Noel's Adventure(s): March 25: Bath

Last night was not fun. It's a long story but anyway, it was another 3 hours of sleep for me. I don't think I can keep this up. Got up at 6:45 to shower and get ready for our trip to Bath today. We were on the bus by 8:30. It took us about 2.5hrs to get there, maybe a little more because of the traffic. We drove around the city for awhile, our wonderful guide Britt telling us all about Bath. We learned that the whole city was pretty much masterminded by a father-son architect team who wanted the city to be built in a classical, Romanesque style. It was strange, but I could definitely see the Rome-ish-ness of it. Most of it is built from a yellowish stone that was mined near the city, and even modern buildings try to stick with the same or similar building material. We drove around "The Circus" and stopped for pictures at "The Royal Crescent," circular and semi-circular areas that were built at the height of Bath's growth and is very pretty. Then, we drove to the center of Bath and headed to the ruins of the old Roman Bathhouse. I remember this place very well from my first visit here when I was 14. The water was just as green and not-nice-looking as I remembered. The only ones allowed to bathe in it now are pigeons. Going through the gift shop, I was pleasantly surprised to see the same pair of earrings I'd bought there years ago. I was hoping to find them again, since our pair had mysteriously disappeared in the last year. They will make a nice surprise for Erin.

After the Roman Baths, some friends and I set out to find the famous Sally Lunn bakery where they make "Sally Lunn Buns." Apparently these are something you do not miss when you visit Bath. We found the place, and I ordered a cinnamon butter bun. It was amazing. It was about as big as my whole hand when I stretch all my fingers out, and very thick. It tasted wonderful. Then, we walked around the city. We went up to the "Royal Crescent" and I picked dandelions. Then we decided to find the Jane Austen Museum, but of course we somehow got mixed up and ended up going the wrong direction. Thankfully, people living in Bath are a whole lot nicer and friendlier than Londoners, so a helpful lady got us back on course. The museum was horrifically expensive and really didn't seem very genuine, so we just took pictures outside and left. We had wanted to explore the big public gardens there but for some strange reason they were closed. It was torture to be able to see beds and beds of blooming hyacinths but not be able to smell them! We took pictures of the pretty bridge, then noticed a sign in a pub advertising a deal on a pitcher of Pimm's and Lemonade, which was perfect. We enjoyed our drinks outside, with a view of the river on one side and the back of the Cathedral on the other. It was incredibly hot out. The weather channel had said 61 degrees F, but it had to be in the 70s. I was walking around in a tank top and I was still too warm. It was kind of funny, since Mom and Dad had told me they had gotten something like 16 inches of snow at home the other day. I am SO glad to be here!

The drive home was long and the traffic near London was pretty bad but I had some good music with me and was plenty amused watching the little tiny baby sheep frolicking in the fields. A lot of the sheep I saw today had unbobbed tails, so they looked kind of strange. I saw one field that was full of about 30 pure white Shetland ponies, plus one white and brown one and one full brown one. I have no clue what that was about! There were tons of pheasants and little deer in the fields, too. Back at home, I had vegetable stir-fry leftovers for supper. My friends were going out to a party with some of our British friends, but I knew I had to get to bed as early as I could. The neighbor had spotlights on seemingly directed straight towards our window, so I got creative and draped my two heavy scarves around that side of my bed. It looks silly, but at least it made it dark enough for me to get to sleep. Before I went to bed, I got out my book, and yep, there was officially enough light in our room to easily read by, and I didn't even have my glasses on!