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Published: June 19th 2010
Hey there,
So we are now in Bath. We leave tomorrow early in the morning for Manchester. First off, it is the first time I go somewhere else in the UK than London. Bath is a quiet city with lots of older people and an amazing architecture. This place as a real charm but there is not much to do.
We arrived at noon and walk directly to the hostel which is about 50 meters from the train station. The room wasn’t ready but they gently took our bags behind the front desk for the day. We were supposed to book a tour of Stonehenge the next day, but as it was recommend by the tourist information clerk we train to the nearest town and took place on the actual Imperial Bus tour to Stonehenge (about an hour out of the city). Stonehenge is an amazing place. I always wanted to visit it. The site is in the countryside and there is nothing but farm around. Only problem, it is between two highways that disconnect about 100 meters before. Anyway, the student fare is of 6£ and they give you an audio guide to listen to the many stories
about this mystic place. After only 10 minutes I throw the audio guide away and start focusing on the rocks. At some point during the visit you are at only 5 meters from them. It’s simply an amazing site. Hope we one day know more about it.
To get to and out of Stonehenge, we drove about an hour each way. The route is extremely small and packs at some point. The drivers who are very experiment drive very fast. However the worst thing that could happen, actually happen. A little girl on a bike hesitates at an intersection and got hit by the bus. I don’t know how but she looks ok and only had minor injuries. The driver was in shock and we wait for several minutes to, first make sure the girl was alright, and let the driver calm down. The shame is that we were only 5 minutes away from destination.
We then buy groceries and cook at the hostel for the first time on this trip. It is great because it is the best way to save a lot of money and I was tired to eat cold food. We were supposed to go
out and watch the England Football Game but we decided to watch it at the hostel with some staff and the owner. The game was very bad by the way.
Today, we did our small things and try to figure out how to arrange all our Problems with Desjardins. We then walked around the city for an hour or two. Bath as I said earlier as a very unique architecture. All the buildings look great and it really charms you. The only major site of interest is the Roman Bath museum. It is a thermal source who is the reason why this place excited. You can see the foundation of the different building of the temple and see the great King bath whose water is naturally at 46 degrees. However the entry fees are of 10£ and we were not planning on visiting it. We, after our walk around the town, sat in an Irish pub to watch the Holland game. The pub was nice and there was a lot of local and one guy from Czech Rep. The one guy start buying us beer and chatting with us. Only problem was that it was extremely boring and it
took us an hour to find a way out. We left so fast that I really had to go to the washroom and rush in the first building which was the Bath Museum. The museum is very large and there is a free section where you can look at a smaller bath from a small balcony, taste the water and see the pump room (an expensive restaurant full of tourist walking around the tables). We walk by the pump room and the bathroom where only downstairs two corridors away from the main entrance. I then notice a corridor that was leading behind the first museum room. We walk by this corridor and fit ourselves in the museum by the small window door making sure no one notice us and visited the museum without paying. This is not nice I know but honestly, why not! The museum is certainly nice and is an Unesco heritage site but is for sure not worth 10£.
The hostel:
Bath Backpackers: The location is great at only 50 meters of the Train, you are in the middle of the city and everything you can need is 2 minutes away. The hostel is managed
by a friendly international staff that will help you whatever what you need. It is an old Georgian Style building with a unique charm. However, it is a well-known party hostel, so you might need a bit of sleep once you leave. You also feel like there is more staff members in the common room that clients. There is also an extremely big section in the hostel that’s staff only.
In Manchester tomorrow!
Cheers,
Nick
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Heather
non-member comment
I really enjoyed your post about Bath and Stonehenge! It reminded me of my own time there, but that was years ago. Sounds like things are pretty much the same though, which is nice. My blog is looking for travel photos, reviews, etc, to share (like maybe of Bath Backpackers hostel, or a good bus company for touring Stonehenge?!). If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com. Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)