Where Sasha Went

Travel at Home to Bath England

This week let us travel at home to Bath England. In general I try to stay away from discussing world events or other hot topics. I am by no means an expert and feel it best to not add another voice to the crowd.  I also never want to see like I am exploiting the situation to gain followers. But as I am facing the reality of  having to cancel an upcoming trip due to travel bans and many of us are looking at or in the middle of mandatory quarantines I figured it might be a good time to move a few blog posts around. We may all be dreaming of leaving our homes, but making plans to do so aren’t exactly top of the list. I have rounded up some of my favorite books, movies and recipes to help make your time at home a little more magical, enjoy!

 
History of Bath England
There is evidence that the area of Bath saw human activity as early as the Mesolithic period, there is evidence that the current Roman Bath’s main spring was treated as a holy site by early Britons prior to Roman Occupation. A temple was constructed about 60-70AD but the main complex wasn’t completed until 300 or so year later. And further excavation in 2012 revealed that the original town wall was likely built by the Romans in the third century. Over the years that was quite a bit of turnover between waring kingdoms and a variety of invading peoples. Both Bath Abbey and the baths themselves have seen several rebuilds over the very long history of the town. The town you see today was mostly expanded during the Stuart and Georgian periods which is mainly responsible for the creamy yellow limestone façade that nearly the entire town is built with. The rock is quarried in the area mostly from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines which was contracted by John Wood the Elder and his son when they began building in the area. The area had been originally designated as a royal borough and as such house many members of the English Aristocracy throughout history, many coming to the are to take the baths to heal. Additionally Bath has been home a large volume of creatives over the years authors such as Jane Austen, Mary Shelly and Charles Dickens all took to the area to find creativity and quite from the busy city life.

Books of Bath England
Two of Jane Austen’s book take place in Bath, both Persuasion and  Northanger Abbey are great books to read if you are looking to transport yourself to this lovely little town. Additionally Bath makes an appearance in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders. If you are looking for something a bit more on the nonfiction side there is a large volume of books specifically around the baths themselves and the architecture of the area. Bath by Kirsten Elliot and Bath: An Architectural Guide by Thom Gorst both provide great background to better understand the atmosphere of the area. Where as books like Roman Bath Discovered by Barry W. Cunliffy and The Waters of the Gap: The Mythology of Aquae Sulis by R.J. Stewart provide in-depth information on the baths themselves. Or if you are looking for a more sweeping that covers both history and entertaining stories I would pick up Sarum by Edward Rutherford the book focuses mainly on the area just south of Bath in Salisbury but he does touch on Bath and the history of the area covered is quite expansive.

Movies of Bath England
Want to see what Bath England looks like for yourself, and have about 15 hours to kill? Scenes from the Harry Potter series were filmed in and around Bath, I am not quite sure which movies and which scenes but they are such fun movies you may as well just watch them all again. If kids movies aren’t your ideal form of entertainment period dramas are very commonly filmed in Bath due to the architecture of the area so look no further than Vanity Fair, The Duchess, Northanger Abbey, The Remains of the Day, Poldark, The Other Boleyn Girl, Sense and Sensibility among others to get a glimpse of the spa town that was once so popular with royalty.

Foods of Bath England
Bath is known for a variety of foods, some no longer eaten as much (like Bath Chaps), but others such as Bath Buns which are a sweet bun covered in sugar crystals and currents are still made and eaten there today. Bath is also known for their soft cheese, these specially would be harder to get in the states due to importing laws, but you could always make a picnic with a variety of soft cheese and pretend. My personal favorites while in bath were the Fish and Chips, the meat pies and of course their tea service.

 

I hope these resources help you feel more connected with at least one other place in the world and enjoy the opportunity to travel at home to Bath England even if its just for one meal or one book. And one day when this is all over if you are looking to plan a trip to England I have quite a few resources for you here. 

