I caught the train this morning from London Paddington Station to Bath Spa. They call the station in Bath “Spa” for some reason. The station is definitely not spa-like. 
Before boarding the train, I bought coffee and a very berry muffin from Costa’s coffee, who’s signage looks a lot like Starbucks and who’s coffee is very hot. I burned my tongue on the first sip! Alas … the trip to Bath costs £47 GBP. Which isn’t exactly cheap. Especially considering I had been looking up airfare to Seville, Spain on Ryanair for a grand total of £17 GBP! But so far, it’s worth it.
The train arrived in Bath a bit late, due to some kind of techincal difficulty. Not a big deal though, I wasn’t on any kind of schedule. The only thing I had to do today was meet up with Jez at the train station some time after 5:30.
So, I walked out of the station and found Bath Backpackers, where I left my bag for £2 for the day. I had focused todays activities on what was close to the train station - I walked to the Pulteney Bridge, which I promptly missed completely. I thought the bridge would be a lot bigger, and I didn’t realize there are shops lining both sides of the bridge. It didn’t really look like a bridge at all! You can’t see the water whilst standing on the bridge, so it just looks like a street. Hmmm. I had walked right past the famous part all the way to the end of the street looking for something grand. I turned around, realizing my mistake and found a great juicebar type place right on the bridge and had Red Dragon soup and a chunk of bread. After I finished, that I had a “Recharge” juice with apple, pineapple, strawberry and banana. It was all quite good and I think it was pretty reasonable too.
After a light lunch, I set out determined to see the two sights I had looked up. The Abbey and the Roman Baths. I got to both with time to spare and had a good time seeing them both. The Abbey I could have skipped, if it weren’t for the nice lady I talked to for a while in the middle of the church. She was grandma-age, but pleasant to talk to nonetheless. After I browsed through the naves and apses I walked the 10 meters or so to the Roman Baths. They were definitely a must see! Rick Steves was right. It was so interesting to learn why Bath is called what it is. The museum is well done, and the audio tour is included in the price. Seeing the baths was far more interesting to me than really anything I’ve seen so far in the UK. I mean, the British Museum and National Gallery are impressive, but I guess I just enjoy seeing things still in place, like that baths. I enjoy the parks and the monuments, etc. I even enjoy the churches and abbeys, even though the religious significance doesn’t really do a whole lot for me. At least you can stand there and realize that for hundreds of years, hundreds of people have admired the place from the same spot of significance you have. Those places are permanent and have real history and culture surrounding them.
I’m almost wondering what’s left for me to see tomorrow? The baths seem like the most significant part of the history here. I’m guessing there’s more to see that relates to the relatively recent culture here.
I bought a couple postcards, wandered through the rest of the museum, found out I missed the last guided tour (oh well) and set out to find a place for tea and a light snack to chill in until meeting up with Jez. While I sipped my tea and nibbled my shortbread, I filled out the postcards so I can mail them first thing tomorrow as I walk past the post office. At ten-till 5:50, I went back to the hostel, grabbed my bag and went to the station. As I was standing there, waiting for Jez, his roommate Emily walked up and introduced herself! It was kind of a surprise, and it was nice to meet her and chat instead of waiting alone. Jez showed up quickly, I stashed my bags in his trunk and we were off! After I got in I realized this would be my first trip in a right-hand drive car. I didn’t think it was a big deal at first, and Jez asked me how I was doing, but that was before we got going! There were a couple intersections where being on that side of the car, on that side of the road just felt very wrong. We got to his place fine, though. Not a problem.
I’m at Jez’s house right now, posting this using his Dell laptop. He has wireless, but apparently it’s super secure and not sure about the settings and whatnot to get my Powerbook online. I have a post from yesterday sitting on my Mac, so I’ll have to post that later. I have pictures from today too, but I’ll have to insert those later. We’re heading out in an hour or so to have diner and hang out in Bath. I’m looking forward to it!