bath, england

We took the early train to Bath so we could make the most of our day there, but when we got there we found out that we couldn't check into our room until 2pm. We were able to leave our bags there though, so we set out to find some breakfast and look around the city. Even though they are what Bath is famous for, we decided not to tour the Roman Baths. It would have been neat, but it was just so expensive. Plus we figured that we had already seen some baths in Budapest, plus we still have to go to Rome, where we will see plenty of Roman architecture as well. We joined up with a free walking tour around the city instead. It was raining and a little unpleasant, but really informative at the same time. The Georgian/Neo-Classical style of architecture is all very symmetrical, which makes for really beautiful looking buildings. For example, even if the design didn't allow for a window in the building, one would be painted on the outside just to ensure that the building remained symmetrical looking. After that we just went back to the hostel. The hostel was kind of crap. It was right above a bar/restaurant and completely un-soundproof. Apparently Bath is a bit of a party town, which meant a crappy sleep each night. There was no kitchen either, which increased the amount we had to spend on food.
Bath was kind of the same idea as Oxford, stay 3 nights, but use the other days to go on day trips.

We got a bit of a late start the next morning and by the time we figured out how to get to Stonehenge it was too late and there wouldn't have been enough time. Instead, we decided to take the one hour train ride into Cardiff, Wales. Add another country we weren't planning on to the list! hehe.. We did lots of walking there, and toured the Natural History Museum which was free. It was huge, and so extensive! The dinosaur bit was especially neat.. After the museum we made the VERY long walk down to the harbour, to Mermaid Quay. By the time we got there we were starving and ate at this American style diner complete with Elvis and The Fonz statues. The burgers we ordered were MASSIVE, but I guess we got our money's worth, since it cost us about $30 cdn for two burgers, onion rings and curly fries. Ugh.

The next day we got up early and got a proper start on Stonehenge. We had to take the train, then a bus because of trackwork being done on the railway, then another bus. When we got there we decided to just fork over the money to get in, even though there is a decent view from the highway. They are actually planning on changing the whole sight layout, and diverting the highway even. Then they will then have a shuttle that takes you from the ticket office to the sight. They say it will be to enhance the visitor's experience, but I think it's so they can make more money by hiding it from view of the highway! There is another stone circle nearby, called Avebury that isn't as nearly as touristy that we wanted to check out as well, but we probably wouldn't have had time because of the bus schedule and transfers we would've had to make. Instead we decided to take a different way back to Bath, via Swindon. This was funny because one of our favourite TV shows, called The Office (British version) references Swindon alot. It's kind of neat to say we've been there now, even if it was only for a couple hours! In Swindon I bought a new backpack (day pack), or as they would call it, a rucksack, haha..It was on sale for only 10 pounds, which seemed like a pretty good deal. It actually turned out to be crap and the zipper would split occasionally. I really couldn't take the risk of that happening, I carry too many valuable things in there, so I ended up returning it and buying a way better quality one in London for only a few pounds more.