The Beautiful Bath and Stonehenge

It’s been a couple weeks.

I know I haven’t blogged in a while, I have been living a pretty boring life, trying to get ahead on classwork and trying to figure out what I am going to do with my life when I get home.

Last week I decided that it was time for an adventure and planned for a weekend trip to Bath in southern England, with an afternoon trip to Stonehenge. Since it was pretty last minute, no one could come with me, but I didn’t let that hold me back! It is nice to travel alone, you get to do what you want and don’t have to listen to anyone else. It also gets you out of your box and you meet new people.

So, prepare yourself, this one is a long one. I know I say this everytime, but this has seriously been my favorite weekend and it deserves a long blog, just so I can tell you about every perfect thing!! 😊

Saturday morning, I headed off on my journey, after hours of internet searching, I found a cheap way to get there. I took the Mega Bus to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and from there, Bath was only an hour by train. When I arrived in Cardiff, the city was buzzing, and people were everywhere, I discovered that there was a national rugby game between Wales and Australia in Cardiff that day. It was five hours before kick-off and the streets were hopping, the pubs were already full, and vendors were selling all the necessities for a National Rugby game. It was tempting to stay in Cardiff for the day to take in the festivities. But I am glad I stuck with my original plan and got more time in Bath.

Bath is a small city in southern England built originally by the romans in the first century AD, and today the entire city is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That means, according to Wikipedia: “having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties. The sites are judged important to the collective interests of humanity. To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance (such as an ancient ruin or historical structure, building, city, complex, desert, forest, island, lake, monument, or mountain). It may signify a remarkable, accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet.” So basically, it is a really cool place. The moment I stepped out of the train station I could see the allure of the city. The entire city is built in the same honey-colored limestone blocks and gives the city a magical feel. It. Was. Gorgeous. Why is it called Bath, you say? The town has natural hot springs which the Romans found and made baths, a place of socializing and cleansing in the town square. The entire town flourished and developed around these baths. Bath became a popular place to be and people came from far away to visit the aptly named, Bath.

The first night I was there (Saturday) I got a bus tour around the city, I like to get a tour first thing to learn general facts and get a lay of the land. By the time the tour was finished it was getting late, so I stopped in the pub below my hostel for dinner. They were broadcasting the Wales Rugby game I was talking about and there were a ton of people there to watch. I stuck around to watch the end of an exciting game, and no matter how hard I tried I could not figure out the rules, and was very confused, but that didn’t stop me from cheering on Wales along with the locals. Unfortunately, Wales lost to Australia, despite their last- minute score (touchdown??:/). I then went up to my room for bed, I am sharing a room with girls from China, Italy, and Scotland (one reason hostels are great).

Bath Abbey

Sunday morning, I got up with every intention to head straight to the Roman Baths so I could beat the crowds. Along the way, I passed the Abbey and I heard music, so as I was walking by I was doing a little peeking through the door. A man then opened the door and asked if I was there for morning service, and I figured yeah that would be nice. So, I slipped in the back and got to go to church in a 500-year-old, breathtakingly beautiful Abbey. The service was a very nice Christian service, we sang hymns, listened to the sermon, and had communion. The service was about waiting, it ended up being just what I needed to hear as I am waiting to hear back from employers and waiting to see what the rest of my life holds. It’s a funny thing how God always leads you to where you should be.

After church, I went to the Roman Baths, still early enough to beat the crowds. The baths are no longer used, and the water is not filtered to today’s standards, so no one is allowed in the water (although there is a spa intown that uses the natural hot water and does traditional treatments!). Today the Baths are simply a museum and exhibition about the life of the Romans. It was neat to hear about the Romans and to walk in their footsteps. The Bath Structure itself built by the romans and maintained over the years, was beautiful, with the limestone and statues surrounding the baths.

The Baths with the Abbey in the Background                                                                 Sally Lunn's

After visiting the baths, I ate lunch at the oldest house in Bath, Sally Lunn’s Bun House. The restaurant has been there since 1680, that was before the United States was even a country, the house was built in 1480!!! Columbus hadn’t sailed the ocean blue yet and America hadn’t even been discovered!!! The restaurant is famous for Sally Lunn’s buns. They are huge and delicious. After lunch I got on a purple bus that took me to another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Stonehenge.

We drove through some pretty countryside, past a lot of fields, all while our guide pointed out and told us interesting facts. We arrived at Stonehenge about an hour later and had 2 hours to walk around the site and soak in as much as we could. WE got a little telephone looking thing, and every time we pressed a number we got more information about Stonehenge. I knew Stonehenge was old, but man is that place OLD!! It is over 5000 years old, before the pyramids and long before the Romans. It is one of the first human structures in this world. They hauled 60-ton stones for miles and miles before the invention of the wheel, I’m amazed. Then they carved the stones and hauled them up on their ends. No one knows for sure what the structure was built for, but the popular theories are a temple or a burial site.

      

                                                                        I know what you're thinking, and no I did not get this picture off the internet.

                                                                                I took it myself

Upon returning to Bath, it was already dark and time for dinner, I got dinner at a Caribbean restaurant, it was tropically refreshing after the bone-chilling winds at Stonehenge. It was Sunday, so a lot of shops and everything had already shut down, so I went back to my hostel. Tonight, a Polish girl joined us in our room.

Monday was my last day in Bath. I went and walked around their Central Market. There has been a market in this building for 700 Years!!! The history in this place just blows my mind! I then went to the Royal Crescent. It is a crescent of houses built in the late 18^th century, the first resident moved in in 1776, the same year the declaration of independence was signed. They have refurbished House #1 to the state it was in in 1776 for the first tenant, and have decorated it in the same way. It was a real look into how the wealthy lived in England in the 1700’s. Fun Fact: Their makeup was made with lead and many women died young from lead poisoning.

After the museum I walked around the shopping district, the only thing I bought was a Jane Austen book. Jane Austen lived in Bath for a while with her family and every one pf her books references Bath in one way or another, but 2 of her books are set completely in Bath. I sat a listened to a street artist in front of the Abbey and the Baths, quite an interesting mix of cultures.

I caught the train back to Cardiff where I would catch my bus back to Aber. The Christmas market is in full swing in Cardiff, I had a couple minutes to get some real Spanish churros and walk around under the Christmas lights. England is trying real hard to get me to forget Thanksgiving.

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
― Gustave Flaubert