“Bath is a charming place, sir.”

Tags

architecture, Bath, bath abbey, isabella, jane austen, lucas, Roman Baths, royal crescent, Sally Lunn's, sergio, sherrie, somerset, The Circus, uk

“The first view of Bath in fine weather does not answer my expectations; I think I see more distinctly in the rain.  The sun was got behind everything, and the appearance of the place from the top of Kingsdown was all vapour, shadow, smoke, and confusion.” – Jane Austen

My biggest literary heroine, Jane Austen, spent five years of her life (1801-1806) in Bath, Somerset.  Both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are set here and offer some zippy one-liners about the town.  In Northanger Abbey, Austen writes as Isabella Thorpe, “Do you know I get so immoderately sick of Bath, your brother and I were agreeing this morning that, though it is vastly well to be here for a few weeks, we would not live here for millions.”  Well, Ms. Austen, I respectfully disagree.  We love Bath!  Bath has something to offer everyone: the literary buff loves seeing the Jane Austen Centre and delights in discovering the location of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers and Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady”; the architecture ogler feasts upon the likes of Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent, the Circus, Pulteney Bridge, and other Georgian and Palladian wonders; the consumer in each of us giggles at the plethora of chain shops and local boutiques; the foodie enjoys sampling the wares of Jamie Oliver and gorging on a famous Sally Lunn bun; and the history geek eagerly rubs their hands together in anticipation before delving into the Roman Baths (the Romans called Bath Aquae Sulis and the remaining bath is widely considered the best preserved Roman baths in the world), reveling in the lore behind the Battle of Mons Badonicus, and discovering the multitude of reasons why UNESCO named Bath as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Sergio visited Bath with his family as a teenager and revelled in exploring the Roman Baths and the Royal Crescent.  In 2010, we were lucky enough to bring Isabella and Lucas here and were even luckier that we left the baths *without* a 13-month-old Lucas taking the waters firsthand.  Sergio did, however, manage to drive up a pedestrian-only zone on that trip much to his embarrassment and my delight at finally having dinner-party fodder.

Sergio with Lucas, 13 months, and Bella, not quite 3 years, back in 2010

We went once again to Bath for the first time since living here last Sunday, October 21st.  Did we return to the Baths?  Nah.  Did we explore the famous Bath Abbey?  No, but we did interact with a street performer in its courtyard!

No, we chose to skip the usual tourist delights and instead spend the afternoon simply walking around and sampling the city’s culture.  We poked into a few shops, stood in awe in front of the Circus and the Royal Crescent, and listened to two guitarists perform a variety of hits.

The kids, who naturally were starving (insert eye-roll here), begged for a sausage roll and although we had packed a picnic lunch we consumed only an hour earlier, we obliged.  We purchased the rolls for a mere 80p apiece (approximately $1.20 for you Yanks!) and apparently the price was fitting as Isabella declared them to be rubbish.  Quite loudly, mind you!

Our other piece of “adventure” was the ongoing saga of the recently potty trained boychild.  I swear, once Isabella was potty trained, she was an expert.  She had it down, could hold it for a respectable time, and never had accidents.  Lukie, on the other hand, announces one minute that he needs to “go peepee” and then thirty seconds later informs you that the “pee pee is coooooooming!”  This was one of those times.  We were in a bookstore when the inevitable request for a toilet came up.  I asked the shopkeeper if they had a toilet he could use and was informed he could use the public toilets (said very haughtily), located there (grand gesture toward the door).  Argggh!  I tried to follow the signposts toward the public toilets with poor Lucas desperately trying to maintain his grip on my hand and we made it a few blocks before the frantic “the peepee is coming!” bit happened.  I saw a small alley and quickly ushered Lucas behind a parked car to do his business.  All I gotta say is, England wasn’t made for the toddler, the person with irritable bowel syndrome, pregnant women, or just generally those who think it’s polite to allow young children to use the store’s toilet.  Rant over.  🙂

We loved taking in the sights from the more relaxed viewpoint of the resident.  There’s a certain pleasure in knowing one can return at will, with little added cost, to a place like Bath.  I’ve even become quite good at navigating The Beast, aka our car, into absurdly small parking spaces and cave-like carparks.  I fear not the Malvers Car Park!  No, Jane, I’m not sure I could spend a million weeks here, but I’d happily take six or eight.

Bath Abbey

Isabella snapped this fun shot of Sergio and I (and kind of Aurelia!) in front of the Royal Crescent.

Mama and her sweeties

The biggest goofs in Bath.  🙂

A Short Visit to Bourton-On-The-Water

Tags

bourton-on-the-water, cotswolds, river windrush, uk

The so-called “Venice of the Cotswolds” Bourton-on-the-Water is a picturesque Cotswold village only 40 minutes from Cheltenham situated on the River Windrush with several low stone bridges crossing the river.

