Farewell Bath

 

Overlooking the center of Bath

     Sadly, I have to leave Bath.  The two and a half months have flown by.  I will miss many things when I return home.  Some of the things I love about Bath are the beautiful Georgian buildings, the Roman Baths, parks, going on picnics, the library, and being able to walk everywhere.  By far, my favorite thing about Bath is the food.  From sweet fudge to savory pies, local ice cream to fish and chips, I enjoyed stuffing my face with lots of lovely things to eat at breakfast, lunch, tea time and dinner.  I hope I will get the chance to come back to Bath. 

I lived at the end of Great Pulteney Street.

On Top of the Tower

Bath Abbey

   
      The Abbey is one of the best pieces of architecture I have EVER seen.  It has beautiful stained glass windows and a lovely scalloped ceiling.  The abbey was built in 1499 but was incomplete until 1611.  Part of the reason for this was because in 1539, King  Henry the 8th ordered the abbey to be burned down. 

Inside the Abbey

      I took the Tower Tour to the top terrace.  I climbed 212 steps to get there but stopped to see the bells and the clock face.  When I stopped at the bell room we got to see how the bells worked.  The bells were actually upside down!  I also got to see the inside of the  clock face and learned it is not owned by the abbey but owned by the city.  As I started up the rest of the stairs I peered more closely at bells. The biggest bell was the size of a small car.  Then I was at the top.  It was magnificent seeing everything below.  I could see most of the places I had been in the last 2 months.

Behind the clock face

A trip down the River Avon

     

The Bathwick Boatman

It was a nice sunny day.  The water was still with a small snitch of wind.  My dad wanted to go punting and thought this the day to do it.  Luckily right down the street was a place you could rent boats called the Bathwick Boatman.  We heard about a boat called a rowing punt and decided to try one out.  We got a rowing punt called Lady Rose and set off to Bathampton.  Along the way we met a few boats (5 of them - 3 ferries and 2 rowing punts) and crashed into a few bushes.  I mainly steered the boat but I rowed a little at the end.  Rowing was VERY hard for my family.  After we went under our first bridge we realized we had only 20 minutes to get back!  We didn't have the time to go to Bathampton.  I didn't really mind though, because it was peaceful, rowing down the tranquil Avon river.

Rowing is hard work!

Colourscape

Damian and me in the red tunnel.

     The Holburne Museum is holding a very interesting event on its front lawn.  It is an exhibit that happens inside a huge sculpture.  This amazing light sculpture is called Moonorooni.  For a small fee, visitors are allowed to wander about in this labyrinth of colors.  Throughout the day, Moonorooni also has musical performances.  

     On my visit on Sunday, I went with my family.  The structure can only hold 50 people at a time so we had to wait a while to enter.  They gave us each a colored cloak - green, blue, red and yellow - so we could see the effect of colors upon different colors.  When I got inside, I saw numerous tunnels bathed in a variety of of colors.  I walked around and as I was doing so, I realized that different colors had an effect on my emotions.  For instance, the bright red made me feel dizzy while the soft blue made me feel calm.  Secondary colors were also formed where two primary colors met.  It was an amazing place to take photos with all the contrasting colors.  The exhibit was definitely memorable because it was so interactive.

Taking a break!

Author Face-off

In front of the Jane Austen Centre  

     Jane Austen and Jacqueline Wilson are two authors who both have connections to Bath.   Jane Austen was born in 1775 and was the seventh of eight children.  In 1801 she was forced to move to Bath because her parents retired there.  One historian said, "She disliked Bath and thought it didn't agree with her, yet it was to be her home."  She thought Bath was too noisy and fancy for her liking.  She did write two novels based in Bath (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion) which is why she is celebrated here.  Her novels became popular after she died.  In Bath today, there is a center dedicated to Jane Austen and her former home is just around the corner from where I am staying this summer.  

    Jacqueline Wilson is an English, children's, best-selling author.  She was born in Bath in 1945 to parents Biddy and Harry.  She was an only child.  She loved playing pretend games and started writing at seventeen in the magazine Jackie.  She started off writing adult novels but switched to children's.  Her books are about everyday problems and difficult family-life.  I discovered her last year and this summer I have read about twenty of her books.  She is one of my favorites!  Hopefully soon I will read a Jane Austen book to see what the fuss is all about!

A Long Walk

The start of the journey.

     On Sunday I walked from Bath to Bradford on Avon.  It was a damp and dreary day with sudden little showers of rain.  The last few weeks were very hot for Bath but this day was the first cool day in some time.  I set off ready to go 7.5 miles but ending up going 9.5 miles!  

     The walk was along the Kennet and Avon Canal path.  During the first 5 miles I saw lots of people boating and I even saw some cats that were living on a few boats.  The boats on the canal are called Narrowboats because they are skinny and long so they can fit and pass other boats.  Some people live on boats but many are rented out for fun.  

A cat jumps off a narrow-boat to say hello.

     After 5 miles, my family and I stopped at the Angelfish Cafe for sandwiches for lunch.  I was happy to sit down for a while.  We found out that we still had 4.5 miles to go to get to Bradford on Avon.  We crossed over the Dundas Aqueduct (or stone water bridge) in a village called Limpley Stoke and walked on.  The last 4 miles dragged but we finally made it to the town of Bradford on Avon.  

     Bradford on Avon is a small town that used to have a large woolen textile industry.  We refreshed ourselves in a odd, old-fashioned cafe.  I had a hot chocolate and ginger cake.  We looked around a little and then caught a bus back to Bath.  It had taken us 5 hours to get there on foot but only half an hour to get back on the bus!

Bradford on Avon

Day at the Fair

The bumper cars!

      On Friday I went to a Victorian fair called the Carter Steam Fair.  The fair was held in Royal Victoria Park, which is a large public park in Bath.  The fair was full of old-fashioned rides and games.  I played a game called Red, White, and Blue where I had to roll three balls into the right color lane.  I didn't win the grand prize but got a small bouncy ball for trying.  The games didn't seem worth the money so I headed over to the rides.  My brother and I went on the Helter Skelter.  It was a giant, twisting slide.  We each sat on a mat and went whizzing down the slope.  My favorite ride by far was the bumper cars.  I loved the way I could drive around and around the track at top speed.  I didn't like being bumped as much but sometimes a bump helped me move along.  I was really awful at getting going at first but by my second attempt at driving, I was a pro.

Helter Skelter

Whee!

Prior Park

   

     I trudged up a steep hill (one of many in Bath) to get to Prior Park Landscape Garden.  The garden was created by Ralph Allen in the 1700s.  Ralph Allen changed the postal service in 1720 and made a fortune.  The garden was neglected for a little over 200 years until the National Trust restored it.  Some of things I saw were the Grotto, the Gothic Temple site, the Palladian Bridge, and the Mansion.  The mansion and bridge both use Greek and Roman architecture.  Near the bridge there was a beautiful swan family and ducks.  After I finished exploring, I went to the Tea Shed and got a toffee ice cream, which came from a local farm just outside Bath.  It gave me enough energy to make it back home.

A Side Trip to Bristol: Gromit Unleashed

Nuts and Bolts

Last  Sunday we went to Bristol which is about 15 miles from Bath. We went on the train and as soon as we got there I saw my first Gromit.  Gromit is a popular character in a stop motion comedy film series.  Gromit Unleashed is all about raising money for charity.  There are 80 Gromits, each decorated by a different artist.  They are all around Bristol.  I picked up a Gromit trail map at the M-Shed museum.  The Gromits were huge, and very unique.  I saw only 12 out of the 80 but it was a good way to explore the city. I loved all of the Gromits.

Aquae Sulis

The Great bath

I went to the Roman Baths at 7 p.m. to see it lit up with torches.  I got more then I expected- it was also a museum. The audio guides were very informative and told you about artifacts the baths had.  There were also computer projections that showed what the Romans looked like and what they did in certain parts of the exhibit.  When we got to the Great bath (the one that is open for viewing) I stood close to it and looked around.  The water in the bath is from a natural hot spring. My favorite part was the actors pretending to be actual Romans.  One told me all about the makeup wealthy women wore.  The architecture was impressive and they didn't have many of the machines we have today (though the romans were really smart - they found out the correct  measurement of a year).  The people of Aquae Sulis (what Bath was called back then) built the baths as a temple to the goddess Minerva, the goddess of wisdom.

An actor pretending to be a Roman craftsman

The Gorgon carving

The Green Rocket Cafe

Damian's rice burger

If I were a food critic, I would give the Green Rocket Cafe five stars.  It is a vegetarian restaurant in the middle of Bath.  My family and I went  there for lunch and everyone ordered something different. I had a spiced sweet potato soup, my brother had a rice burger with haloumi (that is a fry-able cheese), my mom had an Egyptian mezze, and my dad had a Persian stew.  I liked the rice burger best (the haloumi cheese is my new favourite cheese!) and my brother loved my soup.  This is a place we will come back to!

Egyptian mezze

Sham Castle

     It was a nice day so I decided to take a walk to Sham Castle.  I went up a short, steep, and very weedy hill to get there.  Suddenly through the bramble and brush the castle began to form.  Or what was left of it.  The castle didn't have a back! Then I realized...Sham Castle was a folly or a building that was built for decoration. Once I was on top of the hill I could see all of Bath and and beyond.

Fashion Museum

     One of Bath's attractions is the Fashion Museum.  It is located in the Assembly Rooms which was opened in 1771.  The Fashion Museum shows different clothes from all ages.  The oldest dress I saw was from the 1660s.  They also have a room where you can dress up as a Victorian person.   

Tea Time

     

Just getting started

     It was my birthday so my family decided to take me out to have a proper English tea at Bea's Vintage Tea Room.  We ordered a tea for two (which was really enough for four people) - three layers of wondrous food.  First there were sandwiches - cucumber, smoked salmon, and egg & watercress.  My favourite was the smoked salmon.  The next layer - scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam.  For the final layer - THERE WAS CAKE!  I devoured a whole slice of lemon curd cake! During the process, I sipped my way through three cups of tea.  Wow!  I was stuffed!

First Things First

     

Bath Central Library

     I love reading, so naturally, the first thing I did was go to the Bath Central Library.  This library is located at the top of Waitrose, a grocery store.  At the library, I got a library card without any trouble.  I headed over to the children's section and picked out 10 books in about 5 minutes.  They also have free wi-fi!  This might be the place where I spend the most time.  

Arriving In Bath

My new home on Great Pulteney Street

     I left my house in Atlanta, GA on Monday 17th, June at 11.00am.  I flew to New York, then London.  From there I took a bus to Bath.  I finally arrived at my new home at 3.00pm (England time - 10am US time).  Some of the things I saw on my journey were the Empire State Building, Serena Williams (famous tennis player), sheep, 2 graveyards, tunnels and several double-decker buses.