Day 8 - London Calling

Well hey!

Dang, as I'm sitting here writing this, I'm finding it super hard to believe that I woke up in Bath. A lot has happened since then!

I got up around 7:30, showered, and packed my suitcase. Then, I met Grandma downstairs for breakfast. Dad showed up a bit later haha. Grandma went to the Bath Abbey courtyard with me, b/c I told Brynn I'd sit on her favorite bench and I wanted to capture the moment on film.

Here I am sitting on Brynn's favorite bench! (it was a bit sunny out):



Then, I went back to the room to chill a bit before heading out to catch the train to London. However, we had a rude awakening when we realized that the train tickets were for 8:58 am and it was already past 9!! Whoops. To make matters more interesting, our hotel was quaint and charming but not super modern. Only one person + his/her suitcase could fit in the elevator at a time. So, trying to hurry, we went down one by one and then booked it to the train station. Luckily, the next train was just a little after 10, so we didn't have to wait that long, and our tickets carried over since we hadn't used them. Phew. So, it all worked out.

We got to London around 11:45 and then took a taxi to our hotel, which is near Buckingham Palace. Then, we grabbed lunch at the hotel restaurant and set out to explore the city a bit.



We briefly saw Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. I loved it when Big Ben sounded off 6 o'clock and Grandma said "Was that Ben?!" haha. Then, we grabbed dinner at a pub called The Shakespeare. Touristy, I know. We ended the night watching Friends and the Tonight Show in Grandma's and my room hahaha.



Tomorrow night we see Les Mis. I can't wait!!

Cheers!

Love,

Kelly

Day 7 - Goodbye to Bath

Today was our last full day in Bath. We're catching the train to London tomorrow morning.

I made it to breakfast for the 2nd time - hooray! Then, we went outside to brace the cold, rainy day that it was. We did some last minute shopping. I bought a dress and an England rugby shirt just because.

I knew Dad and Grandma had to see the Royal Crescent and Circus at some point this week, and we decided to save them for today b/c we'd already booked tickets to see the play The Tempest at Victoria Park (which is right below the Crescent).

Here is Dad outside Nicholas Cage's House:



Here is Dad outside Johnny Depp's House:



Yep, we were big-time creepers today haha. We eventually found the botanical gardens, which is where the Lord Chamberlain's Men (a traveling theater troupe) were supposed to put on the Tempest. We had to leave when they took a rain break though, unfortunately, b/c the theater was outside and we were sitting on the ground, getting soaked.



We came back to the hotel and took hot showers and changed. Then, we went to 5:45 mass at St. John's tonight, since we're getting up and going to London tomorrow morning. After mass, we had a delicious dinner at the hotel, and now here I am typing this!

The next time I post will be from London-

Night night,

Kelly :)

Day 6 - Max it Out!

This morning, we decided to go to Prior Park - a beautiful park on the other side of the Bath Spa train station, that I visited last summer and loved. I'd forgotten that the walk up to Prior Park is extremely steep and long, so I felt bad for Grandma having to hike that far. She was a trooper though, that's for sure.

Once we arrived, we took a leisurely stroll around the nature paths, looking at the beautiful mansion, which remains a Catholic high school, the covered bridge (there are only 3 others like it in the world!), the overlooks, and the swans and ducks. We had a nice lunch at the tea kiosk by the lake.



Then, we trekked back to central Bath and got some gelato and crepes. After that, we were all ready for a mid-day nap, so we went back to the hotel for a bit haha.

I forgot to mention that the Bath music festival is going on all week, so after resting a bit, we went down to the gazebo area in Parades Park and listed to local musicians play.

Next, we met up with Andy! It was so great to see him again and for Dad and Grandma to meet him. We all went out to the Pig and Fiddle Pub to listen to music and hang out for a bit. It was really great to catch up, and he kindly went out of his way to meet up with us!

Grandma headed back to bed, and Dad and I hit up the Real Italian Pizza Company. He got a pizza called La Bella Vita (it was chock-full of meat) and I got the Quattro Formaggio pizza.

Now, I'm definitely ready to call it a night.

Goodnight, everyone :)

Love,

Kelly

Day 5 - May 27th - "Divide and Conquer"

Sorry for getting behind again! I've been so exhausted every night. By the time I get back to the hotel, all I want to do is collapse into my cushion-y bed.

Here's a re-cap of yesterday:

Well, mission accomplished. I actually made it to breakfast for the first time all trip. After that, we tooled around the inside of Bath Abbey, looking at all of the stained glass and old architecture and piddling around the gift shop. I bought the book Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis.



Dad and Grandma wanted to see Stonehenge, but I didn't really feel the need to go back (I wasn't super impressed the first time - I thought it was going to be bigger haha). So, they got tickets and were gone from 1 pm - 5 pm, while I did some serious shopping. I got some new clothes, a pair of shoes, and 3 swimsuits (unnecessary, I know). But, I still have pounds left over!

