This is Suze and Bekah signing out.....we're off to Paris and Greece...thanks for following our blog. for pictures that correlate with the blogs, check out Rebekah's facebook page.
Cheers, Suze and Bekah
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Scotland....aka Freedom.
For our last weekend in the UK, we headed to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our flight was scheduled for 5:55 pm, so we requested to leave work early. We came back to the room and got everything together, leaving the nurses home around 4. Of course, then we had to take a bus followed by a train to get to Gatwick airport. By the time we arrived at the airport, it was just after 5 pm and we were starting to get nervous. We saw this huge line, or queue, that we thought was the line to get our Easy Jet plane tickets. After standing in line for a few minutes, Suze decided this was ridiculous and went to investigate only to discover that we were actually standing in line for security. We raced over to the Easy Jet counter only to have the man tell us that we were too late. The flight was closed! He referred us over to another desk to figure out what to do. We waited in another queue at that desk. When we got up to the lady and explain the situation, she responded that yes, the flight did close at 5:15 pm. It was 5:19. She called down to the gate to see if the flight was on time and if they would accept 2 passengers without checked luggage. Apparently, they said yes, and she took us back to the first Easy Jet counter we were just at. There, yet another man was to print out our tickets. He checked us in, but then couldn’t get Suze’s boarding pass printed. So another agent had to print her ticket. Meanwhile, we are sweating bullets. Suze had heard a man walking through the security line call for any passengers on our flight. So we run to the front of the line where a man says for all passengers with a 6:10 departure or earlier to follow him. He starts walking really fast towards a different part of the airport, with Suze and Bekah right behind him and another 15 people behind us. We get to the front of this emergency security line, for lack of a better term, and he starts asking to see people’s boarding passes. When the people told him that their flight was not until 6:20, he got really angry that they were so far ahead in the security queue…literally about to go through. He handled the situation really poorly and the passengers got quite irritated. They were arguing back and forth, and we were just willing the line in front of us to go faster as we were now down to about 20 minutes to take off. He threatened them that if they did not show their tickets and move out of the way to the back of the queue, then they were not flying today. He even went so far as to tell the security agents working there not to let those people through. We didn’t stick around to see what happened though, as we were rushing through security. We then began RUNNING through the airport with our carry-ons in tow. As we were running down the corridor towards our plane, we see yet another queue! We were still running though, dodging people. And then we realize, it really was a line and we were to wait in it. Despite the fact that it was now 10 minutes before take off. This line was waiting to get the tickets confirmed before we could go into that area of the airport. We waited there a good 15 minutes or so with no one giving us any indication of what was going on other than to tell us to move to one side or the other. Meanwhile, all the flights on the board for that area report that they were closing. We make it through running to the plane, only to be one of the first few people to board. Then much to our delight, our flight was delayed an hour! We don’t know why. And then on top of that we had a technical problem that also had to be fixed before we could take off. Needless to say, there was no need for us to have run through the airport as we did. (Are you exhausted yet?)
We arrived in Edinburgh shortly after 8pm and headed for the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel. When we arrived at the hostel, we were told that our room was in another building just down the street, the random red door labeled 34A. We opened the door to our accommodation and immediately identified the dodginess. The stairs leading upwards were concrete with about every 5th one or so carpeted. Of course, our room was on the third floor. After dropping our stuff, we went out in search of food. Bekah had been craving spaghetti all week, so we went to this little Italian restaurant just down the road called La Rusticana. It was absolutely delicious and tasted like a little piece of Italy. We split a half bottle of house merlot which was quite smooth and nice. Bekah had chocolate panna cotta for dessert, which she decided was not quite as good as the panna cotta in Rome, but was still delicious. After dinner, we went for drinks at a nearby pub where we had seen they had Foster’s for less than £2. We were enjoying our drinks at the bar, when Suze tells Bekah that these guys were checking them out. They were Scottish and quite drunk. But in the end, they bought us a Kronenberg beer, even though that is not what either of us was drinking and Bekah had requested shandy.
