Day 17

What a day! Bath was just as amazing as I thought it would be and better! We left from London’s Paddington station at 8:30 this morning and it only took about an hour and a half to get to Bath.



The train ride was really nice. There weren’t many people traveling this morning, so only a handful were in my coach. The English country side was, of course, beautiful to look at on the way there, and the ride really didn’t seem all that long. I sat behind a group of about four or five men who couldn’t stop talking (loudly) about how “bloody ill” it made them to lose that goal to the Americans in the World Cup match last week. It was kind of funny to listen to them – football, or soccer, is what people LIVE for here. I suppose you could compare the World Cup to how Americans feel about the Super Bowl, but it seems even bigger than that to me. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t hear someone talking about this match or that match, what the standings are, what the odds are, that “bloody traitor” David Beckam, ect.

When we arrived, we went straight to the main square of the city (where Bath Abbey is located and the Roman Bath Houses) to get our tickets for the Jane Austen Walking Tour.



We actually saw a couple that had just been married taking pictures outside the abbey! The tour was incredible. We saw many different areas of the city, including the Roman Baths, the Circus, Royal Crescent and various different buildings and areas that Jane Austen mentions in her novels.













One nice thing our tour guide (a native of Bath) did was bring us to different points in the city and read excerpts from Northanger Abbey or Persuasion that mention the exact spot we were standing in. It was really cool to see where all of Austen’s inspiration came from, and I LOVE that I will now be able to picture these places when I read the books.

When the tour ended, we walked around the Jane Austen Centre for a while and I bought a copy of Northanger Abbey, which is mostly set in the city (so cool to have a copy straight from Bath). Next was lunch, and it was DELICIOUS! We basically walked around until we saw something that looked good, and ended up picking a hamburger place (go figure). Seems like most of what I’ve eaten this trip are pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches and cereal. This hamburger I got, though, was VERY good. It was a BBQ burger that came with chips (fries). I was impressed with it.

We went down to the river to try and find a boat tour. We were a little disappointed because when we got there, it looked like none of the boats were running. We did finally run into one that was boarding, however, and they had room for us! It’s a good thing the tour worked out because it provided some of the biggest belly laughs of the day. Everything started out smoothly - it was such a beautiful ride down the Avon River, complete with hot tea (not to mention a student discount on our tickets) so we were enjoying it.





Lauren and I kept noticing people in long gondola-style boats going down the river, and they all seemed to be having a tough time steering them and controlling them in general. We saw a few people get stuck in the bank of the river while they were trying to avoid collision with our boat, so that was pretty funny. One group we passed was two guys and two girls, and they were happy and waving to us right before one of the girls discovered a bug flying around in her shirt. She freaked out, started screaming like I’ve never heard a human scream in my life and nearly flipped the boat over. It was hilarious to say the least.

We got down to the area of the river where the boat was going to turn around, so it docked to let some people off before heading back. The tour guide came back on the mic after about 15 minutes as the boat was pulling away from the dock. In the midst of his commentary about the history of the river, we heard, “WHOA, WHOA! STOP!” Some people in the gondola-boats were screaming at us from the water to stop because our boat was still tied to the railing of the dock, and we were dragging it away from the bank. Not kidding.



All I could do was laugh (I realize this might be a little insensitive to our guide who was really upset at that point, but come on – that’s funny. It was like America’s Funniest Home Videos funny).

All in all, it was a successful trip and I saw and experienced things I know I will never forget. Bath is a beautiful city with a lot of history and charm. I definitely want to go back someday. :]

Tomorrow, I continue my globetrotting and head to Wales for the day. I will be visiting Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and Caerphilly Castle. I can’t wait to see what this area has in store!