I gave Dad my digital camera, since I figured we'd rather document Stonehenge than my shopping expedition, so he returned it to me with a big lit-up screen saying "battery exhausted." That's the Papa Key we all know and love.



They really enjoyed their trip and they apparently went to a village where Harry Potter was filmed!

We decided to have our fancy-shmancy dinner out last night, so we went to the classy Jamie's Italian (owned by Jamie Oliver). It's insanely modern and high-end, and it was a pretty cool treat. I went last summer once too, but I was seriously trying to save money at the time, since it was my last night in Bath and I was essentially broke.

After that, we decided to go to the Met to check out karaoke night. Dad had been brainstorming songs he could embarrass me with all day. When we got there, though, they were having technical difficulties, and, after hanging out for an hour and half, we decided to call it a night.

THEN, we came back into Grandma's and my room to a chilled bottle of champagne and 3 glasses with a note from our travel agent saying congratulations on my graduation!!! It was an awesome surprise :)

Till next time, then. (which will be in a few short moments, as I'm frantically trying to get caught up on the blog...)

Love,

Kelly

Day 4 - Familiar Faces!

Today was especially exciting! I got to see just about everyone at Nelson House (our academic building) from the study abroad program last summer. Minus Andy...but we're meeting up with him on Friday night. I got to visit with Jonathan, Barbara, Claire, and Su though. Dad and Grandma met them and we all enjoyed some tea and chocolates. They also got me a beautiful rose glass necklace for helping out with the study abroad events at school!

Even before meeting up with them though...I literally RAN to the post office to mail all my postcards and rushed back. I felt kind of dumb, because, since you have to lick the stamps here, I also thought you had to lick the "royal air mail" stickers. So I tried licking them and sticking them on the post cards for a good little while before realizing you could just peel them off and stick them on. One girl was looking at me a bit confusedly. Oh well.

After the tea, we decided to go to the Crystal Palace for lunch. The sign outside said "best fish and chips in Bath." I'd been there before, but only for tea and dessert, so we decided to see if the sign was correct. Unfortunately, it was not. Not only was Garfunkel's fish and chips much better, but the fish and chips at the Crystal Palace also had tons of little bones in it. No good. But, you live and learn.



We then headed to the local theater to see Robin Hood. I've gotta admit, it was pretty cool going to the movies in a foreign country. I felt like a huge tourist, but I had to take a picture of the movie theater haha. It was the biggest theater I've ever seen. The only key difference in food was that they had waaay more candy options, and, instead of asking if you want buttered popcorn or plain, they ask if you want salted or sweet.

I really enjoyed the movie! Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott have done it again! If you haven't already seen it, I would definitely recommend going.



Let's see. After the movie, we shopped around for a bit. Grandma has been wanting to find a cute little painted tea cup to bring home, and it has been amazingly hard to find one! She found the perfect shop today, though. Tomorrow is our big shopping day - I've been saving up all my pounds for some good British fashion. haha

For dinner, we went to Thai Balcony. It was the best Thai food I've ever had! Period. It was amazing. I'd been wanting to go there since last summer, but I hadn't had the opportunity until today. It was really great.

After that, it started drizzling for the first time since we've been in the Uk. Up until then, we'd been having truly amazing weather for England in May. It's still pretty nice though :)

It's only 10 pm, but I think I'm gonna curl up in bed and do some reading. I still haven't opened the "beach read"-type book I'd bought for the plane ride. Plus, I'd like to get up early tomorrow and actually make it to breakfast downstairs, which I haven't done once this whole trip...

Sweet dreams, America!!

Love,

Kelly

Day 3 - May 25th

Sorry for not posting last night! I was having some seriously bad computer issues. I'll do 2 posts today to make up for it.

Here's what we did yesterday (May 25th):

Well, I slept in till about 10 and missed breakfast haha. These beds are dangerously comfortable, and we had the windows cracked so there was a nice breeze blowing in. Dad and Grandma were up and at 'em fairly early though, and they enjoyed full English breakfasts in the hotel lobby.

Once I got up and going, we decided to finally go see the Roman Baths, since they had been closed the night of Grandma's birthday. Dad and Grandma really loved the museum and seeing the hot springs that have been there since 76 AD - crazy! I loved going back, and I think I paid better attention to everything this time.

We had lunch at Las Iguanas, a Brazilian restaurant. I had been a couple of times before, and I really like the food! After that, we took a brief siesta in the hotel and then headed to Parades Park to have a relaxing tea, out by the gazebo and lawns. It's across from the Pulteney Bridge (pictured at the top of the previous entry).

