Bath - Day 6 - "Here Comes the Sun" (stupid sun...) - or, "Six of One..."

28 December 2006

As we were getting ready to go at shortly after 6 am, I managed to smack the hanging light fixture with my arm, knocking it onto the bed. after examining the decapitated light, I discovered that I didn't just knock the glass off, but the WHOLE FIXTURE. It looked like the same set-up as a speaker, with two twined wires fitting in two holes. When we went down stairs I told them "it fell down this morning". As we left I observed to Karen that I may not be the "Sultan of Spin", but I do have my moments.

We were at Victoria by 8 am where we ate breakfast pasties and waited for the information center to open (about an hour late), only to find that we had to go to the ticketing stand to get our tickets validated (we bought four-day flexi-passes for Brit Rail). The ticketing stand in question is inside and to the right (w.r.t. the information center) next to YUM Sushi (or some such).

We rode to Paddington station (via the Circle line) and (at 8:52) quickly wrote in our passport numbers and first day of use and boarded the 9:00 for Bath. And while riding the train out of town, for the first time since we dropped below the clouds on entry there was SUN. Except all possible happiness of said sun was tempered by the fact that my rear-facing seat gave the sun line-of-sight on my face, and hence my eyes. Dubious pleasure indeed.



***Reading
***Didcot Parkway (I kept trying to snap pictures, but the motion-blurs were bad.)
NUCLEAR POWER!!!! Silos were everywhere, it was awesome! I got several nice shots on our train journeys, including a nice shot of a cluster just past Didcot Parkway.



***Swindon (10:00)
(Karen missed some sheep here, which was disappointing (walking yarn factories that they are), but we saw enough others that I doubt very much she remembers missing these...)
***Chippenham
***Bath: We de-boarded and walked out onto the streets of Bath. It was a beautiful blue day.

The Roman Baths were extremely easy to find (by following the tourists and the signs) where we bought tickets for the self-guided audio tour (£10 each). We listened to every segment (except those meant specifically for children), and it was a pretty decent piece of time before our feet started to hurt (a lot).



Before heading out into the baths we stopped to do a little gift shopping. We bought several bottles of water from the baths, a circular piece depicting the head of a male gorgon (we had seen the big version of it earlier), and some post cards.





A couple of rooms before the gift shop my batteries gave out. I changed them for some not meant specifically for electronics, and they died extremely quickly. (Just outside of the Roman Bath museum I bought 2 four-packs of the better batteries for £8 total.)

After the tour, while Karen was browsing around the second (larger and street-accessible) gift shop, I asked for directions (to the post office). A glass of mineral water from the spa was free with admission (50p otherwise). My first sip was almost ok, but the second sip was FOUL!!!

Postage for a post card to the US was 50p (reasonable and easily done).

After the post office, we walked around the city loosely in search of the Walrus and the Carpenter (an eclectic pub mentioned in Lonely Planet England). We saw the circus, a cute little dog, Jane Austin's museum gift shop (to get a souvenir for Karen's mom) and finally to the Walrus and the Carpenter. It was £4.95 for my hummus sandwich + £1.65 for chips (fries). Karen got Sausage and Mash for £7.95 and we each got a coke (mine was especially tasty, though it wasn't because cokes in England are better, because that was generally not my experience). The decor was great, the waitress was cute and friendly, and it was nice to be off our feet. The bill was £17.10 (I left £21).

I commented on the decor, and she asked if we were artists. Apparently they have a napkin-art board. I did a little topology (complete with knot diagrams, and an inadvertent (small) error), we paid and left.











Next we went to Bath Abbey (stopping first at Minerva Chocolates for an amaretto truffle and a rose and violet cream truffle) where we declined to pay the requested £1.50 each donation. My memory card ran out after 1300 pictures, so I tried the 2 GB card (which didn't work). Also, while installing it, my batteries fell out (and one of them went through the grate in the floor). I got upset and left quickly (to distance myself from the site of my torment). I bought a 1 GB memory card (£39), and since there was a view I had forgotten I really wanted, we went back and I snapped a few shots.







We caught the 4:12 back. On the train I got up and (CROSSING CARS) got us water for £1.25. We stood between the cars while waiting to de-board. We had a little trouble leaving Paddington (we "pulled a beltway": went the wrong direction, so reversed after one stop). we stopped by our Sainsbury's Metro for water and a Turkish Delight (nothing delightful about it, by the way) and the Sainsbury's Local for a sausage roll (69p) a chili chicken kebab (£1.49) a pint of Bulmer's Cider (£1.39) and an enormous Toblerone. The food was GOOD! Really really really good, and wonderfully affordable.

Karen watched some show on BBC 2 where they did terrible things to a Toyota truck (and it still started), played hockey with suzuki's, raced Lamborghini's, did a "van test" or something. I don't know, because I slept. : )

We ended the night watching "Is Benny Hill still funny?"

Guess what...it is.

Tomorrow (Day 7): Canterbury.

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13 July 2007: HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY to us!!!

London - Day 5 - "It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary!"

27 December 2006

The plan: eat breakfast at the "hotel", take the tube to the Tower gift shop, see the Bank of England Museum (gift shop), the British Museum, and Leicester Square for tickets to something.

