Bath baby!
Trip Start
Aug 11, 2009
1
23
Trip End
Dec 16, 2009
Bath, England, United Kingdom
Sunday, December 6, 2009
So with only a week and a half to go, I have, of course, managed to contract a cold. Grrrr. I think I can probably blame my weekend in Bath for that, as it was absolutely freezing there. It actually made me appreciate the "mild" weather that Norwich enjoys (comparatively speaking). The thing is, I don't want to blame Bath, because it is such a lovely city!
I headed there on Friday afternoon and met up with mt friend Teresa. We got to our hostel to find that we couldn't get in because their fancy electronic key system was down. Happily, one of the hostel staff members was a really nice Aussie guy and he recommended a great Mexican/Spanish restaurant to us, so we headed there while they got their system up again. The food was great, though we did have to wait for twenty minutes for a table. Bath was absolutely jumping last weekend! I wanted to go to Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant, which is in Bath, but the line was always out the door and along the street and you couldn't book. Still, Bath is a city full of excellent places to eat. Plus I've just booked myself in for lunch at Jamie's 15 restaurant in London on my last day in the UK, so that should be awesome!
Anyway, back to Bath. The hostel was pretty average and the showers were horrible, but I loved Bath. Teresa and I had so much fun! There are tonnes of tourist attractions, especially if you like Jane Austen. Highlights for me were the Jane Austen centre and the Roman Baths, which have a great museum built around them and a very extensive audio guide included in the ticket price. We were also lucky enough to be in Bath during their Christmas market, which was massive and so crowded that they had officials and police controlling the flow of people walking around the stalls!
The Bath Abbey is also worth a look and just wandering around the pretty streets, especially when all the Christmas lights are up, is a lot of fun.
On the Saturday afternoon we went on a bus tour to Stonehenge and the town of Lacock. Stonehenge was impressive, but the presence of hundreds of tourists, a highway nearby and the fact you can't get very close to the stones does marr the experience somewhat. It doesn't feel all that magical or spiritual.
I didn't know anything about Lacock, but am really glad I went there now! It's a beautiful village where there are almost no new buildings. The main street is the main street of Meryton in the BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice. The town was also the twon where a series called Cranford was shot. Not sure how many people will have seen it in Australia, but it's a great series if you like period dramas. Several of the buildings have also been used as exteriors in the Harry Potter films, for example, the house where Slughorn hides out (and trashes) in the latest film is in Lacock. And, wait for it, I can offer you an exclusive preview into what Harry Potter's parents' house (in Godric's Hollow) looks like, which will be appearing in the next film! How cool is that? Ok, well, only Caroline and Terri and a couple of other HP fans will get excited about it, but I thought it was cool.
Anyway, since I'm feeling rather sniffly, I think I'll end my entry here.
xox Hannah
Comments
omg it was the main street of meryton! too cool! and i enjoyed your HP points!