18 May 2010

Today was a huge hustle and bustle day. We started out early and met at the Refectory at 8 am so we could leave by 8 15 am to catch the tub to get to Paddington Station to go to Bath. By the way, when I say hustle and bustle, I mean it. We walked/ran so fast that most of us were literally running to keep up with Professor Wolfe and still couldn't keep up with her pace. Most of us were running out of the gate of Regents to the crosswalk and all the way down to the tube station. Honestly, that was the most running most of us have done in a long time. We made it to Paddington Station and were able to catch our breath after the tube ride. Then we waited for Professor Parkhouse who started his journey much earlier than we did. So we got on the 9 am train to Bath and it was about an hour and a half ride. I watched as the city fell away to the countryside and saw a lot of rolling green hills, cows grazing, and sheep hiding from the sun under a bank of trees. It was a wonderful sight to behold. Finally, we arrived in Bath and it was a gorgeous, bright and sunny day. We walked down the streets of Bath to an area where we would be taking a bus tour that covered Bath, except for the skyline. That tour last about 50 minutes, and it showed us most of Bath. We saw Cathedrals, learned about the history of how the Romans started Bath, learned about the people who built the phenomenal architecture around Bath, and we were all surrounded with history. After our tour, we ate lunch at a local restaurant, and the food was wonderful. At the same time we all wrote post cards back home and we all signed ones to EC for different Administrators. After that, we went to see the Roman baths by Bath Abbey. They were absoulutely incredible. There was so much history there. I was completely astounded at what was accomplished to make those baths. It was an overwhelming experience just to see how preserved these baths are. From the individual east and west baths to the main bath in the center, the Roman Baths were the highlight of the trip. I didn't want to leave. After we left the baths, sadly, we were able to go around Bath as we pleased. A few of us took a walk over to the Jane Austen Museum. We had seen it on the open bus tour and we were curious. After trying to figure out how to get there we finally arrived after we saw the statue of Jane Austen in front. We walked around the shop for a bit and headed out. The walk back to the station was interesting. We weren't sure which way to go and were caught in the middle. While we were all trying to figure out which way to go, a nice elderly gentleman gave us the right directions back to the station to head back to Regents. The group of four of us made it back to the station for the 3 13 pm train and headed back to Regents.
Today was a phenomenal day. From the open air bus tour, to the exquisite Roman baths, to just wandering around Bath, we all had a good time today.

Until tomorrow, we shall see whats in store.......