DAY 165 - Jane Austen in Bath

Aug 31 - Spending a day with Jane (and Andrew)

Bath is a city in the county of Somerset about 100 miles west of London.  The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis by the Romans sometime in the AD 60s about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain (AD43), although oral tradition suggests that Bath was known before then.

 We met Andrew through the couch surfing website.  He met us as we came in to town and he took us on a wonderful tour, but we actually stayed two nights with someone else.

Our amazing tour guide, Andrew, who knew everything about Bath.

He told us of a legend how Bath was discovered.  Bladud was a legendary king of the Britons.  He is said to have founded the city because while he was in Athens he contracted leprosy, and when he returned home he was imprisoned as a result.  Andrew said he went into hiding to what is now called Solsbury Hill,  a small flat-topped hill and the site of an Iron Age hill fort.

Solsbury Hill where lepers lived

  He found employment as a swineherd at Swainswick, about two miles from the later site of Bath, and noticed that his pigs would go into an alder-moor in cold weather and return covered in black mud. He found that the mud was warm, and that they did it to enjoy the heat. He also noticed that the pigs which did this did not suffer from skin diseases as others did, and on trying the mud bath himself found that he was cured of his leprosy. He was then restored to his position as heir-apparent to his father, and founded Bath so that others might also benefit as he had done.

One of my reasons for visiting Bath was Jane Austen (1775-1817).  Jane was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature.  She wrote such works as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma.  


Andrew took us on a walk where Jane used to walk while she lived in Bath.

The village of Charlcombe is mentioned in letters by Jane Austen as being "sweetly situated in a little green valley, as a village with such a name ought to be."

All the homes along the way had cute little names and signs.

Such a beautiful walk through the woods and over the hills.

We came across a sweet little cemetery next to a very old church.

A lady happened to be there who took us through the Charlecombe Parish Church.

They had recently had the church pipe organ fixed.  It is 100 years old.

The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a very ancient stone edifice, dating from the 12th century. It is said to have been at one period the parish church of the city of Bath.

This was the oldest piece in the church.  The font was from the year 1050.

A plaque on the wall in the church said:  "Whatsoever are true, whatsoever are honorable, just, and pure, whatsoever things are of lovely and good report, we thought of these things."  The plaque was hundreds of years old - do these words sound familiar?  :)

We walked around in the garden by the churchyard - so beautiful.

Jane Austen most likely went to church here as she would have roamed these gardens.

This is said to be a holy well.

He who drinks from this well will surely have eternal life.

Andrew told so many stories.  He really loves Bath and all the history.

All the trees made natural tunnels - we're really having a GREAT day.

                            

I felt so bad for these horsies who were blindfolded.  Why?

Beautiful old trees all along the way.

Jane Austen Museum -I had a nice tour of it.

One of the rare portraits of Jane Austen.

Typical dress and dishware of the time period.

I loved watching "Pride and Prejudice" with my daughter-in-law, Becky.  She LOVES the show.

Jane never married, but did have a couple of young "loves."

The "Laws of Bath."

 

Another portrait of what Jane may have looked like.

Not sure I could have lived during this time as Jane did.  She had many heartbreaks.

One of the homes she lived in when they were well-off.

After her father died, however, they were so poor that they ended up living in the poorest street in Bath.

Tomorrow, I'll take you to the other parts of historic Bath, England that we visited.  AND...we go to Stonehenge.

DAY 164 - London 3 (Singing Thru the City)

Aug 30 - Trafalgar, Eliza Doolittle, Beatles, Sherlock, and more

Trafalgar Square, the largest square in London, is often considered the heart of the city.  Ever since the Middle Ages, Trafalgar Square has been a central meeting place. At the middle of the square stands a tall column honoring admiral Nelson. The column is guarded by four lion statues at its base.

A giant blue rooster is unveiled in central London's Trafalgar Square on July 25, 2013.  WHAT?  Do you call this a giant?  Just wait til the next photo.

"Hahn/Cock" - He is such an ultramarine blue color - it's getting a lot of attention.

 The square is also used for political demonstrations and community gatherings, such as New Year's Eve. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, a British navel victory of the Napoleonic Wars over France which took place in 1805.  Both ultramarine blue and the rooster are symbols of France, which is a kind of  humorous side-effect with this artistic feature.

