Saturday 24 April 2010

Bath

When I arrived in Bath at the bus station, I was simply looking for a map, but they didn't have any. I walked to the rail station (which wasn't far and I saw on the way there) to see if I could find a map but I all I could find were rail schedules. So I gave up and asked a guy who obviously worked there, and he asked a taxi guy who said it wasn't far and pointed me in the right direction. They told me to just keep following that road on the right side. I walked down the road, encountering some breathtaking sights, such as the park and the lake that has a waterfall, and their famous bridge. The bridge was essentially the end of the road. At this point it began raining, and I took out my new umbrella from London. Confused as to where to go, I decided I needed to call the hotel as well. They gave me directions, telling me I wasn't far and I remember I accidentally dropped the phone (because it's hard to hang on to luggage, an umbrella and a phone at the same time).
When I got to the hotel, there was a guy waiting outside for me. He greeted me and carried my luggage up to my room, giving me the key. The hotel was REALLY nice! My room was small and did not include a bathroom, but it included a sink and they provided me with everything I needed and more! Even though the bathroom was up the stairs a little, it was very nice as well and I had no trouble with anyone else being in there while I needed to use it. They provided tea, so I thought "why not?" and had some. I looked through the closet which had all sorts of things…shower shoes, a sewing kit, magazines, and even a bag to put dirty laundry in (well, it was a service you had to pay for to wash your clothes, but it was still pretty awesome that they had that). My bed was super comfy! I slept very well that night.
The Mad Max tour people had called me earlier and asked if I would come on the same tour in the morning instead so I said I would. The tour was to start at 8:30 I think, and breakfast was at 8. I got up early to make sure I would get the shower (which I did, and they provided a shower cap, which I kept because it was disposable). I ate breakfast quickly and asked the staff if they could hold my bags for me for the day when I checked out (which they kindly did).
I set off to the Glass House (the meeting point) which wasn't hard to find at all (as it was next to that pretty park). A whole large group of people were already there, waiting. I stood there too, getting into a conversation with another American and a Canadian. They were nice and we went to get coffee since we ended up waiting for over an hour (surprisingly, as the Mad Max tour people are said to be really time-conscious. When the Mad Max tour guide finally pulled up, he called out names on a list and we got in the van by order of which our name was called. After getting in, I was looking outside the window. The two girls I had been talking to were talking to the man for a while and then walked away…the bus was full. I was a little upset about this since I felt like they were going to be my tour buddies, but I didn't know the situation so I guessed maybe it was their fault? Thankfully, we were getting a discount.
First, we were driven to Stonehenge, with lots of lovely countryside to see. It turned out to be REALLY windy and rainy for the most part of while I was there! When going in, we were given a handset with headphones to listen to…so not really a proper tour, which was odd, but I guess it was okay since I really had to bundle up and following a tour guide would have been strenuous. It cleared up toward the end of my tour of Stonehenge. I learned a lot of interesting things and it really felt magical being there (I didn't expect it to be that spectacular because I thought it might be overrated). After leaving, I noticed my nice swade boots had gotten all muddy. I tried to clean them off (didn't work and they're still a bit dirty from that!) :( The guide took us around to see some interesting houses with (thatched? Straw) roofs, including this really pretty cottage. We went to a national trust village that's really old and where lots of things were filmed, including parts of the Harry Potter films and learned interesting things about old buildings and the village itself. After that, we were driven back to Bath.
When I arrived in Bath, I went into this camera shop and bought more tapes for my video camera. Then, I ate some lunch (a panini and chips) at this one place. After that, I went to the Roman Baths which was AMAZING! It's charming and interesting to learn about the history of the baths.
After I left, I had a few hours before leaving. I browsed a few shops but didn't find anything and they were closed soon after so I went and got my bags from the hotel. I remember the lady mentioned (either then or when I checked out) that I had a really short stay and I kind of wished I could've stayed for longer because I really liked Bath. It was so charming and beautiful!

My evening consisted of riding trains to Wales.

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