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Europe » United Kingdom » England » Somerset » Bath
June 3rd 2009
Published: June 9th 2009
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I woke up at 730 on the dot because Johns daughter Stephanie was up getting ready for school. I had to get ready because I was supposed to leave when John left to take his son to the dentist to make things easy. They made me some toast and tea and gave me some cereal as well. Wicked I even got to make myself a sandwhich to take with me. It really impressed me so much. The hospitality given to a stranger. WOW I met JOhns wife Paula and I think she kinda warmed up to me after talking for a few mins. We chatted about her trip she had planned to go to Miami with her friends. Then JOhn came back with little JOhn his son who was 16 from the dentist early because they had a schedule conflict or something. Chatted for a bit got a pic of us and then John took me with him on his way to work so it would be closer on the Tube! Got to his work in about 20mins and saw the Olympic village their building for 2012 Summer Games. HUGE tonsa construction all over. He was a bit late for work but he said that this wasn't an unusual occurence and I felt like we had more in common then I even imagined. We said our goodbyes and off I was to find the tube station. It was like 2 min walk down the way. Got my ticket and it was like 4 pounds which was kinda steep for an off rush hour ticket. Found my way with the Tube Map Paula gave me. Transferred at Oxford Circus to get to Victoria which was super simple. Crazy how big the tube is though. Found my way to Victoria and got outside to find my way around london for awhile. I booked a bus to go to Bath and a hostel there as well so I had a couple hours to walk around and get my bearings. So in no time I found Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye and Parliment. Biggest smile on my face.
Its really something you have to see with your own eyes. No picture will ever do the justice. There was a big protest actually tonsa security around parliment. They were protesting Sri Lanka and the torturing people have been dealing with there. I walked up the Thames and changed into shorts because it was quite warm. Went up to St James Palace where Prince Charles used to live I think. Bunch of guards around there on horse back.
Walked through there and wanted to get to Buckingham palace through the park but chickened out and had my lunch in the park by the Churchill Museum. I only had 30mins to make it to the bus station to get to Bath so I had to start walking.Went past the Palace gates and saw the end of the change of the guard all of em marching down the path. Some french people behind me didnt speak any english and i guess they saw my flag and thought bingo. Nope this Canadian doesnt speak 5 words of french. I knew what they wanted though, his wife needed a toilet, so i directed them in the right way. Made it there in my regular fashion just in the nick of time. Jumped on the bus and little did i know this would be a shit 3 and half hours.
Stopped at Heathrow and continued west. The bus was so freaking hot it was disgusting. Nothing compared to India but people werent used to this in England. No ac at all the fans were barely blowing anything and what came out was hot air. Sucked I was basking in my own sweat for hours. Well that did me a real problem when we finally got to Bath. I had mad chaffing!!! Not good cause I didnt have a map or know where the hell the hostel was. Found the tourism place by the Roman Baths and got info about the hostels and sights in town. She didnt really do much help other than give me a map though. I was lost for well over an hour trying to find this damn place. Walking this way and that. Finally i went to the train station cause it was supposed to be right around there and asked. She directed me right up the street. Wiggling my way up sin major pain I finally found it. Problem was that I made a reso for the next night. Luckily for me this wasnt a problem there was still room for me. Went upstairs to find the room. I was at the top so nothing was easy for me at this point. OUCH i can still
Westminster Abbey ChurchWestminster Abbey ChurchWestminster Abbey Church

First sign of Royalty
feel it. i got the stupid pin code wrong about 10 times then finally i was in. Got changed and put on some cream i had. Didnt really help at all but rugby was on and i wanted to watch the Lions so I set off to find a pub. FOund the pub and ordered a real ale from the bar man. Game was 20 mins in and I was loving it. They were on a tour in South Africa playing teams down there. They were made up British and Irish players. I asked a guy about which local brew was the best to taste and he pointed out a few. I ended up chatting to him awhile cause he was from Bath origionally and he had been to Victoria as well. I got some insider tips on what to do in Bath. He was kind of upset I wasnt stayin any longer but he gave a walk to try out. It went up to the top of the hill where everyone lived because back in the day everything down here was underwater. So he drew out a map saying that every tourist map ended where everything started I would want to see. ´Charles Dickens house Mozarts house tonsa famous ppl lived in Bath. So after dinner I went to print out my ticket for the morning cause nothing would be open and lucky because this place was closed in 20mins as well. Printed it out and got myself some moleskin for the walk. That helped a ton for a awhile anyways. Way up the hill it was. I went a funny route so I never saw too much I kinda was lost the whole time but it was a good long walk. Got dark quick. I went way to far over and had to walk my way back. Painful little walk it ended up being now that I remember. Saw a really cool circus they called it where it was an apartment in a circle. Huge. I made my way back to the hostel and everyone was just getting ready for bed around 12. I had a great shower and then went on the net for a bit. I was only allowed 30 mins cause they only had one working. Everyone kinda went to bed at the same time it was weird. Switched off the light and that was it.



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