I had a rough start to my trip - I had worked late the night before, and woke up exhausted. I showered and packed, and looked at my flight information....and freaked out. I thought I had missed my flight. It turns out I mixed my flights up: one took off at 15:30 and the other landed at 15:30. I thought I had missed the one that landed at 15:30, but I was really on the one that took off then. It was very confusing, and incredibly stressful! But I made it in time for my real flight.
I landed in London Stansted, which is pretty far north of the city, and took the train straight to Bath. It was so nice to be somewhere English-speaking! I can't imagine trying to travel by myself for the first time in a foreign language! So, Stansted to Bath, I stayed in Bath the first night, in a hostel that was an old Georgian mansion! It was really nice, and my three roommates were female and very nice. The next morning I woke up ready to go, and ate breakfast in the hostel. I was joined by an older couple (older than me, at least) who were waiting for their 15 year old son to wake up. We chatted for a while; they were very impressed that I was traveling by myself, not because it's dangerous but because they said people are generally afraid to be alone. Honestly, it was nice not to have to work around someone else's desires.
I started my day at the Roman Baths. They're really cool! The sheer age of them was unbelievable! They give you a little cell-phone-looking thing with numbers and a screen, and you hold it up to your ear as it guides you through the baths. The numbers, in true British form, are in no particular order. After spending so much time in Germany, it's incredible how disorganized the UK felt! Anyway, I toured the baths, took pictures, and immediately found the double-decker bus tour. I stayed on that the whole way through the city, so that I could better orient myself. Bath is not as large as I expected! The tour took us all over and gave us a nice overview of Georgian architecture. After the tour I wandered the city, bought some postcards, ate a cornish pasty (a terriffic choice), and spent tea time in an outdoor cafe, writing postcards. It was a lovely day, though foggy. I took the train back to London around 4, and got to see some sheep - one of my goals - from the train.
My hostel, an old Georgian mansion.
The baths
A statue in the baths
Can you see the steam? It's heated by a hot spring, which they gave us a nice scientific description of on the tour.
Pigeons enjoying the hot water
The fountain in the ritzy restaurant attached to the baths. I didn't get to drink out of it, but I took a picture because I recognized it from the Travel Channel.
Bus tour
Ahh, the flowers of spring!
Bath from my seat on the bus
The Circus, a lovely example of Georgian architecture. They say that the buildings have 'Queen Anne fronts and Sally Anne backs' which means that when you get to the backside of the buildings, they're fairly ugly. But the front is gorgeous!
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