Day11 and 12: Baths, Jane Austen, Tea, and Avon River
Yesterday I woke up to the sound of rolling thunder, heavy rain, and even a flash or two of lightning. It's rather refreshing after all this heat. It's actually been raining on and off all day.
In the morning I went to the Roman Baths. The exhibitions there were interesting, but there are still a lot of things I'd like to know. It was built originally during the Roman times as a temple to Minerva/Sulis, built over during by the Anglo-Saxons when they rediscovered the site as well as partially dismantled. Bits and pieces were used to build medieval structures and eventually the whole thing was excavated during the Victorian era.
For tea we visited the Pump Room, and I spent a long time repressing sneezes. One does not sneeze loudly then honk one's nose in an approximately three hundred year old tea room. It was interesting to be in a place referred to in so many of the historical novels I've read. Tea was good. I had scones with clotted cream and preserves. A while back in sixth grade or so, I had read a bunch of Brian Jacque's Redwall books, and he has the most mouthwatering descriptions of food. One of the things he describes is this sort of cream; I think it was clotted cream, so for the longest time I was wondering what clotted cream is. Today I found out. It tastes like butter, only a lot lighter. Like halfway churned butter, I guess.
Before tea we went to the Jane Austen Center. I liked the feel of the displays there, though there was really nothing special. It was decorated in a very homey style, and it was small enough to read everything, which gave me a sense of accomplishment. There are a lot of things I don't know about Austen, and I think I'll be looking for a biography when I get back
Today we moved to a different hostel. The directions directed us to this roundabout less than a ten minute walk away from the previous hostel, so we didn't think it would be too bad, even with the luggage. What the directions didn't include was that the hostel was not at the roundabout, but another fifteen minute walk up a cliff to be found above the roundabout. So up we went with our luggage and all. Man, when I found up from the grocer that it was another fifteen minutes up, I nearly couldn't stop laughing.
After we checked in, we went back down for lunch at an Italian place. The pizza at the PizzaExpress in Greenwich is better. Linh kept on mentioning how neatly Robert cut his pizza there, which I didn't really notice but really just figures. Afterwards, we wandered through some shops and eventually made our way to the Boathouse, which rents out rowboats. We rented one out for about two hours and rowed up the Avon River. I enjoyed it a lot. I haven't rowed boats for so long, and it was nice to do it again...I seem to enjoy anything over water. And the scenery was pretty as well.
In the morning I went to the Roman Baths. The exhibitions there were interesting, but there are still a lot of things I'd like to know. It was built originally during the Roman times as a temple to Minerva/Sulis, built over during by the Anglo-Saxons when they rediscovered the site as well as partially dismantled. Bits and pieces were used to build medieval structures and eventually the whole thing was excavated during the Victorian era.
For tea we visited the Pump Room, and I spent a long time repressing sneezes. One does not sneeze loudly then honk one's nose in an approximately three hundred year old tea room. It was interesting to be in a place referred to in so many of the historical novels I've read. Tea was good. I had scones with clotted cream and preserves. A while back in sixth grade or so, I had read a bunch of Brian Jacque's Redwall books, and he has the most mouthwatering descriptions of food. One of the things he describes is this sort of cream; I think it was clotted cream, so for the longest time I was wondering what clotted cream is. Today I found out. It tastes like butter, only a lot lighter. Like halfway churned butter, I guess.
Before tea we went to the Jane Austen Center. I liked the feel of the displays there, though there was really nothing special. It was decorated in a very homey style, and it was small enough to read everything, which gave me a sense of accomplishment. There are a lot of things I don't know about Austen, and I think I'll be looking for a biography when I get back
Today we moved to a different hostel. The directions directed us to this roundabout less than a ten minute walk away from the previous hostel, so we didn't think it would be too bad, even with the luggage. What the directions didn't include was that the hostel was not at the roundabout, but another fifteen minute walk up a cliff to be found above the roundabout. So up we went with our luggage and all. Man, when I found up from the grocer that it was another fifteen minutes up, I nearly couldn't stop laughing.
After we checked in, we went back down for lunch at an Italian place. The pizza at the PizzaExpress in Greenwich is better. Linh kept on mentioning how neatly Robert cut his pizza there, which I didn't really notice but really just figures. Afterwards, we wandered through some shops and eventually made our way to the Boathouse, which rents out rowboats. We rented one out for about two hours and rowed up the Avon River. I enjoyed it a lot. I haven't rowed boats for so long, and it was nice to do it again...I seem to enjoy anything over water. And the scenery was pretty as well.
posted by teabag | 11:26 AM
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