rub-a-dub-dub

June the second, two thousand and nineteen

My adventure to Bath, England.

After a wondrous nights sleep of a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes, my posse and I awoke and wandered to a cafe to get breakfast and coffee en route to the bus to Bath. We stopped at Green Cafe where, for the first time in Europe, I was given a generously sized large latte.

The bus ride was two hours long. Luckily, we had the spectacular view of the spacious windows at the front of the bus, where pastures rolled as far as the eye could see. I mustn't forget the entertaining company of my crew, who was all laughs and conversations the whole ride to the tub.

Arriving at bath around eleven o'clock, the guide handed us our tickets to the Roman baths, and from then on, we were free, under the condition that we return by half past four to get on the bus.

I went on my own, for the most part, to tour the Roman Baths. We were given audio tours, through which I learned the essentials on the Roman Baths: a site once used for public bathing, and known for its healing properties, came into being due to the location of the Pennyquick fault and its creation of hot springs that supply the baths. I toured the baths for a couple hours, and was in awe of the preservation and their elaborate nature. More than anything, what surprised me was that these were HOT springs. I really just thought the Romans found a way to fill holes with water. This really hit me when they gave us the spring water to taste and it was HOT. I was not a fan (if you can't tell from my face below.

I include this low-quality picture to depict the steaming spring in the background

Trash outfit because there was trash weather today (sorry Momma)

me tasting hot spring water (actual in the moment reaction)

Ok, so after the Roman Baths, I was a little miss grumpy pants, and wanted to tour the city on my own, and a housemate of mine, who often tests my patience, wanted us to tour the city together. We stopped so she could grab some lunch and she surprised me with a coffee, helping my mood, and giving me the proper pick-me-up, and a boost in patience, to stick with my friend. We climbed the hill to No. 1 Royal Crescent, a house decorated to its original Georgian style. Entry was not in my budget, and not quite my interest, so I left my friend to explore a bit on my own.

I made my way to Pulteney Bridge, a supposed "must see" as per my Google search. ANd must say I must have looked like a goon. Walking towards it, I see a body of water before me. I keep looking to my right, searching for a bridge, but there isn't one to be seen. I observe the tourists around me and realize they are all taking pictures framed in the opposite direction. The bridge is to my left, and it is quite a sight. I must admit, I got bird poop on my sweater while photographing it.

From the bridge, I made my way to the Bath Abbey, where I would find the rest of my Catholic U crew, including Anna, my partner in crime for the rest of the day.

Anna and I left from here to wander and explore. Our first stop: a snack. We looked for a good place to eat. Our first attempt was a little too fancy for our taste but definitely a worthwhile stop: Sally Lunn's the oldest house in Bath, which supposedly had some particularly tasty buns. From there we moved on to something more our speed, a Bath Bun to-go. Anna and I split one. The bun was basically a dinner roll with raisins and a cube of sugar in the middle and sugar also sprinkled on top. Delicious.

From here we made a loop around to the bridge, and the river walk, where we stumbled across a garden maze, which I have to admit, I was quite talented at.

From here we wandered a while, around the town, into a suburb where, surprise, surprise, we found another garden. In this garden I befriended some ducks who just rocked my world. The Remembrance Garden was dedicated to George V I believe.

From here we took a quick visit to the Victorian Art Museum, where my favorite painting was this one: The Bride of Death. I'm really not sure why it caught my eye the way it did, but I just thought I would share.

We met the friend I parted ways with earlier here to go get afternoon tea before boarding the bus (don't be fooled, I got coffee). Here the tea menu included scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream (which is just butter in my opinion). My friend gave me a sheet from the Jane Austen museum where she wrote me a souvenir with quill and ink.

After this, I ran to the post-office to drop a couple postcards, met for the bus, and withstood the long ride home, which luckily was spent talking to family back home, and laughing with my friends around me.

All in all, a tough week led up to a pretty great day.

Thanking God (and my parents) every day for this amazing opportunity, which I often seem to take for granted.