Blogs from Somerset, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 6

I devoted most of Thursday to Jane Austen. I visited the center at 25 Gay Street where her family lived for a short time after her father died in 1805 and shortly before they left the area for good. The guides are all dressed in Georgian period costumes and bear name tags like "Lizzie Bennett" or "Catherine Moreland," Very knowledgeable, they led us through the Austen family, parents and children, and their links to Bath. As you may know, there is only one portrait of Jane verified to have been drawn from life - an unfinished, unflattering attempt by her sister Cassandra when Jane was about 35. But the center has obtained a wax figure likeness of Jane that does a remarkable job of bringing her to life in about her mid twenties. The rooms are ... read more

Geo: 51.3814, -2.35745Today I started off by ducking down to the train station to get my tickets for tomorrow and Friday. On the way back from the station I spied the local catholic church and decided to pop in for a quick look. It was a church...I really gotta stop visiting them, it's just not working for me anymore. That being said I went to Bath Abbey after seeing the church, it does dominate the town center, I could hardly avoid it. It was another one of those churches which has graves under the floor, so I was walking around on the inscriptions. So many of these are worn completely down. All that money they paid to be remembered for an eternity, and their stones are as worn as if they were out in the open ... read more

We arrived at the Lighthouse Guesthouse, Tytherington after a quite stressful journey- the road map and Sat Nav having conflicting views. Mum trusted the Road Map; Dad the Sat Nav. I was glad when we finally drove into a gravel courtyard with a Barn converted guesthouse surrounding it. We received a warm welcome and a quick tour around, even though it was getting on for half past eight. Our room was quite basic but clean and comfortable. The whole place had a peaceful vibe, herb teas and decaf coffee on the tea tray in the room. Reading the info booklet, we discovered that all the food was gluten and diary free. We hadn’t expected such a health inspired stay, but we were up for a new experience and as my Mum has Coeliac disease it was ... read more

I woke up without an alarm this morning and it was fabulous. Unfortunately, a girl in the room took the outlet near my bed so I wasn’t able to charge my stuff up. It was a rough night of sleep because people kept coming in at every hour of the night. Praying my hostels will get better! I took my time getting ready and grabbed a breakfast bar before I headed out for the day. I walked around the city and got to see most of the cool sights. I saw the Roman baths building, and partially in it. I was too cheap to pay 14 pounds to see a huge pool. I saw the Bath Abbey and walked around some of the cute little shopping streets. For lunch I ate a Cornish pasty, this time ... read more

Today Laura and Joe and I bid farewell to our wonderful friends Ulf, Andrea, Anne, and Lars, and got on a plane for Bristol, UK. From there, we took a bus and a train into Bath. Our first day in Bath was pretty uneventful. We ate lunch, checked into our hotel, and pretty much collapsed for a couple of hours until we decided to go for a short walk around the town centre. Tomorrow is our first Mad Max tour, where we'll be visiting Stonehenge, Avebury stone circle, Lacock Village, and Castle Combe--Can't wait!... read more