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2019 Wrap Up

It is officially nearing the end of 2019 and the blog is taking a much needed vacation. We are off to Austria for Christmas with family and so I leave you with one final post, a 2019 Wrap Up of all that has happened this year. Winter 2019 Wrap Up The year opened with me deciding I should get off the pot and turn this blog into a business so I did all the necessary paperwork and started consulting for Beautycounter until I can start making revenue in other ways. 2019 Wrap Up Uncle Sam only lets business not make money for so long before you get shut down and I wanted to start out on the right foot. So if you have any interest in safer skin care products let me know. You can also support this effort by buying prints of my travel photos or my packing guide on my shop page. Below is one such photo which I took in January 2019 in Seaside Oregon during an unexpected snow storm. Seaside Oregon 2019 Spring 2019 Wrap Up In March In March 2019 we visited Silverton Oregon for a quick little local adventure to break up the winter blues. We tried to go hiking at Silver Falls but we were bested by the late snow fall. Silver Falls Oregon We instead toured the Gordon House which is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oregon. And while it was unseasonably cold we did manage to keep our selves warm at the Oregon Garden Hotel. Gordon House Silverton Oregon In April we took a short trip down to Ojai California for a family event and got to stay at the gorgeous Ojai Valley Inn. We wound up going back to Ojai in October to visit family and spend a more relaxed time there. One goal in 2020 is to do a full round up of all our favorite spots in Ojai. Ojai Valley Inn The big trip for the year up until this point was a week in England. We had grand plans that had to be paired down since we were only there for a week. But we go to explore a good deal and I entirely fell in love in England. Bath England For all the BBC shows I watch and historical fiction I read England had never been at the top of my list but it took no less than 3 hours for me to be entirely smitten and I was extremely sad to leave. We spent the majority of our time in Bath, where I finally got to see the Royal Crescent. Royal Crescent England We toured the Costwolds and it was every bit as gorgeous as is shown in shows. I could have scooped up any one of the small cottages in any random village out there and been perfectly happy. And perfectly poor, it is incredibly expensive to live in England. Costwolds England We also visited Bristol for a day, and I got to see a Banksy Mural in the place that the man is allegedly from. Banksy’s Girl With the Pearl Earing We made a cross country train trek to Dover and while it is a little rough around the edges I very much loved that town too, the castle was incredible and walking the White Cliffs of Dover was a dream come true. White Cliffs of Dover Our last day in England was spent at the Kew Gardens, a must see when in England and also a perfect location for our last night as the taxi ride to the airport is cheap and quick. No missing planes for us, though I wouldn’t have been too sad to have stayed another night or two. Kew Gardens England Summer 2019 Wrap Up Summer was a bit slower after a very busy spring. We visited family in Southern Oregon and I finally got to visit and shop at the darling town of Jacksonville. Jacksonville Oregon In June I celebrated by birthday with a live showing of my favorite podcast and a overnight shopping trip in downtown Portland. Crystal Hotel Portland Oregon I went on a quick road trip to South Eastern Oregon to finally experience some of the more remote features of this rather large state I live in. The high desert in Eastern Oregon is truly stunning and towns like Burns the heart and soul of rural Oregon. Due to the late snow we didn’t get to hike the Steens Mountain as planed but we did get to stay at the Frenchglen Hotel and see the Alvord Desert. Alvord Desert On the same trip we drove up into the Owyhee Mountains and spent the night entirely off grid in a ghost town. The drive was entirely worth the experience and going back for more than one night is the top of the list for next year. Silver City Idaho Fall 2019 Wrap Up The only trip we took in the fall of 2019 was back down to California to Visit family. We mostly spent the week relaxing in Ojai or hiking in the hills. Which as I mentioned will be a post coming next year. We did get visit Disneyland while we were down there which is always a family favorite. I hope you enjoyed this 2019 Wrap Up. And with that I wish you and yours a very merry holiday season. I will be back next year with updates from our time off.
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Getting Around England