On Saturday, we got up early and had breakfast at a little place where our hostel offered a discount. After breakfast sandwiches and coffee/tea, we headed out to face the day. We began the day at the Edinburgh castle. The weather started out quite nice, and there was even a little sunshine. We had to wait in another queue to get into the castle, and it was quite an expensive entry fee. Bekah even had to pay for the audio guide, which was usually included in an attraction’s price. Inside the castle gate, there was a mob of people watching a ceremony. Turns out, it was in celebration of the Queen’s birthday. Even though her actual birthday is in April, apparently they celebrate it in June. We toured around the castle at our own pace. It was a traditional castle with large gray stones and lots of cannons. They had a beautiful tiny chapel, a memorial to fallen soldiers, and even a cemetery for dogs! The crown jewels of Scotland were also there. Upon leaving the castle, the rain came in and sputtered on and off for the rest of the day. This turned out to be a mixed blessing for Bekah, whose allergies were ferociously attacking. After Suze purchased a teapot that she had been eyeing in one of the shops, we discovered that we were very close to our hostel. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant on our street and it turned out to be the closest thing to real Mexican we have had since we arrived in the UK. Next, we walked the Royal Mile, a shopping area at the foot of the castle. We then headed to Arthur’s Seat, a former volcanic formation on the edge of Edinburgh and from which you can see the whole city. We climbed up it, huffing and puffing the whole way. It was a nice view from up there and we enjoyed that the city had a bit of nature that close by. After our hike, we were hungry again and stopped for afternoon tea. We then climbed the Scott monument in the middle of town. It is a beautiful old looking building with a kind of gothic feel. We climbed up to the top (287 stairs) for 4, 360º views. The staircases were tiny and winding. We do not know how anyone who is the least bit tall or wide could make it up. At one point these two small Japanese girls passed us coming down as we were going up, and it was a ridiculous sight with us pressing ourselves against the wall for them to squeeze past. It did offer magnificent views, but was a difficult climb, one we were still feeling the next day. After the climb, we went for a pre dinner rest in our room. For dinner, Suze wanted breakfast so we went to a pub where they serve breakfast all day. It turned out to be a pseuo- American diner complete with an Arizona state road map on the front of the menu. With Suze’s meal, came haggis and black pudding. Suze was brave enough to try both. Bekah did not try either. Suze was not a fan of either. After dinner, we went back to our pub with the £2 pints.
We awoke before 6 to catch the shuttle to the airport. We made it back to London without a hitch, not at all like our last experience. After a bit, we headed out on an adventure to find Wimbledon. It took us quite some time to find the bus stop. We knew where the bus would come to take us back from Wimbledon, but when we went there we could not find a bus stop going in the opposite direction. We finally found it one street over, and waited and waited for the bus. Just when we were about to give up on it, the bus came and we hopped off at the tennis center. We then had our very last high tea in London at the café thereL. It was delicious and served on white Wedgewood china. But the place itself was not really that classy, surprisingly enough. Ta Da.
Word of the Blog:
Haggis – mashed up sheep innards
Black Pudding – sausage with blood (lots of blood)
The traditional Scottish dishes include haggis and black pudding, neither of which are too tempting or delicious.
We arrived in Edinburgh shortly after 8pm and headed for the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel. When we arrived at the hostel, we were told that our room was in another building just down the street, the random red door labeled 34A. We opened the door to our accommodation and immediately identified the dodginess. The stairs leading upwards were concrete with about every 5th one or so carpeted. Of course, our room was on the third floor. After dropping our stuff, we went out in search of food. Bekah had been craving spaghetti all week, so we went to this little Italian restaurant just down the road called La Rusticana. It was absolutely delicious and tasted like a little piece of Italy. We split a half bottle of house merlot which was quite smooth and nice. Bekah had chocolate panna cotta for dessert, which she decided was not quite as good as the panna cotta in Rome, but was still delicious. After dinner, we went for drinks at a nearby pub where we had seen they had Foster’s for less than £2. We were enjoying our drinks at the bar, when Suze tells Bekah that these guys were checking them out. They were Scottish and quite drunk. But in the end, they bought us a Kronenberg beer, even though that is not what either of us was drinking and Bekah had requested shandy.
