Bathtime

After our Dublin Days, we boarded a plane to Bristol.  We flew Ryan Air, which should be called "We Are Going to Try to Sell You Things Throughout the Entire Flight" Air.  I'm talkin lotto tickets, magazines, candy, you name it.  The entire flight.  That flight was delayed, which meant our bus from Bristol to Bath had already left. So we took a taxi!  It was a delightful ride.  Pretty sure our cabbie, Gerard, is Santa's brother.  And David Copperfield once made him disappear! I couldn't get the secret out of him, no matter how much I begged.

We got to the University of Bath around midnight, hauled our way too heavy luggage up a flight of stairs, and then after roaming around like idiots, we found our rooms.  We were in individual dorm rooms, so some privacy was nice.

Once we woke up the next morning, we took the bus to the City Center.  We at at a place called Sally Lunn's, which is in a 15th century building.  I think the restaurant dates back to the 17th century.  And lemme tell ya, those Sally Lunn Buns are like no other. Yummmmy.  They are basically just a big ole bun of sweet goodness.  I ordered ratatouille, which I had never had before.  I will most definitely be getting it again... looove me some eggplant and zucchini!

Ratatouille on a Sally Lunn bun with carrots, peas, and potatoes

After eating at Sally Lunns, we headed over to the Abbey.  So pretty!

Then, it was time for a tour of the Roman Baths (hence the name Bath).  It was very, very impressive.  I thought I was going to be bored, because what is cool about a place where people used to bathe ages ago? Turns out a lot is cool about that.  This place put Hot Springs, AR to shame.  We even tasted the bath water.... mmmm hot sulfur water... blegh. 

water flowing from the hot springs... see the steam?

ewwww

After the Bath Houses, we went every girl's dream... THE FASHION MUSEUM AAHHHHHH! It was so great! And I am obsessed with "Say Yes to the Dress," and guess what the special exhibit was?? Wedding dresses!

so tempted to steal this and make it my own...

apparently this was "the look" of the best year ever, 1987

yes, we played dress-up in corsets and hoop skirts

Next, we went to the Jane Austen museum.  I don't know much about Jane Austen (I know, I know, it's classic literature) but I still enjoyed the museum.  We thought it was at her actual house when she lived in Bath, but that has since turned into a dentist office.... so it was in a similar house that looked like hers.  Good enough, I guess?  We stopped for a snack in the tearoom before our tour, and I had raspberry drizzle cake with a Victorian lemonade.  

Then, we had to get our people-watching time in.  And it was a grand ole time.  We sat on the grass in a place called The Crescent and just chatted and watched some interesting tourists do some interesting poses for pictures.  Jumping poses, senior prom poses, peace sign poses, and the list goes on.  Look how cute my friends are and what a beautiful day it was:

obligatory laughing picture!

it got chilly and windy... so i buttoned almost every button

We walked around the cute shops and decided we wanted a yummy dinner (duhhhh).  We picked a place called Gastone's (I think) and splurged.  It was so great!  I ordered a glass of vino, a summer salad, lamb, a potato cake, and fresh green beans. Mmm Mmm Good!

We had an early night that night because we knew the next day consisted of taking trains to get to OXFORD!  For breakfast the next morning, we ate at the Pump Room, which is a fancy restaurant connected to the Bath House and where you can taste the water from the spring.  I wanted something filling, so I went with a classic Eggs Benedict.  Couldn't have been better!

Eggs Benedict: one muffin with ham, the other with wilted spinach.  Popeye style.

Then we took 2 trains and we were in Oxford. Hold your horses, I'll get to that post tomorrow!

Bubye now.