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Published: March 25th 2009
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Last weekend I just stayed in Bangor. Friends from home came to visit others here, so we just spent time with them. I didn’t go anywhere, but I got a lot of work done on my essays and journals, so the weekend here really was worth it.
During OP on Tuesday, we went sailing on the Menai Strait! It was a lot of fun and something very new to me. It was an absolutely gorgeous day but there was one problem: no wind. Wind is pretty essential to sailing, so we were stuck out in the strait without a paddle! We were actually being towed around by the motor boats more than we were sailing. But we did get a gush of wind for about 5 minutes and learned to sail, so that was fun.
Sara and I decided to create our own wind by rocking the boat back and forth. When she stood up and rocked, it worked really well. When I tried, I caused us to capsize! Not exactly what we were trying to accomplish, but it certainly was worth it! It was a lot of fun to experience that, so once we got back in our
boat, we decided to take another swim. Without wind, we had to provide our own excitement, so we had a good day in the salty water of the Menai Strait.
That night (St. Patrick’s Day), our British friend Steve had his birthday party. The theme was 300 (the movie)! It was a Spartan party, so the girls wore togas and the guys were in full Spartan costume. It was a lot of fun to go to the pubs dressed like that while everyone else was dressed for St. Patrick’s Day.
A few of us had been thinking of going to Stonehenge this weekend but kind of put off the planning and everything, but on Thursday night, Steven and I decided we were still going to go. So Friday morning we left Bangor for Bath. We went around the city and saw Bath Abbey that morning. Then we took a tour to Stonehenge that afternoon. Even though it is just a circle of large stones that have fallen down, I still enjoyed it a lot, and I learned so much about it as well. I thought Stonehenge was really cool. Our tour also took us to Lacock, which is
a tiny village, but the site of the filming of Harry Potter, and the original Pride and Prejudice, so it was neat to see those places.
When we got back to Bath, we went to the Roman Baths, which I thought were amazing! I can’t imagine how advanced the Romans were when they came to England in 43 AD. Plus, what they built was still there which blows my mind! The warm water still bubbles up from the ground, and it is truly an amazing sight. I really enjoyed seeing the baths and hearing the stories about the Romans.
Because we booked this trip on such short notice, we ended up staying at Barceló Combe Grove Manor Hotel, which was like a resort! But our room was still fairly cheap for it being such short notice. It was nice to have a TV, normal-sized bathroom, nice bed, and breakfast served to us in the morning. It was a bit nicer than Bob’s breakfast in Amsterdam as well, so we weren’t complaining.
When we got back into Bath, we went on a walking tour of the city and saw all of the different architecture and learned all about
the history of the city. We were taken to Queen’s Square, The Circus, Royal Crescent, Pulteney Bridge, and so many other things. The Circus and Royal Crescent are homes lined up in a large arc shape. They are really nice homes, very valuable, and Nicolas Cage owns one of them. Pulteney Bridge is a bridge that has stores on both sides of the road on the bridge. It is one of 4 of those types in the world, and built to model the one in Florence, Italy. It crosses the River Avon, which is where some of the water that is so important to the city comes from.
After the long tour, we ate Fish & Chips, watched Bath’s rugby team, walked around a bit, and headed back to Bangor. I definitely enjoyed that short, but necessary trip. I was so glad Steven and I got to go, and we definitely made it a worthwhile weekend. Stonehenge is one of those wonders of the world that you just need to see, so we can check that of our list! And Bath was rich with history, so I, being the history nerd, really found it intriguing.
The next OP
activity was sea level traversing. In laymen’s terms, it is scrambling alongside the coast of the sea, hanging onto the cliff with only sea below, going into caves, and jumping off the cliff into the sea. It was a blast! It was similar to gorge scrambling, but definitely more of a risk, because we either hung on to the cliff and made it successfully, or we fell in. Thrilling, to say the least! I did not cause any problems this time and capsize a boat or anything like last time. But we all got wet this time, so it was a lot of fun!
Because this coming weekend is the beginning of our Easter break, the next time I get to blog will be in 3 weeks, but by that time I will have been to London, Norway, Rome, Venice, Prague, Berlin, Krakow, and Ireland. I will have plenty to tell you then, so you can wait anxiously for that blog (or blogs) to be posted.
Until then, wish me happy trails!
Cheers
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