Out and About in Bath

I simply adored Bath.  The size of the town was just big enough without being overwhelming.  It was very picturesque and immaculate.  

A Jane Austen museum.  Jane lived in Bath for about 5 years.  

A very cool shop called "Found". 

At William Herschel's home.  His telescope lens-grinder. He discovered Uranus, the infrared light spectrum and numerous comets.  His sister Caroline discovered many celestial bodies as well.

The Bath Postal Museum is fantastic! So much fun here.

Old Pultney Bridge.  Shops line either side of the bridge (the only other one in the world is the Ponte Vecchio in Florence).

Parade grounds, at the Avon River's edge.

Bath is known for the 2000-year old healing baths built by the Romans.  A great deal of the structure remains and the baths themselves were used up into the early 20th century.  A natural hot spring feeds the baths and the water was thought to have restorative properties.  

An original lead pipe, laid by the Romans. 

Travels around Somerset: Wells, Glastonbury & Stonehenge

We met up with some dear friends who live in England, not too far from Bath.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner together, catching up and then they picked us up the morning of the 26th to take us around Somerset.  Not only was it fantastic spending time with them, we saw more of the countryside than we ever could have since we had no car of our own.  

First stop, Wells.  It is the smallest city in England (to be considered a city, one must have a cathedral, which it does).  It was also where the very funny film Hot Fuzz was shot.  It is simply beautiful there, particularly Bishop's Palace and Gardens.

Fresh spring water bubbles up into a pond, which is then directed to a fountain in the main square, for all the people to use.  The unused water then flows down the hill, on the sides of the streets, keeping everything clean.  

We also checked out Vicar's Close, the oldest continually lived-in buildings in the UK.  So charming, it is easy to see why!

After a pint and a snack, we headed off to Glastonbury.  The town itself, though attractive, was completely overrun by those convinced that King Arthur was real, shall we say.  Leaving the town center behind, we climbed the famous Tor.  It afforded a view of the glorious countryside.

And since we spent little time in Glastonbury, we hit the road for Salisbury Plain and saw Stonehenge.  We were fairly close and it seemed silly to miss it. 

Behold the magic bunny in the center... 

Then back to Bath for some delicious Indian food at the Eastern Eye and a pint at The Raven (which became a favorite hang-out of ours).