Bath, England
After taking a convenient overnight flight directly from Florida to London, we landed at Gatwick Airport around 7:30 in the morning after catching very little sleep on the plane. We didn't have time to process how sleepy we were because we were trying to catch the next train to Bath as soon as we collected our luggage. Gatwick Airport has a train station literally in the terminal, which makes it an easy departure point for the surrounding areas. After transferring trains in Reading (with literally an 8 minute transfer window), we arrived in Bath around 11:30 - just in time for lunch!
Bath gave us an immediate introduction to proper English weather - light, consistent rain. Undeterred, we stored our bags at our hotel (Abbey Hotel, which is just a short walk from the train station) and set out to explore the town.
Hungry from (or is it for) travel, we popped into The Raven, a local pub, for some pies and ale (and cider). The pies and hand-pumped beverages helped us appreciate that we were truly in England. Although somewhat empty when arrived, the pub quickly filled up as the rain continued to fall.
Concerned that the comfort food and sitting too long would allow jet lag to set in, we headed outside for a self-guided walking tour. Traveler tip: our key to fighting jet lag is changing our watch to the destination's time as soon we board the plane and to keep moving throughout the day. The historical society's audio walking tour of Bath was just the ticket to keep us active for the afternoon. This dreary weather certainly encouraged napping...
Since the town of Bath is a World Heritage site, the historical society provides a free downloadable audio guide that helps explain the various Georgian architectural features as they evolved over time.
First stop, King's Circus - a roundabout (another sign we were in England!) encircled by Georgian townhomes lined with the three styles of columns. It's like a fancy cul-de-sac.
Next, we walked up the hill to the Royal Crescent, which is probably one of the most recognizable landmarks in Bath (besides the baths themselves). Royal crescent consists of - as it's name implies- a crescent shaped row of townhouses (Georgians sure loved their townhomes) with an expansive green lawn out front. On a nice day, you can rent chairs and enjoy the sun while sitting on the lawn - or so we hear.
Still listening to our audio guide, we meandered through the streets of Bath admiring the honey-colored rowhouses.
Nearing the end of our tour, we crossed Pulteney Bridge and continued down Pulteney Street stopping to admire a fountain. We could have walked all the way to that museum you see in the distance at the end of the road, but we were too lazy.
Walking back towards the Abbey, we stopped along the Avon River for a better view of the architecture of Pulteney Bridge, which is apparently one of only three bridges in Europe to have shops on it. Fun fact? The tour (and later our tour guide) said the bridge was based on the Rialto in Venice.
In the center of town, a main plaza containing the Roman Baths, Pump Room, and Abbey attracts many a daytripper. Seeing the queue (don't we sound British?) for the Baths,we decided to go back to the hotel to see if our room was ready and give the crowds time to go home.
Our plan worked. When we arrived back at the Roman Baths, nobody was in line! Admission included an audioguided tour (we chose to listen to Bill Bryson narrating). We weren't sure what to expect at this site, but were pleasantly surprised as it was much more than the main pool (or spa) seen in pictures. The current baths sit on the original Roman temple and bath complex dating back 2000 years. The tour led us through rooms with artifacts and onto a boardwalk suspended over archaeological excavations.
Eventually, we visited the main pool, which now lies in the shadow of the more "modern" Abbey. The stones surrounding the pool are original so we felt like we were really walking in the footsteps of Romans. At the end of the tour, we stopped at the water fountains (a must-do for all tourists) to taste the healing waters that helped reestablish this town as a destination in the 1600s. Although we had been warned of how awful the water supposedly tastes, we didn't think it was as bad as the hype - that must say something about our local water at home.
We left the baths just in time for the 5:30 Evensong in the Abbey. Settling into the pews with the hymnals seemed like a wonderful idea. However, shortly into the service, we realized that the calming voice of the minister and organ music may have sent our jetlag into overdrive. Perhaps, this was a bit too aggressive - albeit lovely- of a plan.
We managed to stay awake for the duration of the service, but headed straight to Garrick's Head, a pub, to catch a second wind. Since we had been in England for nearly 12 hours at this point, it seemed borderline criminal that we had yet to have any Fish-n-Chips. Although it sounds cliche, the friendly and chatty gentleman on our flight said that Fish and Chips was his favorite comfort food - so it's not just for tourists after all! After sampling the authentic version at Garrick's Head (with amazing batter and mint mushy peas), it may be one of our favorite comfort foods too.
As dusk settled on Bath, we had met our goal of making it through the day without naps, which would definitely help smooth the transition into the our new timezone. By this time, daytrippers had left and were replaced by "hen" and "stag" parties (i.e. bachelor and bachelorette parties), which descended upon Bath for a night of merrymaking. Exhausted, we left the revelry to the four or five groups we passed on the short walk home to finally catch up on some sleep.
Mad Max Tours - Stonehenge, Avebury Circle, and the Cotswolds
Well-rested, we woke early and wandered around Bath while enjoying the peacefulness and empty squares. As we stepped outside of our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised to see the sun attempting to break through the clouds!
