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Published: December 6th 2008
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I should have updated this blog a long time ago as I have done a wee bit of sightseeing. So..for ease's sake I'll include my time in Bath so far where I'm doing a PGCE in English, and a day trip I took to Stonehenge.
I love Bath. And I miss it! At present I'm in Peterborough on a teaching placement and to be honest, not much to see except tons of shops and a cathedral. It's flat, it's grey, it's full of motorways..not very handy when one doesn't drive. So basically I can't wait to leave for those reasons and others so I will describe my first 6 weeks in Bath where I will be returning very soon...
Bath is a very popular spot for tourists apparently, and even bog standard British people (!) especially from London who can make the trip to Bath in just 90 mins from London Paddington. I've done a couple of weekend trips to London from Bath and marvelled at the easiness of it, compared to when I used to live in Newcastle and then Edinburgh when the train took about 4 hours on a good day when there wasn't e.g. leaves on
Stonehenge
can you feel the majestic-ness?! the line (ridiculous) or even a cow blocking the line (it was alive and well, don't worry)! Anyway back to Bath. It's quite a small city and although that means that one gets to know it very quickly and might feel sometimes 'I've seen everything!' it's such a walkable city and so pretty that there's always something to do in a spare hour or two. I wouldn't walk around Peterborough for its picturesque-ness, that's for sure, which is what I miss about being in Bath.
Anyhow having been in Bath for a couple of weeks I decided to be a tourist and take an open-topped bus, you'll see them, red buses with 'Sightseeing' on them! It's a pretty good deal as if you're a student (moi) you can buy a ticket for £8, it lasts 24 hours and you can travel on both buses as many times as you like within that period..there are two buses, one that does the city tour with stops like the Jane Austen Museum and through Victoria Park, or you can get the scenic tour which goes up into the hills of Bath, where lots of rich people live with beautiful houses and where
Bath Uni is. On a clear day (and even when it was misty the second time I went) one gets a fab view of Bath. I would recommend doing both, and you catch the city bus from Orange Grove, which is the circle of grass and trees opposite Parade Gardens, the big Garfunkels and the Abbey. Buses leave approx every 15 mins.
I also decided that especially as I don't drive and wouldn't be in Avon for long that I'd take a day trip to Stonehenge. There are lots of these tours, best thing to do is go to the big Tourist Info Office which is in the big square opposite the Abbey, not the one next to the National Trust, the other one. Inside they've got several leaflets with slightly different tours advertised and one can buy tickets inside. I chose one that went to Stonehenge and Lacock, where lots of the BBC dramas (e.g. Pride and Prejudice!) have been and are filmed. Cost me around £12 and you meet at the same place almost as for the city tour - opposite the Bath aqua glass shop, on the corner of Orange Grove. I sat in the front
which has the best view but means you have to pretty much converse with the driver the whole way so bear that in mind when you choose your seat! Takes just over an hour to reach Stonehenge, we reached it by around 2pm. There were lots of tourists there but not overly crowded that they'd block all your shots or anything. I was thinking it'd be just a big bunch of rocks and in some ways it is of course but the setting adds to the atmosphere and they are pretty impressive to be honest especially once you consider the history and how these stones would have been carted here for miles with not a truck in sight!
On the way back we stopped at Lacock, which is somewhat spoilt by the presence of all the modern cars, which of course are all out of shot when you view BBC dramas but never mind. One shot you may know of Lacock if you are a Pride and Prejudice afficionado like me is when the Bennet girls walk into town and meet the army fellas, meeting Wickham for the first time and Darcy on his horse glares at him and
stomps off. All of that is set in Lacock. Very pretty and nice to walk around..especially as I bought some macaroons (my fave) from the village shop (love village shops)!
Next I hope to be visiting Cambridge as my parents are visiting from lovely warm Dhaka (which is where I'd like to be now, well anywhere warm to be honest) next weekend so we intend to do a quick trip to Cambridge which my dad went to uni even, as it's only 15 miles from my school.
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