Bath

 

 

On Thursday I walked around the city, saw some sites and shadowed at an architecture firm that focuses on conservation, overall an amazing day! Before my shadowing from 10-5pm, I went to the Roman Baths and then the Bath Abbey. The baths are a huge tourist site, with a museum attached and throughout, but it is still a great site to see. The included audio guide is also really helpful to explain some of the hundreds of artifacts found on the site. You can also walk around the actual baths, see the roman engineering, and drink the water from the spring (not the green algae infested baths). Afterword, I went into the Abbey, it was also so beautiful. The interior and exterior of the Abbey is simply amazing, and my favorite aspect, I can take pictures. Later, I walked around the city, took a huge amount of pictures (581 to be exact), and ate an amazing dinner and nutella crepe. Another fun and exciting day, but sadly only one day left to enjoy Bath before going back home to London.

 

 

The spring that you can catch a drink from. It is very warm, and taste a little off, but it was an experience.

 

An American flag in the Abbey.

 

 

 

And of course, I needed to give an update about my outfits, since I have been neglecting to do so. This is a new dress I purchased at Topshop in London this week. (I already got some sort of stain on it while eating my delicious dinner... typical).  I paired it with the faux leather sleeve drapey jacket that I purchased in Rome last year-- mixing my two abroad experiences! The color reminds me of Wendy from Peter Pan, so of course I had to buy it. I normally don't wear dresses, but after purchasing this, I think I may start wearing them more.

 

 

Awesome dinner at a pub, my favorite chicken and potatoes!

 

Today, as my last day in Bath, I have several meetings to attend, and then I plan to visit the No. 1 Royal Crescent museum and the Victoria Art Gallery before heading back to London later tonight. I am super excited to see more of Bath, and sad to have to leave so soon.

 

 

 



Bournemouth, Salisbury, Stonehenge & Bath

Yesterday was another busy, site-filled, adventure. I began my morning by visiting Bournemouth (briefly) to do an impact assessment of one of the churches in the city. I then rushed to Salisbury in order to get to Stonehenge (many pictures below). After my one hour visit to Stonehenge, I caught a train to Bath, the most beautiful place in England, where I definitely want to live for the rest of my life. Stonehenge is a place I had always wanted to see. The site itself is literally just the stones, nothing else, and it is in the middle of rural nowhere. Therefore, it is beautiful, if you go on a nice day. I wish I had a little more time to enjoy viewing the stones, and see the new visitor center. I am probably going back in order to meet with the curator, fingers crossed! I really love anything historic, and Stonehenge really hit the spot. It is a beautiful, mysterious site, and I would definitely recommend taking the time to visit. Bath, another amazing and recommended site, will be my home for only two days, but I have fallen in love. Its Roman Baths and Georgian architecture has really captured my heart. It feels more authentic and European than London does to me, most likely because of the architecture and the resemblance to Florence (Ponte Vecchio vs. Pulteney Bridge) and the fact that there is a strong Roman connection. I really love Bath, and would highly recommend taking a day to visit. My post tomorrow will talk about some things I did, as well as the 581 pictures I took in one day of this beautiful city. Look below for some pictures from Stonehenge and Bath.

 

 

By the time I got to Bath, around 8pm, it was really rainy (you can see some of my umbrella in the picture above). But even in the rain, it is still a beautiful city!

 



 

Most of London Day 3

 

The last hectic day of the weekend. We started by seeing the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, which was a huge (and long) ceremony, but really cool still. Then we went to the London Bridge, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. London Bridge is nothing special, it looks like any other bridge that you have been to, but the Tower Bridge is really awesome. After that we went to see Olympic Park, which was really cool to visit, but you couldn't go in anything. The Aquatic Center is open for use, but even to just go in and walk around, you have to pay. The Olympic Park is very far away, but it is definitely something you would should visit if you are really into the Olympics, or want to go to the shopping mall (Westfield) that is right near the park.

Another busy day filled with several miles of walking, which after three days, is exhausting. I would definitely recommend seeing the changing of the guards and the Tower Bridge, and if you have time, I would see the interior of Westminster Abbey. We also tried to get into the Harry Potter studio tour, but were unable to get a reservations, even after the tour made us buy our tickets... If there was a way to just book a time and date while buying tickets, the process would be so much easier, and save you money. But anyway, those were my three busy days with my brother and his friend while they continue backpacking through Europe. Now I am on my way to do an impact assessment of a church in Bournemouth, and then to Bath! I am super excited, and will definitely take some pictures and post them here.

 



Most of London... Day 2

 

On Saturday, we decided to see some more historic sites of London, starting with St. Paul's Cathedral. Like other churches and bell towers, we decided to climb the dome. Only 528 steps and three different viewing galleries, and we got to see an amazing view of the city. After eating at GBK, Great Burger Kitchen, a really good (chain) burger place, we made our way back towards Trafalgar Square via a double decker bus, to see the changing of the guards at the Prime Minister's residence, then to the Churchill War Rooms, which was an amazing museum with a really good audio guide. Since my brother and his friend were exhausted, we really didn't get our day started until noon, but we still saw amazing sites. Here are some pictures from Saturday!

 View of the dome from the Whispering Gallery, the first gallery. You can look down and see the rest of the church, 257 steps below. If you whisper with your mouth close to the wall, you can speak to a friend on the opposite side of the dome. Though if there are a lot of people, you probably can't hear your friend, or you can hear others conversations. 

 



Looking 350 feet down from almost the top of the dome. A little scary, but super cool.

 



A view of the London Eye, and some parts of Parliament from the top of the dome.

 

 

Changing of the guards.

 

 

 

Favorite figurine ever.

 

After the Churchill War Rooms, which was the actual bunker during WWII. This was an awesome museum, and I would highly recommend it to anyone walking between Trafalgar Square to Westminster Abbey. Saturday wasn't too busy, but we still got to see some good sites!

 

 

 

 



(Most of) London in 3 days... Day 1

So much of London, in 3 DAYS! My backpacking brother and his friend came to visit for the weekend, and since they are used to fast tracking every European they have been to, they decided that we would go everywhere... Beginning Friday, we went to the British Library, British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Big Ben, and Westminster. Though I had already visited these sites, it was good to see them again, especially with people who haven't been to London before. I loved getting to see some of these sites again, especially the National Gallery, which was not crowded at all when we went at 7pm. By the time we walked down from Trafalgar Square to Westminster and Big Ben, there was barely anyone around, therefore we were able to get lots of pictures and just relax with few passerbys. Here are some of the many pictures I took while out and about!

 

British Musuem

 

The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

Burt's Bees, on our walk from the British Museum to Trafalgar Square.

 

 

 

National Gallery

 

Trafalgar Square

 

 

Big Ben

 

Westminster Abbey- we didn't get in to see the inside, but just seeing the outside was good enough after viewing three museums.

 

If you are spending a minimum of three days in London and are willing to walk around or learn how to use the tube and bus system, stay tuned for my next two posts about our adventures on Saturday and Sunday. We really got to see the whole city, and hit major points-- thanks to our Rick Steve's book. Though we didn't see everything, well they didn't, we got to get a sense of what London is like, from the tourist point of view.