Chapter 3 - DAY 10 - Bath

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The day started with a very nice continental breakfast in the conservatory. We are pretty much English Breakfasted out, so it was great to have a plate of muesli, fruit and a fruit juice.

BATH
After breakfast we walked down through the Orchard to the canal to head into Bath city centre. The map was a bit ambiguous but we made it in the end. The first part along the canal is a narrow path on the opposite side to the tow path until we reached a bridge which took us across to the other side and the better pathway. It was a little confusing but all in all it wasn’t too bad; we weren’t on a deadline or anything so we poked around until we found the correct exit from the tow path and the right road into the middle of town.

On our return to York we felt it didn’t quite live up to the impression we got from our brief visit on tour. Nothing could be further from the truth with Bath, we thought it was a fantastic city when we came through with Insight, after a short time walking around we quickly discovered it was all we expected and much more.

We hopped on to the Hop on Hop off buses that circle the city, in Bath there is one for the CBD and another that goes a bit further out on a Skyline Tour. One ticket covers both and the ticket lasts for two days – ideal for us. We took the city tour today and will do the Skyline one tomorrow.

One of the most impressive things about Bath is that almost all the building/developement in the centre of the city has been sympathetic to the original style of the historic buildings. Therefore the new and old blend seamlessly and the centre of the city is truely beautiful.

We drove past all the inner city highlights, some of which we had already seen and got our bearings. When we got off the bus we made the short walk to Sydney gardens next to the Avon River. It costs a Pound each to get in but that’s nothing compared to these beautiful gardens right in the heart of the city - lots of colourful flower beds, statues, river views and walking paths.

STREET THEATRE
I’ve really enjoyed the buskers and street theatre as we have travelled around, today there was a folksy duo – Rabbit and Pumpkin playing in front of the Roman Baths, they were amazing. We listened to a few songs and bought heir CD for 5 Pounds – seemed like a good idea at the time, will probably sound awful when we play it! The street performers certainly add heaps to the atmosphere of the cities they operate in.

TEDDY BEAR’S PICNIC
We then had lunch at Baths Oldest Pub the Saracen’s Head Tavern- nice ambiance, OK meals. We then had a bit of a look around the shops, Jeanette found a specialist Teddy Bear shop. She fell in love with a Bear that was less than an inch tall and cost 60 Pounds! But it’s Ok because ‘JUPE” (the bears name) was hand made by a teddy bear craftsperson (how many of them can there be in Taiwan? – to be fair she/it/he was made in hand crafted in England). Anyway not too much damage done and Jeanette is extremely happy with the new edition to the family. For the record I got a 5.99 Bath Rugby coffee mug – OK, and maybe a locally hand crafted ‘Bath style’ glass vase.

Really enjoyed tea at the George last night so headed back down there again.

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Photos

Little Teddy
Teddy Bear hand crafted by Maria Blee. around an inch high and with a 60 pound price tag-Dont convert to NZ dollars-will only upset me :)

Sydney Gardens
Simply Stunning

Rabbit and Pumpkin
Folksy Buskers - were really good

Really!
Could have got a 2ft high Paddington Bear (with gumboots) for 20 Pounds.