On Saturday, we got up early and had breakfast at a little place where our hostel offered a discount. After breakfast sandwiches and coffee/tea, we headed out to face the day. We began the day at the Edinburgh castle. The weather started out quite nice, and there was even a little sunshine. We had to wait in another queue to get into the castle, and it was quite an expensive entry fee. Bekah even had to pay for the audio guide, which was usually included in an attraction’s price. Inside the castle gate, there was a mob of people watching a ceremony. Turns out, it was in celebration of the Queen’s birthday. Even though her actual birthday is in April, apparently they celebrate it in June. We toured around the castle at our own pace. It was a traditional castle with large gray stones and lots of cannons. They had a beautiful tiny chapel, a memorial to fallen soldiers, and even a cemetery for dogs! The crown jewels of Scotland were also there. Upon leaving the castle, the rain came in and sputtered on and off for the rest of the day. This turned out to be a mixed blessing for Bekah, whose allergies were ferociously attacking. After Suze purchased a teapot that she had been eyeing in one of the shops, we discovered that we were very close to our hostel. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant on our street and it turned out to be the closest thing to real Mexican we have had since we arrived in the UK. Next, we walked the Royal Mile, a shopping area at the foot of the castle. We then headed to Arthur’s Seat, a former volcanic formation on the edge of Edinburgh and from which you can see the whole city. We climbed up it, huffing and puffing the whole way. It was a nice view from up there and we enjoyed that the city had a bit of nature that close by. After our hike, we were hungry again and stopped for afternoon tea. We then climbed the Scott monument in the middle of town. It is a beautiful old looking building with a kind of gothic feel. We climbed up to the top (287 stairs) for 4, 360º views. The staircases were tiny and winding. We do not know how anyone who is the least bit tall or wide could make it up. At one point these two small Japanese girls passed us coming down as we were going up, and it was a ridiculous sight with us pressing ourselves against the wall for them to squeeze past. It did offer magnificent views, but was a difficult climb, one we were still feeling the next day. After the climb, we went for a pre dinner rest in our room. For dinner, Suze wanted breakfast so we went to a pub where they serve breakfast all day. It turned out to be a pseuo- American diner complete with an Arizona state road map on the front of the menu. With Suze’s meal, came haggis and black pudding. Suze was brave enough to try both. Bekah did not try either. Suze was not a fan of either. After dinner, we went back to our pub with the £2 pints.
We awoke before 6 to catch the shuttle to the airport. We made it back to London without a hitch, not at all like our last experience. After a bit, we headed out on an adventure to find Wimbledon. It took us quite some time to find the bus stop. We knew where the bus would come to take us back from Wimbledon, but when we went there we could not find a bus stop going in the opposite direction. We finally found it one street over, and waited and waited for the bus. Just when we were about to give up on it, the bus came and we hopped off at the tennis center. We then had our very last high tea in London at the café thereL. It was delicious and served on white Wedgewood china. But the place itself was not really that classy, surprisingly enough. Ta Da.
Word of the Blog:
Haggis – mashed up sheep innards
Black Pudding – sausage with blood (lots of blood)
The traditional Scottish dishes include haggis and black pudding, neither of which are too tempting or delicious.