Headlines from BBC 1: President Ford died @ 93; Blair, (BA209) overshot runway in Miami; HUGE sales today (which we have no intention of seeing).

We rode the Victoria line to Tower Hill, where we took some more pictures of the Tower of London, and shopped for pens and postcards, and were tempted by, (but did not buy) the paper model (working, mind you) of the executioner with victim.

Then we rode to Monument and walked underground (for quite a way) to Bank. The Bank of England museum was surprisingly nice, actually. I would have liked to take more pictures, but I noticed the no pictures sign half-way through. We got to stick our hands in a sealed plexiglass container and wrap our hands around a genuine gold bar. It was really cool. At the gift shop we bought a post card (for us) and a couple of 2006 proof sets (and there learned that the Bank of England only prints the money, not mints the coins).

Next we rode to Leicester Square via the Northern Line, found no tickets we were interested in, and walked over to the Orc's Nest (a game store, obviously). A short (and pleasant) walk later, and we were at the British Museum. (Across the street and west there is an antique bookstore. In the window was a copy of The Imperial Shakespeare for the low price of £650.)

Inside the grand, enormous, sweeping hall we bought a visitor's guide (£5 I think), and Karen told me she thinks she was smiling in someone else's picture out front. Room 1 was a replica of the arrangement of the museum in the time of George III (complete with fake (touchable) Rosetta Stone). We then walked across the Great Court (their description, not mine) to the REAL Rosetta Stone, a bunch of Assyrian stone murals and statues (and the dreaded Cat with Five Legs (dun dun dun)), some nice Egyptian busts (and even a little Egyptian porn).





An older lady also commented on my camera, as I was able to take some pictures (and know before hand if they were coming out) while she only had an older (non digital) camera.
(This is especially funny now, as it turns out that pictures that look fine (or mostly fine) small, look bad large. And Next time I will consider (strongly) a small tripod, as my hands start shaking fiercely.)

A remarkably reasonably priced (for a museum) cafe provided 1/2 and 1/2 roast chicken + avocado and cucumber cream cheese mint and 1/2 and 1/2 grilled veggies + goat cheese and egg salad + mayo + water cress, a decent-sized piece of apple strussel, and a bottle of Evian all for £10.50.

Almost immediately after our meal (which we took not because of hunger, but pain) our feet were on fire with pain. We looked around the Greeks (I really think I would have been a sculptor had I lived back then), then up the most painful (infinite) staircase EVER to see the mummies. It would have been really great if every step I took wasn't unmitigated agony.



We rode the lift down from 6 to 2 (the floor we entered on), sat for a little while, then walked through the gift shop. This part would have been great...if we were rich, but it did give Karen a chance to find the Vikings (their loot and weapons, anyway). Behold a pile of viking loot:



We rested (again) amidst some very shiny jewelry (circa the 1900's), then back to Leicester Square. Karen spotted Mary Poppins (tucked back behind Spamalot, off Charing Cross Road) so we walked over. The woman behind the counter had three seating options (£25, £15, £15) all for obstructed views. The last one, however, was only obstructed if you didn't mind leaning out over the rail a little and craning your neck a bit. We chose these. They ended up being high up on the third level, stage right, and with just a little leaning and craning, we could see everything.

After buying the tickets we rode back to Victoria and did a little shopping in the adjoining mall/shopping center. We bought a shirt for me and one for Monica (Karen's sister) and some generic post cards in case we felt obligated to send them to grandparents. Then we found an electronics store (a feat which required a great spot check from Karen that I missed) where I bought a 2 GB memory card (as the 1 GB card I had was filling up). I'll cut to the chase and tell you that we discovered (in Bath) that our camera couldn't read the 2 GB (£39) card. heh heh meh. We also stopped by Wittards of Chelsea to buy my mom a tea sampler.

Back to the "hotel" for a bit of rest and an opportunity to call Stratford-upon-Avon to get things cleared up. I had trouble with the phone, only to discover (to my great and abounding irritation) that it was a pay phone, so I was using the incorrect code on the calling card. At least the call let me get it out of my system, and move on. Plus, this way we get to see the Portobello Road Market on Saturday.

We left at 5ish (after writing a few postcards) and headed back to Leicester Square. On exiting we headed the wrong direction (swept up with the throng), but figured it out and reversed course. We tried to eat at Wagamama (a renowned Asian restaurant), but the line was out the (inner, subterranean) door. So instead we ate across the street at Chopstix. A medium meal with rice or noodles was only £4.50, and the large was £5. We got the large sweet and spicy with noodles and two (yes two) bottles of water for £1 each. Good Food. Then a little impulsive and decadent Hagen Das (1 Belgian chocolate, 1 Bailey's, and 1 Tiramisu scoop), then to the theater (program and souvenir book £10.50) to wait.

The house wasn't open at first, so we went upstairs and waited in the bar. After about five minutes they announced we could go in, so we did. The seats weren't bad at all. We had to lean and rest our arms, and I had no leg room, but they were ok.

The show was GREAT! Some staple magic tricks to amaze the younger fans, and some pretty nice wire stunts. I remember the books from when I was a kid, and they used a lot of the elements from the books that were left out of the movie. The story was also a lot better than the movie's plot, which was pretty cool.

Tomorrow (as in the 28th of December...): Bath