Bath, England
Bath had been on our list pretty much since we moved to London, but a visit had alluded us until we decided enough had been enough! The train ride from Paddington Station couldn’t have been easier and we were immediately greeted with an explosion of Georgian architecture in the golden color of the local Bath stone. Unfortunately, we were also greeted with some pretty heavy rain and we couldn’t yet check into our room at the Abbey Hotel. No fear! We rode out the worst of it at the cozy Foodie Bugle Shop where we indulged in hot chocolate and carrot cake (the shop section also had plenty of stuff to keep us busy browsing).
After visiting Bath Abbey, we wandered around quirky Walcot Street, thumbing through books at Topping & Company Booksellers, wishing we could bring all of The Fig Store home, perusing Meticulous Ink’s cute stationery supplies, and finding a souvenir from artists Nick Cudworth’s gallery. A loop through Hedgemead Park brought us to the Circus, an architectural exercise in geometric shapes and a fine display of that beautiful golden stone. (Stand on the stone in the middle of the park, clap, and listen to the roundabout’s perfect geometry bounce the echo all around you!) Pushing westward, we had a look at the famous Royal Crescent (which is really nothing special compared to the beauty of the rest of the city), but not before looking through the antique maps at Jonathan Potter. Lunch from Cafe Lucca (lemon chicken bruschetta and ham and goat cheese bruschetta) refilled our energy levels. We planned to spend sunset at Thermae Spa’s rooftop bath, but apparently so did the rest of the tourists that evening. We closed the evening out with dinner at Jars Meze (the meat platter was incredible) and a movie at the charming Little Theatre, which we highly recommend!
Day two started with a visit to the city’s eponymous Roman Baths. We had booked the first slot of the day which allowed us to walk through at a good pace without too many other visitors. We enjoyed the view from the outdoor grand bath most. After another snack at the Foodie Bugle Shop (hot chocolate and cookies) we walked along the river at Bath Gardens and appreciated the view of Pulteney Bridge. We crossed the bridge, stopping at homeware shop Found, and walked straight down to the Holbourne Museum. Our favorite part of our visit was spending time behind the museum in Sydney Gardens and along the Kennet and Avon Canal. We grabbed a quick and tasty bite at Blue Quails Deli (chicken sandwich) before heading to the train station for our train back to London.
Bath was certainly worth the wait. Our visit was a great (and easy) escape from London and just what we needed to scratch the wanderlust itch which will help to tide us over until our 2018 travel season kicks into gear!
