road that by the way sells Lindt chocolate as a delicacy – so you can get there really quickly. But okay, let’s get back to the “Roman Bath“ that is one of Bath’s main sights if not its most famous one – what is not really hard to realise as they have a relatively high entrance fee, that we could halve with the help of our 2for1 voucher and our student ID, and because of all the people running through the museum with Bill Bryson himself speaking on the audio guides. We’ve been there for around two hours retracing the Roman’s footsteps and admiring mosaics, artefacts and naked Roman bums and tested the water, of course, that was by the way pretty warm and steamy – just to let you know, in case you don’t see that in the pics.

The Bath Abbey was a typical church – a nice one with funny ornaments and nice windows, but not really spectacular or different from other churches. Really cute was the facade that showed a stairway to heaven with little angles climbing up the ladder and one of them being send back because of not having been nice enough to get there. So funny! After our sightseeing program we went to the Riverside Café to warm up for some window shopping with a delicious Hot Chocolate. But as we were freezing after two more hours, we decided to go back to Bristol, but hey that’s okay as we definitely want to have some stuff left to see when we go there again….

Už jsme tu měli katedrálu ve Wells , teď přijde řada na Bath Abbey, plným titulem opatský chrám sv. Petra v Bath. Gotický kostel, který dnes v centru města vidíme je v pořadí třetí a relativně skromnou svatyní na místě, kde už od sedmého resp. osmého století stával ženský konvent a později mužský klášter slovutné pověsti. Roku 974 se tam konala korunovace “krále Anglična” Edgara (to byly ještě doby Londýn nebyl jednoznačným a nesporným hlavním městem a sláva westminsterského opatství teprve zapouštěla kořínky mezi trním a hložím jistého ostrůvku v řece Temži).

K ještě větší slávě se opatství povzneslo po normanském záboru, kdy došlo k přenesení sídla biskupa z Wells do Bath a na přelomu jedenáctého a dvanáctého století k mohutné přestabě a rozšíření kostela opatství, povýšeného nyní na katedrálu. Dlouho to nevydrželo, biskupové se odstěhovali zpět do Wells a bathská katedrála postupně chátrala. Obnova, v menším měřítku, přišla na počátku šestnáctého století a stavitelé ji stihli dokončit před neslavným rozpuštěním, vyrabováním a devastací klášterů Jindřichem VIII. a hrabivou novou nobilitou. Kostel nejprve opět chátral, byl však opraven z iniciativy Alžběty I. a rozsáhlé rekonstrukce se dočkal znovu v 19. století.

vnější pohled od jihu

pohled lodí k východu

fan vaulting, vějířová klenba je sice dílo architekta G. Scotta a jeho restaurování kostela v 19. století, ale dokončuje původní záměr stavitelů

detail klenby

loď k západu

pozůstalý chór

a teď sám nevím, na kterou světa a kostela stranu se dívám, abych pravdu řekl.

So, here is the start of my Project 365 photos from the honeymoon.  I’ve decided to do mosaics, because really, I can’t decide which one is my favourite for each day (unless there is an obvious one).

Day 161 6/10

Day 162 6/11

Top Row, L-R: Harry at Stonehenge; Stonehenge (18″ high ); Lacock Village

Middle Row, L-R: potted flowers in Lacock; more flowers in Lacock; Gorgon at the Roman Baths

Bottom Row, L-R: Bath Abbey, Us at the Roman Baths, Roman Baths

Day 163 6/12

Top L-R: a rose at St. Paul’s Cathedral; McDonalds & Starbucks next to each other on Fleet St., coincidentally it would be the location of the pie shop in Sweeney Todd; a Roman bust that suspiciously looks a lot like Ross at the British Museum; Harry taking pics of the Sutton Hoo helmet (it’s Viking) at the British Museum

Bottom L-R: Deciding our next thing outside the British Museum; tiled wall in the Underground that makes us both think of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; Harry at Paddington Station with his new Paddington Bear; the smallest house/building in London

Our trip over to the other side of the pond was great.  We had good weather the whole time.  We liked London more than Paris (we’re both bit of Anglophiles anyway).  When I saw one of the first neighborhoods I caught a glimpse of I said “It looks like Monty Python!”  London felt and looked like home.  It really reminded me of Boston.  Even though the driving was on the other side of the road it didn’t feel overly odd.  The people we came across were polite and friendly.  Driving through the countryside from London to Stonehenge, then Stonehenge to Lacock, and Lacock to Bath I could see why it is called NEW ENGLAND.  Parts of it reminded me of around here and other parts reminded me of Vermont and New Hampshire.  I’d love to go back to see more of Bath (we didn’t get enough time there) and to see other parts of the country: Liverpool area (my dad’s dad side of the family came from around there), Lake Country, Cornwall (my maternal great-grandmother’s side of the family came from there), and then of course Wales (more family from there, my maiden name is Welsh) and Scotland (and more family for both of us).  Today is a cloudy, drizzly day and it makes me think of England.  Since I was a wee one I’ve always thought it looked like England when it’s cloudy and drizzly, and even though we didn’t experience any rain there, it still makes me think of it.  I find myself missing it. 

