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Mark had booked Avon Guest House on Pulteney Road. It was quite easy for us to find the hotel on 11 May 2013. The hotel owner gave warm and friendly welcome to us, and explained us that there were a number of historic buildings within the walking distance in Bath.
After having a rest, we walked to the town centre. We popped in Bath Abbey and looked round the inside. There was a special exhibition of handmade needlework with the theme of “Praising God”, all of which looked very interesting. We popped in the gift shop and I bought a present for my husband.
I decided to walk towards to Royal Crescent. We followed on Gay Street via Queen Square and Jane Austen Centre, and walked uphill towards the Circus. There were quite a few tourists around the Circus and Royal Crescent.
Having followed the footpath along Royal Crescent, we reached the site of Royal Victoria Park and Botanical Gardens. It was rather gloomy and drizzling at times in the mid afternoon on 11 May. Nevertheless, crimson and pink cherry blossoms, magnolias, rhododendrons, bluebells, and tulips created colourful decorations on the lush
parklands and they encouraged us to explore. We also ambled on the Dell adjacent to the Botanical Garden.
After exploring the lush parklands, we felt hungry and entered the restaurant which was open before 6:00, i.e. Yum Yum, Thai, Kingsmead Square. Mark had curry meal and I had noodle, and we shared the spare rib of chicken.
The Avon Guest House offered guests to choose the time and contents of their English breakfast. We were given the form everyday and filled in the form on the previous evenings. On the first morning, they were confused with other guest’s orders, and we were given something different from what we had ordered. We didn’t mind, as, except for the vegetarians, most of the ingredients for English breakfast are essentially the same and people would normally choose the same thing.
After the breakfast, we walked to Holburne Museum. Having heard that it would be open from 11 o’clock on Sundays, we decided to explore Sydney Gardens on the back of the Holburne Museum. Sydney Gardens was a lovely park, with a wide variety of shrubs and trees and colourful borders, ornamental buildings,
and views of the canal. While we were walking along the canal, a couple of narrow boats were steering along, and it was a very charming scene. Having learnt from Jane Austen’s life in Bath by Maggie Lane, we looked at No.4 Sydney Place, where the family principally lived during the time they were in Bath. Sydney Gardens was her favourite spot and she used to enjoy various entertainments, e.g. fireworks and concerts held in the park. The scene of the park seemed to have been little changed from her time.
We also strolled through Henrietta Park in the mid morning. There were a lot of lovely shrubs and trees, and colourful borders in the park.
After 11 o’clock, we started looking round the Holburne Museum. We were invited to see 4 or 5 rooms on the three floors. We admired excellent collections of still life pictures, masterpieces by Gainsborough, Zoffany, and Brueghel, beautiful silver collections, porcelain, figures, needlework, and miniature portraits. We felt it was very generous of the custodian to offer free entry to visitors. We had lunch in the stylish café with the view of Sydney Gardens.
After
the lunch, we walked to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy on New King Street. It was located in the quiet residential area. After paying for the admissions, we were invited to see the film of life of William & Caroline Herschel. The film showed how they lived in Bath, how William remodelled the telescope which Galileo had invented, which allowed him to discover the Uranus and Caroline to discover the Comet. Next, we looked round the Georgian Kitchen, which hasn’t been changed much since their time, and strolled through the garden where William Herschel discovered the Uranus. We looked round the Drawing Room, Music Room, and Dining Room. William Herschel was known as a man who had discovered the 7
th planet. However, he spent half of his professional life as a musical composer, teacher, and performer. There were a number of authentic music instruments, e.g. square piano, the Louis XVI harp, and his music books displayed. Having seen the film and learn from the documents, Caroline acted William’s mentor like Galileo’s daughter. It was Caroline who supported his music career, made his achievements immortalised after his death, as well as discovering the Comet through his remodelled telescope.
It was 4 o’clock when we finished looking round the William Herschel Museum, so we gave up visiting Jane Austen Centre.
We went to the Italian Restaurant for dinner. We had pizza and dessert, both of which were delicious.
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