Going into my trip I was a little worried about getting around England. Which I admit is a little silly since most people there speak English, as I do, thus getting lost and needing to ask for help is significantly less of an issue. But evidently logic was not at play, and I was nervous all the same. We chose to not rent a car, and it turns out getting around England without a car is incredibly easy to do. Driving We chose not to drive the entire week we were in England. And if you are planning on doing so then that is awesome, you are braver then me. England is one of the few countries in the world that drives on the opposite side of the road (compared to the USA and all other European nations). So I chickened out and decided to do an immense amout of research to make sure we could get to where we wanted to go without trying to handle a car that operates directly opposite of what I am used to. Hired Tour We did however choose to ride along with a couple other intrepid travelers on a tour of the Cotswolds. I am not always the biggest fan of tours, often times they shuffle you around to large touristy places and never give you the chance to properly explore. But in light of not want to drive and there being no other public transportation option through the Costwolds we found a tour and wound up thoroughly enjoying ourselves. If you find yourself in a similar situation don’t discount the option. While it might not be your number of favorite way to get around, it can be nice to take a break from having to mange the entire day. Just sit back, relax and let someone else do all the work for you. Bus Buses are a very viable option for getting around, particularly when speaking of the express buses to and from the airport. When looking for ways to get from Heathrow to some towns across the country, all train options first put us on the underground to get to a train station and then often required switching trains mid way through the trip. One such route had us spending close to 6 hours getting from Heathrow to Bath. Rather the National Express provides somewhat direct bus lines from the airport right out to these smaller towns. We were out of the airport and disembarking in Bath in under two hours. Plus the buses are really very nice, with wifi to boot. Trains Trains are incredibly convenient in most places in Europe, at least in comparison to the US where they are mostly not even an option, unless of course you have a lot of time to spare and an endless supply of books to read while on board. One of my favorite things about trains that I discovered while we were there actually is that the ticket master can book you connections through his system. So we managed to get a single ticket that took us from Bath to Paddington Station to Kings Cross via the underground, then from Kings Cross all the way to Dover. Single ticket, all booked and times plotted out for you. And they even gave us enough time to get lost, which we didn’t because while it can be very intimidating to make exchanges at stations, everything is very well marked and easy to navigate through. Other added bonuses to traveling by train in England, they are quick, clean, they have food on board and wifi so you can keep in contact with your family or just post on social media about how cool the trains are. By Bike Biking is also a very great way to get around towns, or even get from town to town. Everywhere we visited had bikes for rent and even some of the places we stayed had bikes that could be used while staying there. Trains and buses also have rack options so that if you wanted to get from one town to another and then continue to explore by bike you could do so. Additionally a lot of the English Countryside has national trust trails specifically for biking and walking. Open fully tended paths ready and waiting for anyone willing to take a nice day trip with a picnic and even a bottle of wine out for a little explore. On Foot Lets not forget the cheapest method of getting around of all, on foot. While this might not be the most viable option when trying to cover a large distance in one day. It is a great way to explore a town. Slow travel is becoming more and more popular these days. A method of travel which doesn’t allow you to see all the big sights in a large area, but allows you to really experience a place as a true local. See the local shops, eat at the local restaurants, visit the local sights. Most people can walk about 8 miles over the course of a day without feeling it. So get out there and use those feet! Also don’t forget about trekking trips. I took one last summer in Ireland and it was one of my favorite trips of all times. England has loads of similar options like walking the Cotswolds Way. This allows you to really get off the main path and see some really incredible things that would be missed if you are busily popping from big tourist attraction to the next. You get to see locals, farms, country side and really connect back with nature. Added bonus, a lot of these trekking tours go from inn to inn so you don’t have to get THAT cozy with nature if you didn’t want to. In summary, getting around England is incredibly easy to do. And it is often easier without a car as you don’t have to worry about parking, gas or you know driving on the other side of the road. You can relax during the getting there phase of your trip and often stay connected or even plan the next stages of your trip. Public transport options also add an air of adventure and excitement, and of course it is much easier on the environment overall.
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A Day at Kew Gardens

