I took a lovely train to Bath in the evening. I arrived just in time to grab some food. We wandered around downtown so I could kind of see the lay of the land, and then settled on a pub.
Afterwards, we headed back to Ayesha's room, where I went to bed early. I know, party animals us.
Day 27 (4/17)
We spent the day walking around Bath, and Ayesha said we did some things that she hadn't even done yet!
We started at the Roman baths, which is what the town is named for. These baths are fed by natural hot springs, and are almost 2,000 years old! The roof caved in, so the building is now open to let in the sunshine, and it was a beautiful day.
After that we wandered into the cathedral for a minute, but they're all starting to look the same. Then we found some ice cream and a sunny spot in the park. It's the first park I've been to that you had to pay to enter, but it was only a pound and such a nice day, so we decided it was worth it.
We wandered the city streets until we found the Royal Crescent, a row of houses built between 1767 and 1774. We then found our way into Victoria Park which was huge! We spent the rest of the day in the park, before finally heading back to the school at dusk to make veggie curry for dinner.
This is the hot spring that feeds the pools. It puts out enough water to fill up a regular bath tub in just 8 seconds!
The Great Bath. Since the water hasn't been treated, and the Romans used lead pipes and lead flooring in the pools, we weren't allowed to touch the water. They did have a fountain in the back, however, with water from the spring that was safe for drinking. Drinking warm water isn't really my forte, and it had an odd sweet taste from all the minerals.
This pool was used only to pray to the gods and give offerings. It was enclosed, so it was very dark, and there was a statue of Minerva sitting on a platform that was just below the water's surface, giving the impression she was standing on the water.
It was such a beautiful day! The sky really was THAT blue! Also, that's the cathedral in the background.
Bath Abbey
Is anyone else starting to get the feeling that once you've seen one of these bad boys, you've kind of seen them all?
These doors are no longer used, but they're very Game of Thrones-esque.
Those clouds though!
This is the park where we found a nice sunny spot to rest.
This bridge is pretty cool. It's actually an open air pedestrian bridge, but there are shops and cafes running along both sides.
This city street had been yarn bombed.
Flower shops make me happy.
Tada, the Royal Crescent!
And again!
This was in one tiny part of the park. All of that green in the picture above is also a part of the park.
I love Cherry Blossoms.
These two were pals. Every time another mallard came around this guy chased them off.
Ayesha had some school work to do, so I took the bus to Bristol and wandered around. We'll just call this Dani's Big Day Out.
I saw so many wonderful things! Bristol might be my new favorite city. It's definitely bigger than Bath, by a lot. Even after wandering the city, and getting a little lost (mom, that's what Google is for, don't worry), I feel like I haven't even seen half of it.
I started the day with a climb, first up to the top of a hill, and then up a spiral staircase to the top of Cabot Tower. I got a great view of the city, and there were maps at the top to tell me where all the major sites and cities were.
After that I wandered towards an interesting building which turned out to be the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. There was a ton of natural history stuff that was super interesting, so I spent a couple hours checking that out. Then I realized Bristol probably had some live animals as well.
The zoo was only a 25 minute walk, so I made my way over. There were lions, and otters, and red pandas! Oh my! It was a good sized zoo. I managed to see everything I wanted to in about an hour and a half, and most of the animals were out since I got there a little later in the afternoon.
From there I headed over to see about the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge. I got great views of the bridge from this little park on the cliffs, and I got some pretty fantastic views of the city from on the bridge.
Afterwards, I just sort of wandered around and got lost for a little while. It's interesting what you can see of a city when you wander. When it started getting dark I caught the bus back and crawled into bed. After 13 miles of walking I was exhausted.
I climbed this.
To see this.
Britain does seem to love their stone spiral staircases.
Cabot Tower
The Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
My next hair colour(s).
Red pandas are my FAVORITE!
I think this is the first time I've ever seen an armadillo.
He had no significant otter with him :(
Is that...I believe it is. A giant statue of Gromit.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge and some magical clouds.
All of the specks for you nerds out there.
The Bristol Cathedral and the fountain from in front of City Hall.
Day 29 (4/19)
Today Ayesha and I decided to go hiking just outside of Bristol, because I didn't do enough running around yesterday.
I found this easy trail called Prior's Wood that was supposed to be loaded with Bluebells. And it was. Boy, was it gorgeous!
We hiked for a few hours before heading in to town, where we ate dinner on a docked boat. Portland thinks it's cool with it's food trucks, but here they have food boats. Take that, Portland hipsters!
See that bit of land way over across the water? That's Wales.
Don't worry, I didn't pick them.
I'm so thankful for GirlCrew Travel! Without them I might've never made such a wonderful new friend :)
We didn't end up eating (or drinking) here, but I agree with this sign wholeheartedly.
We earned this.
That's right, you dirty Americans, you!
And then we said goodnight, and goodbye, to Bristol. Don't worry, Bristol! I'll be back!
No comments:
Post a Comment