Sept 1 - An Incredible Day in Bath!
When we first arrived into Bath, Andrew took us around the city. I hadn't realized all the important history that it encompassed. The population of the city had reached 40,020 by the time of the 1801 census, making it one of the largest cities in Britain. It was a very prestigious place to visit back then and to be part of the community was even more important.
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| The King Edwards School was founded in 1552 under laws set out in the Charities Act of 1545, which had been passed by Henry VIII. |
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| The streets of Bath |
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| The River Avon goes through the middle of Bath. |
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| Everyone loves to hang out along the river. |
Pulteney Bridge crosses the River Avon. It was completed by 1774, and connected the city with the newly built Georgian town of Bathwick. It is one of only four bridges in the world with shops across its full span on both sides. Some think it's a mini "Ponte Vecchio" like in Florence.
Great Pulteney Street is a grand thoroughfare that connects Bathwick on the east of the River Avon with
the City of Bath.
In the heart of the city next to the Roman Baths is the splendid Bath
Abbey, a fifteenth century medieval church. The Abbey is the last of the
great medieval churches of England and has remarkable carved frontage
and amazing fan vaulting.
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| The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly
known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former
Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. |
Astrid, our host, and I went to the Cathedral for Sunday church service. We had a nice 45 minute walk to get there and walked into the chapel to a beautiful choir singing. It was a very nice service and Astrid had never been to a church service there before.
Astrid and Ben accepted us as their surfers although they were very busy. Turns out Ben was even out of town so we never met him. Astrid was busy working all day and working on her Master's thesis. They had a lovely home with yard and garden.
It was two stories, but a little ways from the center of town. We walked a lot. The night we first arrived was at night and we walked with our backpacks probably about 3 miles. I was sorry I forgot to take pictures of our room, but it was very nice. The house was probably a couple of hundred years old - so cute and Astrid was an immaculate housekeeper.
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| Astrid had a lot of herbs in her garden and their porch was decorated so cute. |
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| Andrew makes mirrors like this one hanging up in a local restaurant. |
A Cornish Pasty - It is made by placing uncooked filling typically of meat and
vegetables, on a flat pastry circle
and folding it to wrap the filling, crimping the edge to form a seal.
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| A good lunch - a Cornish Pasty. |
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| It's considered a national dish of Cornwall. |
The
Royal Crescent is a street of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent. Built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture
to be found in the United Kingdom. The Royal Crescent now includes a hotel and a Georgian house museum,
while some of the houses have been converted into flats and offices. It
is a popular location for the makers of films and television programs,
and a major tourist attraction
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| The Royal Crescent |
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| The Circus, originally called King's Circus |
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| A very old shoe scuffer thing outside the apartment buildings. Each flat had one. |
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| Andrew and his friend, Nan, picked us up to take us to see Stonehenge, about an hour away. |
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| We saw beautiful hills and hills of hay all stacked and ready for the long winter ahead. |
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2
miles west of Amesbury and 8 miles north of Salisbury. One of the most
famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of
standing stones set within earthworks.
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| Our first glimpse of Stonehenge against a beautiful pink sky. |
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| Such a magnificent site -Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. |
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| Nan & Andrew are the BEST! We really enjoyed our evening at Stonehenge with them. |
There were several of us there, but the gate had closed and the guard wouldn't let us cross over the fence to get closer. It was sad since we had traveled so far, but I had a postcard with me and told people that they could have a picture holding it and I would only charge one euro. HA! It was just a joke!
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| Holding my postcard of Stonehenge. |
We witnessed the most beautiful sunset across the whole sky. We had brought a picnic to share with our guides and since it was chilly, we all ate in the car. A wonderful evening to remember forever!
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| One lone tree along the horizon. |
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