More on Bath

I have loads of reading, but I'm not terribly interested in it this moment (how interested are YOU in the change of perspective from Jane Austen's earlier to later works? Don't lie). So I'll tell you more about the lovely resort city of Bath.

Bath is really lovely. It has a River Avon (England has 3 separate ones, I think) , which actually means "River River" - the Romans mistranslated it when they came, saw and conquered. An architect used the river as an excuse to build an English imitation of Florence's Ponte Vecchico, so the bridge is a bridge, while also being a street full of shops and homes. Its very pretty, but Florence wins, hands down, if its a contest between the two.

The Roman Baths were a bit of a disappointment. I usually love audio tours, but this one was long and dull, so I never listened to more than 5 minutes on any topic in the Bath center. The Bath is still fed by the same Roman pipe and system, but no one is allowed to swim there anymore. Instead, there are "spas" that use the same hot springs and mineral waters that you can pay to get into in other parts of the city. Me and Mom didn't bring our suits, so we passed (although I hear they have better ones in Budapest, and I told John Moore he better pack a suit for that - apparently in Hungary it is "the" thing to do). I did enjoy the Pump Room though, and not just because of its role in two Jane Austen novels (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, if you haven't done your homework). Its beautiful, and has a nice view of the old grungy Roman baths, and from the looks of it, sells an impressive high tea spread (although we didn't have time to do that either).

The water at the King's Pump is supposed to be medicinal - that's why so many people came to Bath in the old days, to soak in and drink the mineral water to get over whatever ails them. One of the Queens came and soaked, and then got preggers real quick (But I forget which Queen, Anne maybe?) - and that's how the city regained favor in popularity a few hundred years ago. I tried the water, but I'll stick to regular medicine - it smelled and tasted like old feet.

I had my first coronation chicken sandwich (which started a new personal obsession for lunches there, they are delicious!), and me and mom treated ourselves to multiple goodies at Waitrose, an organic grocery store (including Pork and Apple stuffing sandwiches and plenty of Diet Coke -yum!). We also stopped by the Jane Austen Center, and it was just as lame as Rick Steves promised. Jane hated Bath, for the most part, and the Center focused more on her character's lives here than Jane herself. Frankly, I get enough interaction with Anne Eliot and Catherine Morland in class, but it was neat to walk up to where JA used to live, and the souvenir shop had some lovely postcards (and numerous photos of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy).

On Day 2, we took a tour (Mad Max, recommended) to Stonehenge and Lacock, where parts of Harry Potter and the BBC's Pride and Prejudice were filmed. Stonehenge was neat to see, for photos sake (kind of like Pisa), but the audio tour was also really boring and mostly filled with "Well, we don't exactly know what these were for, but we do suspect . . . ". Leading theory is that it was a seasonal clock for planting and harvesting. I did not recognize much in Lacock, but it was a pretty little historical city. I wouldn't mind living there - apart from all the restrictions that are placed on your external improvements from your home, its a favorite place for people to film movies and tv shows, so residents are regularly paid money by Hollywood so they don't park their cars in the street. Easy life, ay?

That's probably enough information. Mucho love!