Windsor Castle, a little Londontown, and Tooting
This weekend we decided to stay in London. On Friday night, we laid low, going into town to a pub for some shandy, cheese fries, and WiFi. Saturday morning, we headed to Windsor Castle, which is apparently the Queen’s favorite residence. We had planned it so that we could arrive at Windsor in time for the changing of the guard. Well, we were there on time, but they did not have the ceremony that day! We still don’t know why not. The castle is huge and imposing. Made of gray stones and set high on a rocky hillside overlooking the city below. We saw Queen Mary’s doll house, which is a miniature version of a castle complete with gardens, a garage, nursery, man’s room, etc even down to the closets. It is extremely detailed and fragile. We were also able to visit the state rooms, which includes bedrooms, banqueting hall, dining rooms, and the china room. One of the most magnificent rooms was the Lantern Room, which is an octagon with beautiful wood and gold plated items lining the walls. The banqueting hall, which is long and filled with shields of family crests. After seeing all there was to see at the castle, and hearing more about the monarchy than we wished to know, we left the castle in search of food. We found a quaint restaurant called the Crooked House, which is just as it says, crooked. This was a little disorienting, especially when climbing the stairs or looking at pictures on the wall.
Once back in London, we headed for the Borough market, a famous food market. They had all nature of goodies, but we arrived only about 45 minutes before closing time. We had a few free samples, but did not eat a meal there. Everything smelled delicious and was so fresh. They had fruits, vegetables, meats, all nature of prepared foods, baked goods, just about everything. We were standing next to a baked good stand when they announced a 2 for 1 sale. Since it was closing time, they were trying to get rid of their goods. This was a deal we could not pass up, so we purchased delicious scones for just 60p. We left the market and headed towards the Tower of London. We did not go in, but took pictures of the Tower Bridge and walked along the river Thames. We crossed the Millennium Bridge, where you could catch a glimpse of St. Paul’s Cathedral and went into the Tate Modern, a museum of modern art. Since neither of us are much on modern art, we just walked around a bit. After we saw the Monet painting, we decided it was time to leave.
As we were making our way to the tube station, these people rode by playing loud music. The odd thing about this was that they rode a mobile bar with pedals. There were about 4 people pedaling on each side facing each other with a bar in between. Then there were also a few people just sitting on there. They were enjoying drinks and appeared to be having a grand time. This was quite strange and random. Earlier whilst complaining about the lack of cereal selection here, we had heard of a supermarket near the South Kensington station that sold American cereal. We went there to check it out. They carried many American foods such as Goldfish, Rotel, and Kraft Mac & Cheese. But everything was outrageously expensive! The cereal was £7! That is about $11. Outrageous! Needless to say, we did not buy anything there. For dinner, we decided it was time for Indian food again, and went back to Tooting. Here we ordered the dosa, which are like large flat (and when we say flat, think paper thin and crunchy) pancakes that you can dip in sauces. We have been informed that they are eaten for breakfast in India.
On Sunday, we decided to take a personal day and it was awesome.
Word of the Blog:
Dodgy = shady, sketchy
Wonky = crooked, cockeyed
While we thought it was dodgy that there was no changing of the guards, we enjoyed eating at our wonky café.
Once back in London, we headed for the Borough market, a famous food market. They had all nature of goodies, but we arrived only about 45 minutes before closing time. We had a few free samples, but did not eat a meal there. Everything smelled delicious and was so fresh. They had fruits, vegetables, meats, all nature of prepared foods, baked goods, just about everything. We were standing next to a baked good stand when they announced a 2 for 1 sale. Since it was closing time, they were trying to get rid of their goods. This was a deal we could not pass up, so we purchased delicious scones for just 60p. We left the market and headed towards the Tower of London. We did not go in, but took pictures of the Tower Bridge and walked along the river Thames. We crossed the Millennium Bridge, where you could catch a glimpse of St. Paul’s Cathedral and went into the Tate Modern, a museum of modern art. Since neither of us are much on modern art, we just walked around a bit. After we saw the Monet painting, we decided it was time to leave.
As we were making our way to the tube station, these people rode by playing loud music. The odd thing about this was that they rode a mobile bar with pedals. There were about 4 people pedaling on each side facing each other with a bar in between. Then there were also a few people just sitting on there. They were enjoying drinks and appeared to be having a grand time. This was quite strange and random. Earlier whilst complaining about the lack of cereal selection here, we had heard of a supermarket near the South Kensington station that sold American cereal. We went there to check it out. They carried many American foods such as Goldfish, Rotel, and Kraft Mac & Cheese. But everything was outrageously expensive! The cereal was £7! That is about $11. Outrageous! Needless to say, we did not buy anything there. For dinner, we decided it was time for Indian food again, and went back to Tooting. Here we ordered the dosa, which are like large flat (and when we say flat, think paper thin and crunchy) pancakes that you can dip in sauces. We have been informed that they are eaten for breakfast in India.