Overlooking the square with King George IV on his horse in the background.

 In 1812 the Prince Regent - who would later become King George IV - asked architect John Nash to redevelop the area. 

George IV did not want Britain to be left behind (many other cities in Europe had famous art galleries), so in 1824 he pushed a reluctant government into purchasing the house of the just deceased John Julius Angerstein, a rich Russian banker and art collector. The purchase included a valuable collection of 34 paintings with works from renowned artists such as Rembrandt and Rubens.


Over the years the collection expanded to one of the most prestigious in Europe. Over 2300 paintings are now on display in the monumental building at Trafalgar Square.   AND...to visit is FREE!  We really enjoyed it.

The National Gallery was completed in 1838 and is on the north side of the square.

Another statue on Trafalgar Square

 

...and another view from the Square

Covent Garden is one of the London's biggest tourist magnets. The area around the glass-covered building - a former fruit and vegetable market - is always crowded.  I mostly went because it is an icon in one of my favorite musicals - "My Fair Lady."

"Wouldn't it be Loverly?" -sung in Covent Garden by Eliza Doolittle in 1964.  I played the part back in 1992

Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy.

I looked all over for a "flower market" but all I could find was an "apple market."

We picked up a dish with shrimp and mussels over rice - Paella - so very good!

  We watched some entertainment and absolutely loved this string quartet - "Lotus Classics."  They had choreography and played tunes like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Bolero, Vivaldi's Winter, and Mister Sandman.  I really enjoyed them and had to buy their CD.

The violist came over and sang Danny Boy to Rich and flirted with him.

   St Martin-in-the-Fields is an English Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square.  It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since the medieval period.

St. Martin's- in -the- Fields Whipping Post

 

Since early in the 20th century, the church has been  famous for its work with homeless people.

There are many plaques, crypts, and monuments of those who have passed on.

 

The beautiful pipes for the organ

                              

 On we go to Abbey Road and the famous Beatles album cover.  We both LOVE the Beatles music, so it was fun to see a few shops and to actually walk on the same "zebra crossing" that they walked for this photo.

 Here we go!  We're on Abbey Road and a few other people had the same idea as us - to get a photo.

OK - I'll be "Paul" - my favorite,  cause he was so cute.

This was a cool old church close to Abbey Road

Here we are - 40 years later and The Beatles are still REALLY popular.

One of Rich's favorite characters of all times is Sherlock Holmes, so we thought about going to the museum and where is lived, but the line was too long and we changed our minds.

 Holmes, who first appeared in publication in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The Guinness World Records has consistently listed Sherlock Holmes as the "most portrayed movie character" with more than 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films.

221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Hey - Where are his legs?

 Some more performers just earning a living on the streets of London.

 Lisson Grove is a district and also a street of the City of Westminster, located just to the north of the city ring road. The journalist George Augustus Salas recalls growing up in Lisson Grove during the 1830s "when the principle public buildings were pawnbrokers, and 'leaving shops', low public houses and beer shops and cheap undertakers." 

I was there because that was where Eliza Doolittle was from.

 Sorry the video clip is sideways.  :(

 The fictional Eliza was born and raised in Lisson Grove and had to pay "four and six a week for a room that wasn't fit for a pig to live in" before coming under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins. I had fun standing on the sidewalk and reciting some lines from "My Fair Lady."  I got a lot of eyeballs watching.  HA!

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames.

  The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, although that was not its primary purpose.

 
It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England.  The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite.

  
                           

This group of ladies wanted their picture taken.  Love their outfits.

 A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two rings of defensive walls and a moat.

The Tower with the River Thames and Tower Bridge to the south. The outer curtain walls were erected in the 13th century.

Modern modern modern!

We got back to our host's home and cooked together.  Pasta, vegetables, eggplant, salad - YUM!

Mark & Julia - He was an organist and she was a social worker.

99% of people in Europe don't have clothes dryers, so the rack is what they use.

Rich was on the floor and I was on the couch.

We had 3 days and nights in London trying to do as much as we could.  We definitely didn't see it all, but we tasted as much as we could of London, listened to as much as we could, and saw as much as we could.  It was definitely a different world.   One to remember for a LONG time.