The second we decided to go to England I knew I had to spend a day at Kew Gardens. I had been reading about it for years through historical fiction, and non fiction books of various subjects. I was always fascinated by the scientific and seemingly innocent drive to collect and study the worlds plants. And how that opened up the doors for some of the most destructive advances in world trade and shipping that ultimately caused things such as the opium wars in China. The endeavor to collect and preserve as many plant species and display them to the public officially started in 1759. But was officially founded in 1840 which is when the construction of the glass and wrought iron houses that stand today begun. Today the Kew Gardens are 330 acres of walking paths, trees, bridges both over water and in the tree tops, several historic buildings that can be toured, green houses, cafes, art exhibits and a tea house. Kew Gardens We got to the gardens just a couple hours after they opened but there was already a line to get in. Payment is taken at the main gates and they do take cards, which is nice because it isn’t cheap to get in. From there we were handed a map and set off on our own. We wandered around the typical sights, sort of ever searching for the desert house, which is actually the Princess of Wales house, it isn’t marked very clearly on the map what that green house holds. It also appears to be much smaller on the map than it really is. We also wanted some food but every place we stopped seemed to just be cold sandwiches from a fridge and it was a little chilly that day we were hoping for something a big more substantial. We wound up eating at the Botanical, which was very beautiful and had a great view of the Palm House but the portions were far too small for how hungry we were. We later discovered The Orangery which is where we really should have eaten. Moral of the story, Kew is really lovely and I would certainly go back again it is big enough that I doubt you could actually see everything again. And the maps that are handed out are very helpful, but in hindsight we probably should have planned a bit better, given some of the info we wanted was not included in the materials handed out at the ticket gate. Newens Tea House Newens Tea House was something I found at the last minute. We were loving the tea services we had so far on the trip and wanted to have one last afternoon tea experience. The history of the place is really fascinating and I think is a must do for anyone who loves history and pastries. Allegedly King Henry 8th came across Ann Boleyn and her Maids of Honor eating this light as air tarts, when he tried them he was so smitten he took the recipe and locked it up in the castle. Time went on and in 1850 a man named Newen built the Newens Tea House at the location it is today, however it was destroyed in the blitz. It was rebuilt on the same location and sits there today as the only place in the world the makes the unique little pastries. We had our doubts about exactly how good they were, but we went to experience the history all the same. We had some amazing Russian Caravan tea, scones and clotted cream of course. And the pastries, and oh my heavens they were amazing. If you are visiting the Kew area, I personally think this needs to be a number one spot on your list. Kew England Kew England itself is a district within the Richmond area of London. It had its role throughout history for drawing in royals, as well as artists and even sheltering individuals during the French Revolution. Today however it is mostly just a very nice, if not very expensive residential district. The train station is quite small, and once you pop outside of it you instantly feel the drawn to the area. Small shops, tree lined streets, beautiful well kept homes everywhere you look. There is very little noise and traffic. Just a lovely quiet part of town all around. We wound up staying at the Kew Gardens Hotel, mostly for its proximity to both the gardens and the train station. It actually turned out to be even closer than I thought. For some reason the map made it look close but still a fair jaunt, but it turned out to be no more than a couple blocks from either. The hotel was more expensive than anywhere else we stayed, but it was well worth it for us. And still probably considered a budget room. The hotel is both a restaurant, pub and a hotel. So it can get a bit noisy at night. If you want to stay here and are a light sleeper I would just suggest requesting an upper floor room. Otherwise the rooms are updated and very nice. The dining space is really lovely and the food top notch. The rooms come with wi-fi and breakfast which in and of itself is a feast. After our long day of travel and touring around Kew I took a nice long bath in the giant tub in my room and we woke up the next day to a breakfast feast that lasted us almost back to the states. All in all I couldn’t have been happier with our stay in Kew and if we ever make it back will likely have to repeat a day at Kew Gardens since we didn’t actually manage to see it all. We will also most certainly we repeating our stay at the Kew Gardens Hotel.
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Walking the White Cliffs of Dover

