The weekend of October 31/November 1 Rebekah and I visited Stonehenge and the city of Bath, both major highlights for me for probably my life, but especially for this year.
We drove straight to Stonehenge on Saturday, and actually went in and walked around (it’s rather expensive normally, but we’re English Heritage members, and that’s one of the free perks to being a member). There was also a free audio guide for the site (like all good EH sites) that was mostly informative, although just a wee bit on the cheesy side. I have about a million photos of Stonehenge... i.e. a bunch of photos about rocks.
After we left Stonehenge we drove into Bath, where apparently there was a big rugby match going on... hence no parking. In the entire city. We finally found a spot and headed into the City Centre. After a little debate and more than a little confusion, we found the Jane Austen Center, which was a blast. Jane Austen is one of my heroes in life (not heroin no... sounds too druggy...) so the center was absolutely fascinating for us. They talked not only about her specific life but also about what Bath would have been like during the Georgian era. Absolutely fascinating.
We were going to stop and have a bite to eat there at the JA Center’s cafe, since they had a gluten-free sign on the cafe window, but oh my goodness it was crowded. So we decided to eat our packed lunch while walking to the Assembly Rooms. Now this is where the joke/dream/running gag of my Regency Era wedding started. I do however have my entire wedding mapped out now.
All I need is a willing male participant now.
After the Assembly Rooms we headed down towards the Pump Room/Royal Baths/Bath Abbey area. There was a wedding in Bath Abbey and we realized we were still a little hungry, so grabbed a snack (yay for hot chocolate!) at Costa Coffee. When we did go to Bath Abbey they offered us one of two guides... the adult which had boring info, or the children’s activity sheet. Guess which was we went? Oh yeah... the children’s activity sheet!
After that we did a little bookstore shopping on our way to the car since it was beginning to get dark. When we started out we pulled out the Sat Nav to figure out where Grosvenor Lodge, our B&B for the night, was located. Unfortunately the Sat Nav decided to spazz out on us, so after a long time of trying to decide what to do, we ended up driving around in the dark with me using the Blackberry’s built in Sat Nav, constantly refreshing the Maps application. Now we laugh, but then we definitely did not. Upon finally arriving at the B&B we found Colin, who runs the place, and has Celiac’s Disease. In our opinion this place deserves a 5 ****** rating... it’s rare for me to go somewhere and feel entirely confident that they aren’t going to screw up my breakfast and secretly kill me. I’ve had more meals remade because it’s come with toast on the side and I’ve had to give them the evil eye. Colin however, having the same disease understood all the issues, and even had some amazing toast and sausages (special treats for me!) in the morning. It was absolutely wonderful. If you go to Bath and you have CD, I really do suggest you stay with Colin, it’s well worth the visit.
On Sunday we went to the #1 Royal Crescent House Museum, which was completely furnished the way it would have been in the Georgian era when Bath was at the height of it’s popularity. After that we went to the Roman Baths and did a little time travel back 2000 years, from there we ran through the Pump Room to try our free glass of sulphur water (oh so gross) before heading back to Reading. A full and busy weekend by any standards!
Photos of us being crazy can be viewed here!
Photos of us being crazy can be viewed here!