On Sunday, we decided to take a personal day and it was awesome.
Word of the Blog:
Dodgy = shady, sketchy
Wonky = crooked, cockeyed
While we thought it was dodgy that there was no changing of the guards, we enjoyed eating at our wonky café.
Monday, 1 June 2009
Baath
BAATH (this is they way they pronounce it. You will be made fun of if you try and do otherwise)
This weekend, we traveled by train to Bath. It took about 1 ½ hours, and we arrived in the city around 10:30 Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we learned that we could not check into our room at the University of Bath until 2pm. So to kill some time, what else should we do but shop and eat! We went to several stores in town, and it was one of our most successful shopping ventures yet. We found two items that we had searched for in London but had been previously unable to find. Mind you, we were carrying our luggage on our backs and it was a rather warm morning. So after a bit of shopping, we decided to find a place to sit and rest. We had sandwiches, tea and scones at a tea room recommended in one of our guide books, despite the fact that it was only around 12pm…not exactly tea time but Suze was in need of caffeine. We then hit the markets, which were quite a disappointment. Next, we took the bus to our accommodation on the outskirts of the city. We checked into our room on campus, and were pleased to see that we had several amenities such as coffee and tea for breakfast, a hairdryer, and a tv. After dropping off our stuff and freshening up a bit, we headed back into town. We decided to go eat at a famous residence of Sally Lunn, who is simply famous for her creation of the Sally Lunn bun. The bun can be sweet or savory, and is so huge that they usually just sell half at a time. Suze had one with cinnamon on top, and Bekah had the traditional one with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Both were delicious especially with a pot of tea, to which we both seem to have become addicted. After our snack, we explored the Royal Cresent and the Circus – residences that were built hundreds of years ago in the typical Georgian design for which Bath is famous. Almost all the buildings in Bath are built in this style with the same color stone, making it a very uniform city. During the afternoon, we sat in the park and people watched. There were some very interesting people in the park, as it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday with temperatures somewhere in the early 20s Celsius. The people here seem to think that is HOT despite the fact that those temperatures in Fahrenheit are somewhere in the 70’s. We were particularly intrigued by this group of guys playing football, or soccer as we call it. They were dressed in all sorts of outrageous manner, not the least of which involved hot pink stirrup leggings with a matching hot pink tank top. After our rest in the park, we went to have drinks and dinner before heading to our room for the night. Coincidentally, the weekend that we were at the Uni was their prom night! They had all manner of after parties set up on campus that night. We could hear them up into all hours of the night. But it seemed a good time was had by all.