THEN, and most importantly, we took a river cruise on the Avon. It was an incredible experience, and I can't believe I didn't do it last summer. The whole ride was so peaceful and picturesque. I loved it :)



Dad befriended our sea captain, Mal, who recommended the White Heart near Widcombe as a possible dinner place for us. We trekked over there and enjoyed some great food. I had this risotto dumpling dish and some vichyssoise (a cold potato soup). We then headed back to the hotel lobby and vegged out. I tried to get my laptop working for about 2 hours in vain, but luckily it's up and running now.




and can't forget this gem:





I'll post again before I go to bed.

Love Always,

KK

Day 2 - Grandma's Birthday!

Ok so first...really cool story from last night! If you read my blog last summer (or even if you didn't and you scroll back now...) and saw the last paragraph of the entry for June 28th, 2009, you'll remember that sweet old lady who tried to help me find the bathroom at St. John's and ended up sending both of us on a wild goose-chase. Well..I saw her again last night at mass!!! I knew it was her from the start; I remembered her appearance completely. But, because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't, I went up to her after mass to talk to her. And she remembered me! She laughed about how we both got lost and told me her name was Moire. The whole thing gave me goosebumps for some reason. It was really cool seeing a familiar face in a foreign country, and she actually knew who I was! I feel like I was supposed to see her again, and I'm definitely keeping her in my prayers.



Today we celebrated Grandma's birthday all day! She chose the day's activities, which included going to the Pump Room for lunch (an old social room frequented by Jane Austen, herself) and Sally Lunn's for dinner (home of Sally Lunn's famous buns and the oldest building in Bath - 1482). We spent the evening at the Ale House, talking to the bartender Adam about his band. We also went to the Real Italian Ice Cream company earlier in the day to get some gelato (they had my favorite flavor today - amaretto!) and to an old print shop. I bought an old copy of Jane Eyre. It was really fun to browse through the ancient books.

It's really awesome being back here, but also strange. This experience is totally different from my first one, but it's fun to show everything to Dad and Grandma.

Sleep well, everyone! (even though it's only like 6 pm there...)

Love,

Kelly

Whew, Made It!

So, it's 3:52 pm here but 10:52 am at home. My body is slightly confused. I slept for about 2 hours on the plane, so I sort of feel like it's still a continuation of Saturday if you catch ma drift. I'm still feelin' spry as a spring chicken though, b/c I'm in Bath, UK - my home away from home! Also, as I started writing this, a local children's orchestra started playing Beatles songs across the street :)

The first thing that happened on the trip was that Dad got a parking ticket at the airport. I swear we'd only been inside like 5 minutes and we ended up with a $55 ticket. But, it's a bit humorous. As I predicted, we got there 4 hours early, but we were luckily able to catch an earlier flight so that all worked out pretty smoothly. THEN, we ran into someone who works at my dad's office who was also flying into Heathrow. Small world, friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the plane. I really do love flying. Even though we'd already had dinner, I ate another dinner on the plane just for the heck of it. Plus, I actually like airplane food. Then, I had some tea so I would feel like I was already in England. It kinda worked. The older couple across the aisle to the right of us were really cute - he held her hand during take-off so she wouldn't be as scared. I smiled. Across the other aisle was a baby! A real cute one, too! He/she (the duds were gender neutral) was amazingly quiet during the entire flight, but he/she did some really funny expressive motions with his/her eyes/eyebrows - cracked me up. I watched part of the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, too, but I lost interest when they brought my dinner.

Then, the rest of the travel time was a blur. We reached Heathrow at 9 am London time (4 am back home), hopped on the Heathrow Express, jumped a train at Paddington to Bath Spa and walked to the hotel from the train station.

Right now, I'm sitting in Grandma's and my quaint little charming 3rd story room. She is sound asleep on her bed, and I'm sitting at the desk pretty much fully energized. We walked around a bit after we got here - went to the Cornish Pasty Shop, all around central Bath and to the Pulteney Bridge, and ended up relaxing at the Huntsman. I'm happy that I still remember how to get everywhere. We're heading over to Mass at 6:30 at St. John's - the same church I went to while I studied abroad here last summer. Oh yeah! And we also had to of course pass Linley House (where I lived last summer) and I got one of those warm fuzzy feelings :). Yep! Not too much else to report here as of yet...stay tuned!

I wish you were all here with me! Miss you!

Love,

Kelly

To Bath, Again!

I'm going back to Bath tomorrow! I'm so excited. Right now, I'm still running around the house, throwing things (somewhat thoughtfully) into my suitcase, and hoping I'm not forgetting anything. I've been working on our itinerary and I think it's gonna be a winner! Hope Dad and Grandma are up for some fun adventures...haha

I'll do my very best to update the blog before I go to sleep every night...my next post will be from across the pond!! Talk to you soon!

Love,

Kelly