We set out late on the lazy Saturday afternoon of 6 October 2012.  We have already visited Bourton several times, it is one our favorite places in the Cotswolds.   It was sunny but still chilly.  The kids slept on the way to the village and we parked outside of the Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop for another 30 minutes to allow them to sleep a bit longer.  Sherrie and I took turns going through some shops while the kids were sleeping.

Once the kids woke up we walked through the small high-street.  The kids love this town.  They love running over the bridges, watching the ducks, and sitting by the river just enjoying the town.  It did not help that it was so close to dinner and every shop sells ice cream!

After walking down a street we had visited before we found the small China Town Restaurant (which also served Thai and Vietnamese cuisine).  Sherrie had a hankering for Ma Po Tofu.  But it was still early, only 4:40 and the restaurant, as many do, didn’t open until 5:00.

We walked the 30 yards to the riverfront and watched the ducks from the bridge.  I snapped a picture of the kids and some video while we were waiting.

I walked into a shop to look around and came out to see them gone.  I looked around and saw them quickly walking up the promenade.  I followed and saw that they were headed to visit a couple of horses which had taken a break in the river next to a bridge – perfect height for the children!

The kids had a great time meeting the horses who were very friendly but were intently trying to eat their shoes 🙂

After about 10 minutes the horses decided it was time to move on and they walked on.  The kids were very excited.  We headed to the restaurant and had a great meal – better than we anticipated.  I had crispy szechuan beef and Sherrie got her Ma Po Tofu!  We shared with the kids who also ate some extra rice.  The staff at the restaurant was very friendly and loved the kids.  The kids walked away with lollipops.  A great outing.

 

Wye Valley Walk in South Wales

Tags

tromp, uk, wales, walk, wye river, wye valley, wye valley walk

On Sunday, 9 October 2012, we did a 3 mile loop of the Wye Valley Walk along the Wye River in Wales from Tintern to Brockweir.  The fall colors were just beginning but the weather was too beautiful to pass on such a nice tromp in the countryside!

We parked in the lot for Tintern Abbey, which we previously visited.  The parking was free because the meter was out-of-order 🙂  After a car-trunk picnic we headed out with our wellies.

After a short walk through Tintern we turned North and across the Wye River on the Tintern bridge through the forest and to Brockweir.  The trail was steep at first but leveled out quickly.  The lower, river fronting, sections were quite muddy making me wish I had worn wellies as well!

After a kilometer or so through the forest we happened upon a kind lady and her dog who recommended that we go over the gate and cut through the field and follow the trail to the Brockweir Church.  Looking at her boots we took her seriously and went over the gate.

The field was large, green, and the kids loved it.  I stopped to take a quick video.

After a quick tromp through the field we arrived at the town of Brockweir.  Once over the gate we were surprised and welcomed by a small church festival occurring. They welcomed us and bid us stay for the blessing of the animals as it was a celebration of St. Francis, patron saint of animals.  We had previously attended a similar affair in Olney when we took our cat Basil for a blessing – a great memory for both Sherrie and myself.

They had multiple activities for children, including making masks (Isabella and Lucas choose a frog), fishing for ducks, story time, and petting tortoises.

They held a small outdoor ceremony and the children had a short story time before we left.

They were all so welcoming and warm.  Perfect strangers coming up and conversing with us warmly.  They asked us where we were from and talked a bit about the differences in word usage (mend vs. fix, etc.).  But a nice and unexpected visit to a small Southern Welsh village.

We headed out of Brockweir and back to Tintern – an anticipated 2km.

We met a nice couple on the path with a very energetic dog with whom the children wanted to throw a stick.  The dog was more than obliging to them while we chatted about their children and grandchildren who now live in upstate New York and are naturalizing as US citizens now.

A few more photos on the way back to Tintern (including the kids showing off their new frog masks)…

On our walk through Tintern to the car we discovered a small drainage pipe which was home to many snails…

And finally back to the car and to home!

Next time, instead of going to Brockweir, we’ll take the upper trail to the Devil’s Pulpit.

15 Days To Go

Tags

moving, packing, selah, uk

Lucas (2yrs), Aurelia (5mo), Isabella (4yrs) in Selah, WA

We are only 15 days until we move from Selah, WA to the United Kingdom.  The first shipment of our goods is leaving Thursday, the next one on Friday, and then the final all of next week.

We have spent the last few weeks going through literally every thing in the house.  It has been both a good thing and hard at the same time not really knowing where we are going to be living for at least the next three years and how much space we will have.

This weekend we planted the vegetable garden and mulched all of the beds.  Today I finished stripping the fence in preparation of staining next week.

It almost feels like time is speeding up and things are now out of our control