UK - Day 16...Afternoon in Bath

Even though it's a weekend, I can't sleep in and go down for 8am breakfast with Chris and Greg, also early risers. They have an agenda today and rush off. Next, Laura and Jessica join me and they are all excited for their trip to Bath and the spas there. They have their tickets for the 10 o'clock train and swimsuits and off they go. Keith and Paul show up next. Paul has located some relatives a train ride away and is excited to go meet them, and Keith wants to go to Bath. My sleeping roommate also wants to go, so I wake her and tell her the plans and ticket prices. She decides it's too much to spend for a day and wants to sleep in. So, Keith and I catch the 11 o'clock train for the 2 hour ride to Bath. We are surrounded with young families, and it's almost weird to hear the children's animated voices. We haven't seen hardly any kids on the streets of London, and it's great to hear their laughter as we speed along through the countryside.
Once in Bath, we ask about going to the Stonehenge on the way home, but we've purchased the wrong kind of train tickets and cannot jump off in Salisbury and get back on. So, we opt to wander around Bath for the afternoon. The river is flanked by wonderfully old buildings and throngs of tourists cover the sidewalks...
...and come by bus to the cathedral...
...and the ancient Roman baths.
We are here to have a quiet Sunday with cleaner air and less crowds than the weekdays bring, so we escape to the other side of the river, buy some picnic food and look for a place to eat it.
We find an interesting green space with a maze in the grass.
We set up on the sun dome in the center and it isn't long before the rain comes. So, we eat our bread and hummous, deli salads and chocolate while huddled under my 'bralie'.

The clouds break by the time we've finished lunch, so we go wandering again - trying to steer clear of the huge groups pouring off the buses.
Walking along, we see these old trees whose trunks remind me of elephant legs!
And, in a little park, a young boy is enthusiastically feeding the birds.
Off in the distance we see what looks like a Gothic church and think maybe we could walk to it when we've seen all we want to see in this neighborhood. I wonder how far away that actually is...
Next, we come across the crescent shaped housing Bath is known for...
including The Royal Crescent which is made up of 30 homes attached in a giant crescent shape.
Looking closer, I see they have the same maintenance policies of the duplexes I've seen elsewhere in London. Every unit is definitely treated separately!
Then the clouds open up into a torrential downpour and we find a tree in a huge park to help shield us from getting completely soaked because the umbrella isn't quite doing the job. We are joined by a couple of kids who were skateboarding nearby. It's funny how people talk to complete strangers when sharing a predicament, but not under normal circumstances.

When the rain subsides again, we cut through the park and walk along the sidewalks of the non-touristy commercial district, and I look down an alley and get a glimpse of a bridge. My curiosity gets the best of me and I go to check it out. There's a walking path here! Along the river!
It's peaceful and beautiful - just what I need for a weekend refresher. So we stroll along, mostly in silence to take advantage of this quiet. Then, Keith spots blackberry bushes, and we pick a few...
...and find that when eaten with some of the leftover chocolate from lunch, it is a heavenly treat.
Next along the trail is another park - more of the typical city park size with play equipment and trees. It has the most unique baby swings I've seen:
and a merry-go-round! I haven't been on one in years!
And, after playing on it for a bit, I realize that my lunch is no longer happy. How did I used to play on these at recess after lunch when I was little?!
So, back on the trail we go, and soon spot a beautiful swan hanging out by some lilac-looking bushes. So serene...
The rain picks up again and we decide home sounds good. Apparently, everyone else had the same thought because when we board the train there isn't a single empty seat! So we sit on the floor by the doors...
...and make friends with 3 girls sitting by the opposite doors...
...and joke with the others crowded into the same space in the adjoining car as well as down the aisles. It is a very snug and entertaining ride home! And, I really can't tell you anything about the view out the window this time.