The hotel was ok.  We had two seperate beds that we could not even put together.  The shower was small.  I barely fit width wise and Harry barely fit height wise.  I felt a like a fat American while there.  I did take pictures of the bathroom which I’ll have to share.  Our view was of the back of some houses.  The breakfast was a full English breakfast buffet.  We tried blood pudding.  It tasted like dry burnt sausage.  I had a very tiny bite.  That was enough for me.  We had a pot of tea every morning too.  They make their tea strong!  I make my black tea strong, but…wow!  I had to put milk in it, which I normally don’t do. 

Our first day we had Indian food for lunch.  Not the best decision after flying all night.  It was tasty.  I had Chicken Biryani grilled with a side of califlower.  It tasted like biryani, but different at the same time due to the grilled chicken.  They did not have cucumber raita with it, but there was some type of mint/yogurt thing that was for the papadums that we used as a substitute.  That night we decided to go on a little group tour called “Taste of London”.  I’m so glad we did ’cause it turned out to be the favourite thing we did there!  We went to eat at Chez Gerard and then had a river cruise down the Thames.  Dinner was delish!  For the app. I picked Warm Goat Cheese Salad.  OMG!  So freakin’ good!  The cheese was warm and with tomatoes and greens, so it was all the good qualities of goat cheese without the weird after taste.  There was a “regular” green salad that neither of cared for.  We both picked the roasted chicken with mustard sauce as our main dish.  It came with creamy scalloped potatoes and green beans.  The chicken while on the dry side was very yummy.  I picked the chocolate mousse for dessert.  Holy crap it was rich!  I almost started sneezing from it.  It was served in an espresso cup.  While it was quite yummy I could not have eaten more than that in one sitting.  Kinda wish I could have some right now.    Our tour guide, Carlotta was entertaining.  She sounds like she smokes three packs of cigarettes a day.  On the video of Big Ben ringing you can hear her talking.  We got so many pictures just from that boat ride. 

The next day, June 11th, was our Stonehenge and Bath excursion.  Stonehenge….not much to say about it.  It’s made of stone and it’s henge like.  It is a huge tourist trap.  I think it was me that said “it’s just a big pile of rocks”.  I was going expecting to be overcome by it’s hugeness or something.  It’s suppose to be a mystical place.  I felt nothing except rushed.  We decided to get sandwiches there because we weren’t sure when we’d get lunch.  When we got on the bus the tour guide informed us that we’d be stopping in a little hamlet for lunch (which we should have been told about way beforehand, like when we signed up for it) and passed around a clipboard with a menu for the restaurant.  After looking at it and deciding not to partake of it (11 pounds for fish & chips?!! I don’t think so.) we passed it on.  Sometime afterwards the tour guide says something along the lines of “If you didn’t sign up for the lunch, you may not get a chance to eat.  The little store in town may not be open when we go, so you may not be able to pick something up.”  We were not pleased about this to say the least.  So, while we were getting our sandwiches the bus started to slowly leave.  This is right after Harry and I talked to the tour guide (she was making sure we weren’t getting ice cream).  They could see us standing there!  We did manage to get on, but we were not pleased to say the least.  This tour company was different than the one we orginally signed up with (they personally didn’t do the out of town excursions).  We did let the young women at the Globus desk at the hotel know about what happened and our travel agent too. 

So onto Lacock we went.  It’s a very picturesque little village.  It is used a lot for movies.  Someone said something about Sense and Sensibility with Colin Firth was filmed there.  We spent our time walking around and taking photos.  Some of my favourite photos are from there, so that is the good thing about it.  After spending what we felt like too long there, we headed to Bath. 

Bath is gorgeous!  We’d like to go back because (once again) we didn’t feel like we had enough time there on our own.  We went into Bath Abbey and took pictures, and some around the square.  Then it was time for our tour of the Roman Baths.  That was pretty cool….well, hot actually.  The lower down we went the more humid and warm it got from the water.  It’s pretty cool walking around a place that was built in Roman times.  Lots of picture taking there, too.  After our tour we went back to London.  All the buildings in Bath are made out of yellow (almost golden looking) limestone.  There’s a Jane Austen museum and her house is there too, but I didn’t get to go to either.  Next time!

That night we had Chinese food at Inn Noodle.  Harry saw through the window that a guy was making noodles and wanted to try it.  I think it is the most authentic Chinese food we’ve had, besides what we had in Paris.  We got two different Dim Sums – Steamed Bun and Pan Fried Pork Dumpling.  I got Beef Hot Pot (and rice) and Harry had Soya Chicken La-mein.  All very good!  Boy when they say it’s hot, it’s hot!  I almost burned my mouth!  Harry also found a bell for his mom that night.

And with that being about the halfway point in London, I will stop for now.  Harry is working on a slideshow of our pictures.  We’re aiming to make it about 20 minutes long.  I think they way it is doing it in sections by day and what we did with different music for each place, it will be good.  Maybe I’ll get him to show me how to post it hear.  I’ll post photos from what I just talked about in a seperate entry. 

There was a creepy collection of faceless (and in some cases headless!) brides on display around Bath Abbey. Eeps!