Bath

Thought I should finally update about my trip to Bath. The city itself is so amazingly beautiful and my pictures really don't do it justice (although that may be more to do with my lack of photography skills!) We stayed at Holiday Inn Bath which was not as bad as the reputation that Holiday Inns tend to carry. The room was cheap and cheerful and did the job perfectly for us - very happy and would recommend it. Accommodation in the UK is a lot more expensive, especially in the more popular cities, than Australia so I was happy to find a relatively bargainesque hotel.

We crammed a lot into the 3 day stay, and tried to do as much as possible. Like typical tourists we bought a ticket for one of those big red buses that take you all around the city with a guide. Tacky, yes, but so worthwhile as you get to see the whole city in a few hours and really get a handle on the place you are staying. After seeing all the main sites we I indulged in a little retail therapy which was fabbbbulous. Bath is full of cute little boutique shops as well as your mainstream high street brands so there really is something for all shopping lovers.

Random fun fact about Bath: the building above was designed to feature all three traditional England class systems. The top of the building on the far left represents the lower class, the middle obviously represents the middle class (obviously) and the far right shows architecture similar to a castle, so represents upper class. I found this so cute and interesting, and never would have spotted it if it hadn't been pointed out by the tour guide.

If shopping isn't your thing then this is more than OK, as Bath has so much history that you could spend weeks here if you really wanted to explore everything. Most famously, of course, are the Roman Baths for which the city is named. During September these are open for special night viewings, and this was so worthwhile. Although I'm sure they are beautiful during daytime, at sunset and nightfall there is so much energy around the baths that provides for really great atmosphere. You also get a set of headphones in the admission price which you can listen to while walking around, but to be honest after I've been looking for about an hour I got weighed down and just read the plaques instead of listening to the audio commentry. I don't want to bore everyone to tears with history so I won't go into it, but it is really fascinating so look into it if you are interested!

The Baths at, well, Bath

View from the Roman Baths of the Cathedral

I very kindly released B from his boyfriendly duties while I visited the Jane Austen museum. For those who are interested in literature, Jane lived in Bath for a short time in her life and it features in a few of her books as well. The museum is so sweet and I really enjoyed it, maybe because I knew it wouldn't feature any of Jane's belongings as there is next to nothing left. There is a lot to be learnt there, perhaps more about Jane's time period than any huge revelations about her, but still worth a looksie if you have time.

 Finally, we had afternoon tea near Bath's oldest house (what is a British trip away without tea and scones?!). The house, which dates back to 1482, has been converted into a tea room and is very quaint. Amazing to think how old some of the buildings are, especially when you think that Australia hadn't even been 'found' yet.

I want more of these right now