We had booked a daytour with Mad Max Tours so we could explore some of the famous sites near Bath - Stonehenge, Avebury Circle, and the Costwolds. Conveniently, the tour met right outside our hotel and Mike, our tour guide/local stone mason, greeted us as we boarded a small van. As Mike was informing us that it was not going to rain today, we noticed small drops hitting the windshield. Hopefully, his forecast wasn't just English optimism.
The tour started with a showstopper: Stonehenge. Probably the most famous and definitely the most visited of today's stops.Thanks to our early departure from Bath, we arrived at Stonehenge as soon as it opened to the public. Fortunately, the rain had stopped and we even saw some blue skies! Although we were one of the first tour buses to arrive, we sill had to share the world famous site with other tourists, but not as many as would appear later in the day. With some creative angles and patience, we were even able to snap some photographs without people in the background.
Currently preserved and operated by English Heritage, Stonehenge consists of an ancient stone circle and the site dates back nearly 5,000, which makes it equally as old as the pyramids.
Once up close, we marveled at how ancient peoples moved such massive stones more than 100 miles without the invention of the wheel.
Although partly sunny, the winds sweeping across the plains still caused quite a chill especially when the sun hid behind the clouds- at least for us Floridians; we were glad that we did not leave our jackets on the bus. Regardless, we were grateful that it wasn't raining.
Stonehenge used to allow direct access and touching of the stones. However, those days are past due to the sheer number of visitors. According to Mike, Stonehenge receives 30,000 visitors a day. It sure seemed like a factual statement based on the crowds arriving as we headed back to the bus. For a more personal and close-up experience, we read that you can book early morning tours through English Heritage before Stonehenge opens to the public, but that likely requires your own transportation. Maybe next time.
On our way back to the parking lot, we stopped at the brand new visitor center, which contained a small museum included in the price of admission. You could easily spend an hour just at these exhibits alone. As we boarded our van, we noticed that the parking lot was now full of large tour buses, which made us grateful for the small group that we were with (our van only sat about 15 or so).
With everyone onboard, we headed towards our next destination of Avebury Circle. On the way, we made a short stop along the side of the road to photograph one of the many chalk horses in the region. This particular chalk horse was Cherhill White Horse and was formed in the 1700's by a crazy doctor. Though not old by British standards, other chalk figures in the region date back nearly 2000 years.
Like Stonehenge, Avebury Circle is a pre-historic series of stone circles built by ancient residents thousands of years ago. It is a much larger, yet less famous site compared to it's well known neighbor. It's hard to appreciate just how big this is unless you view an aerial photo of the site. It's so large that a small village is now located within the outer stones.
Unlike Stonehenge, visitors are allowed to walk amongst the stones,
For a unique perspective, we climbed the outer grass mound that surrounds the large circle. This provided a commanding view down onto the outer and inner stone circles. Avebury Circle is certainly worth a visit due to smaller crowds and its closer, more intimate experience that visitors can have.
With stomachs starting to rumble, we headed to our third destination to find some lunch.On the way, we drove through cute villages and began noticing the thatched roofs along the way, which made the countryside seem especially fairy-tale-esque. Mike pointed out small straw sculptures of animals on top of some of the roofs. Apparently, each local thatcher has a signature animal that he may add to show his handiwork.
We arrived at our third stop - the town of Lacock, which was unusually crowded due to some festival. National Trust owns the entire village and leases out the properties to residents and business owners who demonstrate an established history or connection to the area. Lacock Abbey is located on the outskirts of the village. After Henry VIII's ordeal, the Abbey became a manor house and the family ran the town Downton style. Because it is so well preserved, the village has been used as a set in many series and movies including Pride and Prejudice (the best version...BBC).
After walking the main street, we stopped into the local pub for a traditional Sunday Roast. Carpenter's Arms, a 400 year old pub, seemed full of locals and character. We happily enjoyed our roast beef, potatoes, and yorkshire pudding (and of course some ale) before meeting back up with Mike for a quick walking tour of the town. A building that served as Harry Potter's mom's house in the feature films was just one of the highlights that Mike pointed out along the way back to the bus, but it's not pictured below.
On to our 4th stop and final stop of today's tour: Castle Combe in the Cotswolds. Castle Combe's claim to fame is being known as the most beautiful village in England. It lived up to the hype and consisted of one street. A stack of cakes outside of a doorway caught our attention and we deposited our coins into the "honesty box" to purchase a lemon cake for the evening's train ride. Mike informed us that the baker, Mac, was likely watching us from the Pub conveniently located across the street (so much for the "honesty" system). Even a one road village needs a pub.
Although we covered a lot of ground and made four stops on this tour, we never felt rushed. The tour allowed us to explore the area surrounding Bath without a rental car (or needing to drive on the wrong other side of the road). We enjoyed the knowledge that Mike shared as our capable and personable guide. With a long day behind us, we gathered our luggage from the hotel and caught the evening train to London, where we would spend the next five nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment