After we had gotten over our jetlag somewhat, we decided to spend a day in Bath, 15 minutes from Bristol. We were expecting a very small country town and were very surprised when we arrived. It looked exactly as it would have done in Jane Austens' day (Bath and surrounds is where Austen based many of her books). The only differences were cars instead of carriages and the clothes being sold in the stores.
We spent a few hours just wandering around, going in and out of stores (including Gieves & Hawkes - in hindsight maybe we should have avoided that particular store ;-) ). After having lunch in a bar that served Bundy Rum, we visited the Assembly Rooms & the Fashion Museum, which had an incredible collection of clothes, some of which were hundreds of years old. Queen Victorias black dress was one of the highlights of the dresses on display. Finally, we worked our way up to The Circus & then the Botanical Gardens which were absolutely magnificent.
While in Bath a second time, we visited the Thermae Spa (www.thermaebathspa.com) It consisted of four levels of luxury. A rooftop spa with natural spring water heated to 45 degrees, which looked out over the rooftops & rolling hills of Bath was the first stop, followed by a steam room with 5 separate sections, each with its own essential oils filling the air. Of course we chose the Eucalyptus room. Then, after a quick afternoon snack (still in our swimmers & bathrobes) we headed down to the lower pool which had currents that gently moved you around while you floated away. It was incredibly relaxing, as you can imagine.
As it was getting late, we decided to head home. It took us 15 minutes on the motorway to get there in the morning but our GPS was a little bit special and decided that it would be better if we took the scenic route - nearly an hour in all. If we didn't need to get home to go out for dinner, it would have been lovely - we certainly saw a lot of the countryside due to that lost little GPS.....
Again look to Flickr for Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627601796148/
Monday 5 September 2011
Heading to England
Hi all,
So yes, we have been back in Canada for over a month and this blog has been seriously neglected. In order to keep everyone in the loop, I will post a series of entries over the next few days.
First - England.
Long haul travel is never fun, unless you are lucky (read:rich) enough to afford Business or First Class. Unfortunately for us, this was not an option. On the 28th June, James' boss Cody & his wife Kristine dropped us off at the airport for our 9pm flight. (little did we know that their fourth child, Sara, would be arriving in a few hours). When we got to check in, we found out the plane was overbooked. As we had already checked in online, our place was secure. We were then offered 125 pounds each if we would give up our seats and take a flight leaving in 2 hours, and we would also be given access to the Lounge. Why not, we thought. It turns out that the second flight was not a scheduled flight, rather it was yesterdays flight, canceled due to maintenance issues. This meant that we did not board the flight till 4am!!! Luckily we were upgraded and we arrived in Bristol at 11pm London time.
We were very fortunate to be staying with Lindsay, a very close friend of James' mum, in Bristol. It is an absolutely wonderful part of England, close to Bath, Wales & Oxford among many other places. Here we met up with James D & his girlfriend Abby who showed us all around. We went to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a couple of really lovely old houses, Cabots Circus and up and down the main streets of Bristol. We also went to Bath & Oxford (separate Posts) which were really great. Have a look on our Flickr page for photos (it takes FOREVER to upload them on here)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627600973668/
So yes, we have been back in Canada for over a month and this blog has been seriously neglected. In order to keep everyone in the loop, I will post a series of entries over the next few days.
First - England.
Long haul travel is never fun, unless you are lucky (read:rich) enough to afford Business or First Class. Unfortunately for us, this was not an option. On the 28th June, James' boss Cody & his wife Kristine dropped us off at the airport for our 9pm flight. (little did we know that their fourth child, Sara, would be arriving in a few hours). When we got to check in, we found out the plane was overbooked. As we had already checked in online, our place was secure. We were then offered 125 pounds each if we would give up our seats and take a flight leaving in 2 hours, and we would also be given access to the Lounge. Why not, we thought. It turns out that the second flight was not a scheduled flight, rather it was yesterdays flight, canceled due to maintenance issues. This meant that we did not board the flight till 4am!!! Luckily we were upgraded and we arrived in Bristol at 11pm London time.
We were very fortunate to be staying with Lindsay, a very close friend of James' mum, in Bristol. It is an absolutely wonderful part of England, close to Bath, Wales & Oxford among many other places. Here we met up with James D & his girlfriend Abby who showed us all around. We went to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a couple of really lovely old houses, Cabots Circus and up and down the main streets of Bristol. We also went to Bath & Oxford (separate Posts) which were really great. Have a look on our Flickr page for photos (it takes FOREVER to upload them on here)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627600973668/
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