As I mentioned last week a lot of people seemed confused about why we wanted to visit Dover. The main one was to see the Dover Castle and the other was to see the White Cliffs of Dover and hopefully walk around on them.  Spoiler alert: we loved both and while walking the White Cliffs of Dover we even found things in the area that we want to come back to experience at a later date.   Dover Castle Dover Castle sits on the easter hill of the city of Dover, right above the port docks. It is allegedly the largest castle in England, shockingly untouched by cross channel shelling and blitz bombing. We were told this was actually because of the presence of a certain abdicated king at the castle during the raids and his relationship with the Nazis, but that could just be rumor. Either way its a fun rumor.   There is evidence that there was a castle structure here dating back to the Iron Age or even earlier. Then when the Roman’s invaded England they built light houses on the site to help their armies find safe harbor. The site continued to play a role in shaping England’s history through the Saxon and Norman conquests. Henry II was responsible for the shape of the castle one sees today, though more modern buildings were also built up during the Napoleonic wars as well as WWI and WWII as the site was used for planning and communication as well as defense. You can see France from the castle walls after all, good place to stand to see your enemies crossing the channel.   Visiting the castle proved very interesting not just to us but to all manner of tour groups from France and Germany as well. You can tour not only the castle grounds but the tower built by Henry II, which at the time was the political center of England. The tower is built up in replicas to give everyone a feel for what it was like to live and work there. The place is massive and we got turned around more than once, but very cool to see. I could have stayed there all day. In some of the newer buildings there are interactive media displays explaining the history of the castle, what became of Henry and his two sons, which was actually the basis for the story of Robin Hood. Richard the good son was off to the crusades and left the country in the hands of John the slightly less qualified son who made a mess of things with France.   You can also tour some more modern aspects of the castle including the war time tunnels which played a role in WWI and WWII, in particular the rescue at Dunkirk. The walls surrounding the castle are still equipped with some guns from the wars, which you can walk around and get a closer look at. There is also a diner in the old mess hall which has excellent food and tea. Which makes the perfect afternoon stop, especially since the castle is so big it can literally take you all day to see everything.     White Cliffs of Dover Walk We only spent about half the day at the castle, because we knew we wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover. Our inn owner had told us that you can talk from Dover to the next town down the coast, St. Margret’s Bay which is where Ian Flemming lived and wrote some of the James Bond novels. He also told us that there was a regular bus from St. Margret’s Bay back to Dover. So wet set off, after a delicious lunch at the castle cafeteria to see if we would actually find where to get onto the cliffs.  When we left the castle gates on a whim we decided to descend down a long flight of stairs that look as though it may take us in the right direction. And to our delight it opened up onto a very cute part of Dover next to yet another bombed out church. This church was St. James Church, originally a Norman building built in the 11th century. It was badly damaged during WWII and was set to a ‘tidy ruin’ and left as a nice little park space.    At St. James we turned left, hoping we would come across a view of the cliffs and we were again not disappointed. We found a lovely little row of colorful houses tucked up against the cliffs which the castle sat on. We could even see one of the platforms that we had been on earlier when we exited one of the tours. We kept on this path and eventually there was a small sign indicating we should follow the sidewalk to the left and hug the cliffs. Which makes sense since there was little where else to go unless you were a large truck headed to the port.  We continued climbing and hoping we were on the right path. We knew we were headed the right direction but there was little evidence that we would actually get up on the cliffs at some point. But our gamble paid off and before long we were up on the cliffs walking along in the sunshine. I think for both of us this was the highlight of the trip. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, you could see all the way across the channel to France and there were hardly any people about. We chose to trust our inn owner and walk to the next town, we figured if nothing else we could find someone to call us a cab.    The White Cliffs of Dover are often mentioned in movies and novels of war, or hardships. They are called out as the symbol of returning home and you can see why when you see them in person. The massive chalk cliffs are so bright against the green hills and bright blue water that they stand out like a beacon, if we could see the low lands of France from where we stood I can only imagine how bright those cliffs were when looking at them across the water. I should warn anyone thinking of taking this excursion that we were not really properly prepared, and even though it is an incredibly easy walk, it would be best to be fully prepared with proper gear, snacks and water.    That being said despite not being fully prepared nor having any real sense of where we were going we continued on. We reached St. Margret’s’ Bay in what seemed like very little time but was really a couple hours. And I may have panicked a bit. I was thinking a large open town, but rather it was full of trees and tight winding streets, luckily about the time my panic set in with regard to how to find the bus station The Pines Garden Tea Room popped up in our path and I jumped at the chance to ask for directions. I asked the nice women at the counter and then a kindly voice behind me said “we will run you up there if you would just sit a moment and have tea with us”. Alan and his wife (we call her Mrs. Alan because we regretfully forgot her name), had no reason what so ever to offer to offer two strangers a ride but did so all the same. We sat with them a while as they told us about their lives in the area and working, then retiring from the port. They told us about stealing rocks from the beach to build an extension on their home. They told us about their kids, and their dog that they recently lost. And then they drove us to the bus station the whole time apologizing that they couldn’t run us all the way to Dover, but their son was due any minuet from out of town. We were a little sad to see them go, and I regret not having a business card on me to stay in touch.    The bus did eventually come but I wouldn’t call once an hour ‘often’. So if you plan to walk and ride back as we did I would suggest checking the schedule before hand. It is 4 pound 50 to ride back, they only take exact change. But it is a really nice ride and drops you straight back in central Dover. Looking back our full day in Dover both Dover Castle and Walking the White Cliffs of Dover were probably the highlight of the trip, even though everyone we told about our plans to visit thought we were crazy. Sometimes the most unexpected and least assuming parts of your journey can be the best.   
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Dover England

