6/17

Today was our biggest adventure yet. Em & I went to Bath. I love Jane Austen, and Bath is in a lot of her books. I was quite unsure about driving in such a tourist town, so I looked online and saw that the train took the same amount of time as driving, and it would probably be about the same price. So, we decided to take the train. I was nervous about it, because I was terrified we'd get on the wrong train, either in the beginning, or when we had to change at Bristol. But, all of the people we ran into were really nice, and they helped us with our questions. However, there are still no street signs in Cheltenham, so we did get mixed up on the way to the train station.

So, we safely arrived in Bath, and started walking. We had Bruce, our GPS, but he's hard to follow in pedestrian mode. We ended up finding a double-decker bus tour place, so we just hopped on there. Luckily, they went to the Jane Austen Centre, the Roman Baths, and the Assembly Rooms - all of the places we wanted to see. We even got to drive past the Royal Crescent, which was another thing I wanted to see, but didn't want to walk that far.

So, we went to the Jane Austen Centre first. Poor Em was bored to death, but I really enjoyed it. We did find a set of J.A. books that have been simplified for kids, so she got that. Then, we went to the Roman Baths. It was really neat. It just looks like a beautiful building, but then there's a whole bath system underground. There were all sorts of artifacts to see. It also had a kids' tour, which Em enjoyed immensely.

We walked up to the Assembly Rooms, where Jane used to go to balls. Unfortunately, there was some function in the actual ballrooms, so we didn't get to go in. :( But, we went to the Fashion Museum in the basement, and that was a lot of fun.

We went back to the Roman Baths, and went to the Pump Room. The Pump Room was a very fashionable place to gather in Jane's time. Em & I had the Jane Austen High Tea. It had rarebit, scones, and a cupcake for each of us. We discovered that Stilton tastes like the petting zoo.

By then, it was pouring rain. Em desperately wanted to get back on the bus, but she didn't want to ride inside. I told her there was no way I was sitting in the open top of the bus when it was pouring. She found a bus that had a glas-enclosed top area, so we went on that one. It took us on the lovely skyline tour of Bath. It dropped us back at the train station in perfect time to catch the train back to Cheltenham.

I discovered that if I can drive while lost in Cheltenham, I can do anything. So, tomorrow, we're driving to Stratford-Upon-Avon. :)