Bath

Day Eight

Well, at 7am we were out the door!  And many of the household were up to say goodbye - Glyn has been getting up at 5am to check on a cow who may soon be ready to calf.  We weren't lucky enough to see this while we were here.

First stop was Warwick castle, a good 3 hours away - the three hours turned into more like 4 hours, as I missed the turnoff for the toll road around Birmingham, and we ended up going right through the centre of the city.

Warwick castle was great, but we didn't have enough time there.  There were school groups and people everywhere, which made it harder to get around quickly.  It is a huge castle, with rooms that we could walk through, unlike most of the other castles we have been to.

Next town was Stratford on Avon.  This was the birthplace of Shakespere, and we went through his house, and the Shakespere museum.  Whilst I am not a huge Shakespere fan, it was incredible being in a building that was so old.  Ann Hathaways house was also open to public, and just slightly out of town.  This was even more beautiful.  It was a tiny little thatched cottage with stunning gardens.  These photos I will attach, maybe tomorrow.  Sorry.

From here, it was straight to Bath.  Pauline, a friend of my family, had booked us into a local pub near the village Wellow, where she lived north of Bath.  We made better time than we thought, and were soon tucking into another good meal of Yorkshire puddings.

Pauline was very welcoming, and had everything at home all ready for us.  She even gave us a fire drill in case of emergencys.  My exit route was through the window, onto the roof of the neighbours house, where I could knock on the window of one of their rooms, and hopefully they would be kind enough to call the fire brigade.  It was actually really funny, and Sarah and I still laugh about it.

Day Nine

Pauline had breakfast all setup by the time I was downstairs.  Very formal but the jar of Vegimite was on the table, much to my delight.

Today we wanted to do a very full day exploring the city of Bath.  Pauline wanted to take us out for coffee at the Pump rooms in the Roman Baths so we planned to meet her back there after doing some other things first.  We used the Park and Ride system for the first time today.  We parked our car out of town, and caught a bus into town.  Makes parking a whole heap easier.

The Roman Baths were great - so much to look at and read, but as both Sarah and I arne't really great history people, we didn't read everything and were through there and onto the next thing before lunch.

We had lunch at Sally Lunn's, a beautiful resteraunt in the oldest house in Bath.  The Sally Lunn's buns are aparently world famous, and if it wasn't so expensive, I might have enjoyed it more.

We then went to the Jane Austin museum, where the shop had pictures of characters from the Jane Austin movies, and books and tea-towels and bookmarks and everything Jane Austin you could imagine.  It was great, and it was here that I bought my first souvenirs.  We also learned of the life of Jane Austin - not in fact as it is portrayed in the recent movie, Becoming Jane.

The shops in Bath are sensational - it really is the most livable city we have been to yet.  Not just becuase of the shops but it is definitly my favourite so far.

We went to the fasion museum, nothing special, and the Royal Crescent which was surprisingly nothing special either.  Sorry to be blunt.

It had started to rain, again, so we headed back for the bus.

Pauline had made dinner, and after dinner her sister Janet came over, which was lovely catching up.  They both send their love to all back home, and are both keeping very well.  We also watched the gardens show at Hampton Court Palace in London which Sarah would have loved to be at.  Its a shame that we weren't in London this weekend.

Early start tomorrow, again.  On the road by 7pm, so not a late night.