Dover England was not the place I expected, it was both much worse and much more amazing than I was imagining. And even though every person who had been to Dover and who I had told I was headed to Dover exclaimed “Why on earth would you go there”, I am so glad we did in fact go there and I would actually go again. Dover is situated on the South Eastern shore of England and it is the point closest to mainland Europe. As such it has been a major port for most of England’s history and continues to be today. The main industry in the area is obviously the port and all the jobs associated with shipping, receiving and maintain the massive ferry port which bring both people and goods from Europe by way of Calais France. Despite the fact that it got heavily shelled from cross channel guns during WWII, it has some of the oldest complete buildings in the country. Including some excellent examples of early Norman and Tudor buildings. As well as a museum dedicated to a painted roman house that was unearthed in the area. As a large communication center for many wars there are a number of memorials and museums dedicated to its military history which is ultimately why we were there. That and we wanted to watch the boats come and go from the port. Dover sadly has a fairly high crime rate, though I don’t think this should deter people particularly interested in the unique sights of the area. The majority of the crime stats are sadly related to domestic violence, which sort of goes hand in hand with such an incredibly economically depressed area. The entire high street was boarded up and the streets were full of people on the down and out. Including several large groups lining up for soup kitchens from local churches. And even despite all this you can find numerous articles online talking about how much people love living in Dover and doing everything they can to turn the community around. We would later learn that the port manager changed in recent years and the first money saving action was to lay off all full time employees and only hire contractors, which normally come into town for work rather than live in the area. Leaving most people without jobs. That being said we were there for two days and had no issues. Our hotel manager was such a gem, he actually drove us around a bit because it was raining and we had about a mile to walk to Dover Castle which is what we were planning on touring while there. We had stellar food at The Allotment an art deco cafe serving up surprisingly fresh and healthy food. And had an absolute blast hiking the cliffs after touring the castle. I also really loved how international Dover England was, since it is only a couple hours via ferry across the channel the area was buzzing with German and French tours groups and hearing all the languages and sharing the local history with them felt very important, given in mostly cases the wars fought over the channel were England against one or both of them.
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6 Hours in Bristol England

We spent a good deal more than 6 hours in Bristol England, but the majority of our time was spent in the harbor which isn’t for everyone. This post will cover the things we did on the main land portion of Bristol, for those less interested in boats.
Brandon Hill and Cabot Tower
Brandon Hill was originally grazing lands for the Earl of Gloucester’s livestock, granted to him in 1174. Over the years the land was often used as a local meeting place and in 1843 30 thousand people gathered to watch the SS Great Britain leave port for America. Today is a really lovely park, the tallest location in Bristol it provides views of the entire city, and your vantage point can be improved by an additional 105 feet by the Cabot Tower which sits on the highest point of the park.
The red sandstone tower was built in the 1890s on the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s voyage to America. He made landfall in Newfoundland Canada a number of years prior to Christopher Columbus’ journey to Central America. Not much is known about his initial journey which is thought to  be the first European voyage to the American continent since the vikings. Other than it was before his second which was in 1497 and that Columbus references this initial voyage in letters of his own on his first voyage.

