Tags
bath, england, jane austen, roman baths, royal crescent, stonehenge, travel, uk, united kingdom
Amanda and I were busy trying to squeeze in as much sightseeing as possible in her 10 days here. And I must say, we were pretty successful. After a weekend in Belfast we did a quick day trip to London before heading back to Cardiff for my program orientation. But we didn’t sit still for long. Up next, a daytrip to Bath and Stonehenge…
So let me tell you how the day was supposed to go… We were going to grab some food for a picnic, hop on the train, and then spend some leisurely time wandering around Bath. After that we were going to catch the train to Salisbury to catch the bus to Stonehenge where we were going to eat our picnic while the sun set around the beautiful prehistoric monuments. Very cute, right?
Well here’s the problem with planning out a perfect day, it rarely ever goes as planned…
Things started off okay, we got into the quaint and beautiful town of Bath and our first stop was of course, the Roman Baths, which you cannot swim in… in case you were wondering. Before grabbing a little lunch at a café we checked out Bath Abbey, which was undeniably stunning.
Unfortunately for us, the café we chose didn’t have any seating available on their patio so we grabbed seats at the café next door. Not the best decision on our part… We had barely sat down when we were yelled at by the barista for not purchasing products from their café. So with that, we were on the move again in search of the Royal Crescent.
After a few quick pictures it started raining… not pouring, but the misty rain that makes you feel cold to your core. We decided we would check out the famous Pulteney Bridge quickly before getting on the train. Of course we got lost, took the wrong turn about 5 times and a walk that should have taken 10 minutes ended up taking 40. By the time we made it to the bridge we looked like we had gone through a car wash.
Getting on the train wasn’t much better. We clearly caught everyone going home from the city and ended up having to stand the entire way to Salisbury. We got into the station at 5:40pm to find the last bus had come and gone. Not letting that deter us we grabbed a cab and set off for Stonehenge.
Now here’s the clincher… Stonehenge is about a half an hour (or a 40 pound) cab ride from the station… And another fun fact, it closes at 6pm. I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing Amanda stated “who knew rocks could close?” Well, they can, and do. The rocks are actually gated off and patrolled by security. So we did what any normal person would do… We climbed the fence, zoomed in as close as we could and tried to snap a few pictures just to show we had been there. So much for our sunset picnic…
(See – we were there!)
We proceeded back to the station where we ate our delightful picnic on plastic chairs in the convenience store. On the two-hour journey back to Cardiff we proceeded to drink the entire bottle of wine, so at least it wasn’t a complete waste.
Now this day is unlikely to be very representative of Bath or Stonehenge. I must say Bath is a beautiful, enchanting and very special place. It feels like you’ve stepped into a Jane Austen novel, which is pretty cool considering she did in fact write some of her books there. And Stonehenge, although just a bunch of rocks, is one of the world’s wonders so definitely worth checking out as well… just plan to visit before 6pm.
I should also say that I’m lucky to have experienced this day with one of my best friends, who happens to make even the biggest fail days fun. So thanks, Amanda! It was definitely one for the books!
Much Love,
CW