On Sunday, we slept in a bit. We had learned that the accommodation office on campus would hold our bags for us so that luckily we did not have to carry them around all day. However the office did not open until ten. We were there waiting before they opened, dropped our bags off, and hopped on the bus back into town. We went in search of a traditional English breakfast. This is a fried breakfast which consists of fried egg, sausage link, ham or bacon, toast, a half a grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, and baked beans! That’s right…BAKED BEANS…like the kind you would eat with a hamburger at a cookout. We found a place to eat. Suze tried to get the beans on the side as she does not like them in the States and feared they would not be to her taste. However, the lady did not seem to know how to do this so Suze went without the beans so they did not contaminate the rest of her food. We were able to sit outside for our meal, and the weather was quite pleasant. After breakfast, it was time to see THE BATH from which the city gets its name. Bath is built around the ancient Roman baths and the Bath Abbey. The bath has been there since the early first century A.D when the Roman Empire ruled. It was a place of worship to the goddess Minerva as well as a fitness center and a place to do business or just have a bath. It was built around a natural spring, which was believed to flow with healing waters. The Romans designed a clever piping system to ensure that the bath would always be full of clean spring water. There are many rooms in the bath, and when the bath was fully operating, each section of the bath would have contained water at different temperatures to optimize bathing, swimming, and spa needs. You cannot get in the bath, however, as the water is not safe. It is quite green and murky now; though we were assured that during its heyday the water would have been fresh and sparkling. After our tour of the bath, we stopped for pudding and, you guessed it, tea at the Pump Room, a classy restaurant attached to the bath. The pudding was made from bath bun, they sure do love their buns in Bath, and was served with clotted cream ice cream. The dessert was the consistency of bread pudding. Neither of us cared for the taste of the pudding too much, but we both were in agreement that the ice cream was nice. After our snack, we headed to another bus that would bring us to visit Stonehenge. This is something that Bekah, especially, was interested in but we didn’t think we were going to get to do. We hopped on a purple bus driven by our tour guide Dan and set out on our three hour tour (and no, the Skipper was not there). On the drive, we got to see some of the beautiful English countryside. We also saw some other sites along the way. Hundreds of years ago, wealthy British landowners would carve huge drawings into the hillsides. This was made possible by the white limestone that lies shallowly beneath the vegetation on the hills. We saw a gigantic white horse carving but did not get close enough to take a picture. We also saw thatched roof houses along the way. As we approached the area where Stonehenge is, close to Salisbury for all you geography buffs, we began to see signs that say “tank crossing”. This is because much of the land in this area is now owned by the Department of Defense. After passing a field of sheep, we came upon the stones. Stonehenge is mysterious and monolithic, breathtaking and beautiful. The ancient structure, purported to be more than 4,000 years old, is roped off and no one can get close enough to touch it. However, this allows for excellent picture taking without Joe Tourist blocking your view. We walked around the structure with a handheld audio guide and listened to the theories and conjecture about what the stones are doing there and how they got there. In short, no one really knows. They do know that the shape of the structure correlates perfectly with the summer solstice. After our self guided tour, we got back on the bus and returned to Bath. We went back to the Uni to collect our belongings, ate jacket potatoes for dinner, and jumped on the train back to Putney.
Words of the blog:
Pudding – British word for dessert; Nice – used to say if something is delicious. In a sentence: see paragraph above
Uni – University. In a sentence: what Uni are you from?
This weekend, we traveled by train to Bath. It took about 1 ½ hours, and we arrived in the city around 10:30 Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we learned that we could not check into our room at the University of Bath until 2pm. So to kill some time, what else should we do but shop and eat! We went to several stores in town, and it was one of our most successful shopping ventures yet. We found two items that we had searched for in London but had been previously unable to find. Mind you, we were carrying our luggage on our backs and it was a rather warm morning. So after a bit of shopping, we decided to find a place to sit and rest. We had sandwiches, tea and scones at a tea room recommended in one of our guide books, despite the fact that it was only around 12pm…not exactly tea time but Suze was in need of caffeine. We then hit the markets, which were quite a disappointment. Next, we took the bus to our accommodation on the outskirts of the city. We checked into our room on campus, and were pleased to see that we had several amenities such as coffee and tea for breakfast, a hairdryer, and a tv. After dropping off our stuff and freshening up a bit, we headed back into town. We decided to go eat at a famous residence of Sally Lunn, who is simply famous for her creation of the Sally Lunn bun. The bun can be sweet or savory, and is so huge that they usually just sell half at a time. Suze had one with cinnamon on top, and Bekah had the traditional one with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Both were delicious especially with a pot of tea, to which we both seem to have become addicted. After our snack, we explored the Royal Cresent and the Circus – residences that were built hundreds of years ago in the typical Georgian design for which Bath is famous. Almost all the buildings in Bath are built in this style with the same color stone, making it a very uniform city. During the afternoon, we sat in the park and people watched. There were some very interesting people in the park, as it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday with temperatures somewhere in the early 20s Celsius. The people here seem to think that is HOT despite the fact that those temperatures in Fahrenheit are somewhere in the 70’s. We were particularly intrigued by this group of guys playing football, or soccer as we call it. They were dressed in all sorts of outrageous manner, not the least of which involved hot pink stirrup leggings with a matching hot pink tank top. After our rest in the park, we went to have drinks and dinner before heading to our room for the night. Coincidentally, the weekend that we were at the Uni was their prom night! They had all manner of after parties set up on campus that night. We could hear them up into all hours of the night. But it seemed a good time was had by all.
