Up early, the pilgrims made their way to Paddington Station. Barb was especially fond of the place, taking a photograph to share with her kids. Jake noticed a marked difference in the air quality of diesel powered trains versus electric trains. After a breakfast of random things (we needed fuel), we found our platform and boarded the Great Western train headed toward Bath.
1-1/2 hours later, we pulled into "Bath Spa" and into a beautiful, less urban town
. The skies were as blue as they have been for the whole trip. We made our way to the Roman Baths that were constructed in the 100's on a site that the Anglo-Saxons had considered sacred due to the continual bubbling up of hot water from the bowels of the earth. The Romans said, "hey, let's go swimming" and built a temple and series of baths for their luxury. (After all, England had to be pretty cold for the Romans.) After the tour, we had the chance to sample the hot spring water. It was nasty, warm, and full of minerals. Imagine boiling a rusty nail and then dropping in some sulfur for flavor. Rich and Jeannette gave up on the challenge, but Jake and Barb finished the last drop. It definitely wasn't Maxwell House, though.
From there it was time for a quick (and light) bite to eat. Everything outdoors was monopolized by sunning Brits... they were even more shocked than we were about the sunlight. A quick detour into a park along the river Avon was welcome, and we wished we had the time to spare to set up our own "sun chairs
." But, hunger and time were working against us.
Leaving the park, we ran across a stained glass shop, and Barb and Jake found some items they liked. Hopefully they will survive the trek home. The girl who wrapped them up for us actually made them, which was cool.
Finally, food arrived in the form of chicken and leek soup with bread and butter. It was good. The chickens must have been in shortage, as we didn't find any. We ended up eating more than we should have.
On the train back to London, we all caught 40 winks. An hour and a half to Paddington station seemed to fly by (due to napping).
From Paddington we tubed around the Underground back to Leicester Square and met Jake's host parents from '96 at Browns. It was a welcome reunion and involved some enlightened discussions of topics ranging from rugby, to politics, to culture. The Douglases are good people and it's always nice to see them. Dinner was over and we kept on socializing until it was time for Frank and Karen to catch their train back to Canterbury and for the rest of us to make our way back to the Travelodge. (But not to its Café/Bar. Booh on that place.)
Now Rich and I are sitting in 06 St. Chad's Place, just around the corner from the Travelodge. It's lively and has Peroni on draft. Peace until next time, friends!
Bathing in the Sun
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bath, United Kingdom
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