Weekend Bath-ed
Dec. 4th, 2007 07:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jayIt was a soggy weekend, although it was sunny and clear on Saturday morning when we left Paddington Station on a 2-hour westward train for Bath. The station's luggage check office ("left luggage") has a display window with examples of abandoned suitcases and a 6-foot tagged Paddington Bear... cute.
Arriving in Bath, which is beige-yellow from the local limestone used for most buildings. It gives the town a uniform, tidy, almost Disney-esque appearance, IMO. We checked into out 1756-vintage Georgian townhouse B&B (between the Circus and Royal Crescent) then headed back downhill to the abbey, catching a minibus tour that took us to Stonehenge and to Lacock, a small preserved village. At Stonehenge... there is a tunnel that takes one from the visitor center under the highway and thence to the ruins. As we emerged from the tunnel, the sunshine stopped... droplets began falling, and the wind picked up. By the time we were halfway around, we had gale-force winds and driving sleet mixed with freezing rain. When we crossed back later under the tunnel... it stopped. Weird. Along the way, we saw lots of hedgerows, thatched roofs and half-timbered cottages in rural villages. It was a lot of fun.
After the tour, we went back to our hotel, retrieved our swimsuits and went to the bath in Bath -- a modern spa next door to the ancient Roman one. It was a bit watered-down... less mineral smell, and not hot, but still pleasant. Gender-imbalanced, too... there were a few men there with partners, but most attendees were women in small groups. The ground floor was swimming pool sized... clumps of people... floating with styrofoam beams... warm water... I said to Pat "this feels rather like a PPP..."
Then Indian food and back to the B&B. Sunday morning, I found a nearby geocache, then we dropped off our bag at a hostel near the station and went back to see the Roman bath ruins. Returning to the train station, I followed instructions and put our bag on the shuttle bus.... Pat went to find a restroom... the bus filled up and left. With our bag. They called ahead and it was waiting for us at Swindon. Whew.
Despite a missed rail connection, we arrived back in London in time for a candlelit Lessons and Carols service at Westminster Abbey... ethereal, lovely, and again both the familiar and not-familiar bundled together. And then I spent the evening after dinner getting my material ready for today's meeting...
Arriving in Bath, which is beige-yellow from the local limestone used for most buildings. It gives the town a uniform, tidy, almost Disney-esque appearance, IMO. We checked into out 1756-vintage Georgian townhouse B&B (between the Circus and Royal Crescent) then headed back downhill to the abbey, catching a minibus tour that took us to Stonehenge and to Lacock, a small preserved village. At Stonehenge... there is a tunnel that takes one from the visitor center under the highway and thence to the ruins. As we emerged from the tunnel, the sunshine stopped... droplets began falling, and the wind picked up. By the time we were halfway around, we had gale-force winds and driving sleet mixed with freezing rain. When we crossed back later under the tunnel... it stopped. Weird. Along the way, we saw lots of hedgerows, thatched roofs and half-timbered cottages in rural villages. It was a lot of fun.
After the tour, we went back to our hotel, retrieved our swimsuits and went to the bath in Bath -- a modern spa next door to the ancient Roman one. It was a bit watered-down... less mineral smell, and not hot, but still pleasant. Gender-imbalanced, too... there were a few men there with partners, but most attendees were women in small groups. The ground floor was swimming pool sized... clumps of people... floating with styrofoam beams... warm water... I said to Pat "this feels rather like a PPP..."
Then Indian food and back to the B&B. Sunday morning, I found a nearby geocache, then we dropped off our bag at a hostel near the station and went back to see the Roman bath ruins. Returning to the train station, I followed instructions and put our bag on the shuttle bus.... Pat went to find a restroom... the bus filled up and left. With our bag. They called ahead and it was waiting for us at Swindon. Whew.
Despite a missed rail connection, we arrived back in London in time for a candlelit Lessons and Carols service at Westminster Abbey... ethereal, lovely, and again both the familiar and not-familiar bundled together. And then I spent the evening after dinner getting my material ready for today's meeting...
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-04 08:11 am (UTC)Old houses are so wonderful... what was that one like?
we arrived back in London in time for a candlelit Lessons and Carols service at Westminster Abbey... ethereal, lovely
Goodness, that must have been something to be there in that famous place, being part of a real Christmas season service :-)
Along the way, we saw lots of hedgerows, thatched roofs and half-timbered cottages in rural villages.
I love the rustic countryside (as you know!) - Hope to go there someday :-)
So what was Stonehenge like?
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 12:11 am (UTC)The townhouse was comfortable and in good shape... I had to remind myself that it would be a colonial-era landmark, if it were in the US.
And joining a real seasonal service... I felt like part of it. It didn't hurt at all that our denomination at home is part of the broader Anglican community... and the cathedral, at twilight, 2000 voices singing hymns... that was special.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-04 03:35 pm (UTC)your trip sounds really good, and that makes me squee.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-04 11:28 pm (UTC)Ironically, one of the last things I did was leave my bag (containing a mildly illegal substance) in that very same Left Luggage office while I went to the US Embassy to replace my passport.
Sadly, despite passing by Westminster Abbey dozens of times, I never made it inside because it was always either closed or having services. I also never went to Stonehenge, but that was by choice. So you can tell me all about your visit later and I will genuinely not know about those things.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 12:17 am (UTC)Last night, after the play I had to sprint back to Charing Cross left luggage to reclaim my laptop bag, just before they closed at 23:00... finally getting off of the #24 bus, which was hopelessly stuck in gridlocked traffic at Leicester Square and running down Charing Cross Road, raincoat flapping... (grin).