On Sunday, we slept in a bit. We had learned that the accommodation office on campus would hold our bags for us so that luckily we did not have to carry them around all day. However the office did not open until ten. We were there waiting before they opened, dropped our bags off, and hopped on the bus back into town. We went in search of a traditional English breakfast. This is a fried breakfast which consists of fried egg, sausage link, ham or bacon, toast, a half a grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, and baked beans! That’s right…BAKED BEANS…like the kind you would eat with a hamburger at a cookout. We found a place to eat. Suze tried to get the beans on the side as she does not like them in the States and feared they would not be to her taste. However, the lady did not seem to know how to do this so Suze went without the beans so they did not contaminate the rest of her food. We were able to sit outside for our meal, and the weather was quite pleasant. After breakfast, it was time to see THE BATH from which the city gets its name. Bath is built around the ancient Roman baths and the Bath Abbey. The bath has been there since the early first century A.D when the Roman Empire ruled. It was a place of worship to the goddess Minerva as well as a fitness center and a place to do business or just have a bath. It was built around a natural spring, which was believed to flow with healing waters. The Romans designed a clever piping system to ensure that the bath would always be full of clean spring water. There are many rooms in the bath, and when the bath was fully operating, each section of the bath would have contained water at different temperatures to optimize bathing, swimming, and spa needs. You cannot get in the bath, however, as the water is not safe. It is quite green and murky now; though we were assured that during its heyday the water would have been fresh and sparkling. After our tour of the bath, we stopped for pudding and, you guessed it, tea at the Pump Room, a classy restaurant attached to the bath. The pudding was made from bath bun, they sure do love their buns in Bath, and was served with clotted cream ice cream. The dessert was the consistency of bread pudding. Neither of us cared for the taste of the pudding too much, but we both were in agreement that the ice cream was nice. After our snack, we headed to another bus that would bring us to visit Stonehenge. This is something that Bekah, especially, was interested in but we didn’t think we were going to get to do. We hopped on a purple bus driven by our tour guide Dan and set out on our three hour tour (and no, the Skipper was not there). On the drive, we got to see some of the beautiful English countryside. We also saw some other sites along the way. Hundreds of years ago, wealthy British landowners would carve huge drawings into the hillsides. This was made possible by the white limestone that lies shallowly beneath the vegetation on the hills. We saw a gigantic white horse carving but did not get close enough to take a picture. We also saw thatched roof houses along the way. As we approached the area where Stonehenge is, close to Salisbury for all you geography buffs, we began to see signs that say “tank crossing”. This is because much of the land in this area is now owned by the Department of Defense. After passing a field of sheep, we came upon the stones. Stonehenge is mysterious and monolithic, breathtaking and beautiful. The ancient structure, purported to be more than 4,000 years old, is roped off and no one can get close enough to touch it. However, this allows for excellent picture taking without Joe Tourist blocking your view. We walked around the structure with a handheld audio guide and listened to the theories and conjecture about what the stones are doing there and how they got there. In short, no one really knows. They do know that the shape of the structure correlates perfectly with the summer solstice. After our self guided tour, we got back on the bus and returned to Bath. We went back to the Uni to collect our belongings, ate jacket potatoes for dinner, and jumped on the train back to Putney.
Words of the blog:
Pudding – British word for dessert; Nice – used to say if something is delicious. In a sentence: see paragraph above
Uni – University. In a sentence: what Uni are you from?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)