We had thought about climbing the town, but while I don’t mind heights I do mind places crowded with people. So instead we chose a nice sadly bench with a great view and bought ice cream from a truck that was perfectly situated as the first thing we saw when we created the hill. It was delicious.

In addition to views and delicious ice cream. The park also has a good number of walking trails which weaves around all sides of the park into different parts of town. We chose to follow a nice tree lined path and then followed a very impressive architecture tower in the hopes of finding out what it was.

Bristol Cathedral
The tower we were following turned out to the part of the University of Bristol, which is a very impressive grouping of buildings and includes Willis Memorial Tower attached to the facade of the Law School. Since school was in session we chose not to poke around the building and rather went down Park Street toward the water. We popped in a few shops on the way down the hill and then came across this beauty that is the Bristol Cathedral.

Like all churches in England built early enough, during the reformation they were stripped of all things making them Catholic and often fell to disrepair over the years. This church was handed over to the Church of England and was kept in relatively good condition. Having previously been  Catholic Cathedral it is quite large, and blissfully empty when we visited. If you are in the area you should definitely check it out. It is really impressive and really empty. They also have a cafe and gardens around back that looked really nice.

St Nicholas Market and St. Peters Church
Two things I knew I wanted to do in Bristol were to visit the St. Nicholas Market which is a very large outdoor market and the St. Peters Church which is right across the street. Unfortunately for me, while the St. Nicholas Market is open Monday through Saturday, it is evidently closed on holiday weekends so I did not get walk around as planned.

Rather we popped across the street to Castle Park which is home to St. Peters, one of the oldest churches in Bristol the foundation dates back to the 1100s. The building went through restorations over the years but sadly during the Bristol Blitz it was nearly destroyed. Today all openings to the church are understandably bared off but it does look as though a restoration organization is attempting to raise money to shore up the walls so the location can be used for other purposes, even though it would never have a roof again.
Temple Church
Our last stop in Bristol was not a planned stop but one we happened upon while heading back to the train station. A gorgeous little park that used to be the grave yard of the Knights Templar church that was build on the site of the church that stands today in 1130. The knights were suppressed by Henry the 8th and then finally bombed out again during the Bath Blitz. If we walk up to the side door you can peek inside and see the original circular church foundation which is very neat to see. Another charming fact about the church is that the tower leans at a 5 foot angle. Construction of the tower began in the 1390s and quickly started to lean, as such it was never fully completed as to the original plan.

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The Floating Harbor in Bristol England

The Floating Harbor in Bristol England is a really nice day out, and very family friendly. We had a couple locations in mind we wanted to visit but didn’t realize going in exactly how expansive the area was or how fascinating the history. The area has been important to humans and prehuman people since the Neolithic era. It was founded as a permanent settlement in 1000 the port was developed in the 11th century and continued to play an important role in England’s economy through the exploration and immigration to the America all the way up to today where it continues to play a role in a variety of economic industries. The name Floating Harbor comes from the lock system that allowed the tidal section of the Avon River to remain full and thus allow the large sailing ships afloat even at low tide. Sailing ships as apposed to steam powered ships have a terribly deep keel and were often made of wood at the time. So if a ship came to port in Bristol at the time and the tide went out, the keel would get stuck in the mud, the ship would tip, often snapping keep, mast or simply crush itself ruining both ship and shipment. MShed The harbor today is still very active though less in shipping capacity and more in a tourist capacity. The MShed is a free museum right on the water front that hosts a variety of exhibits, including a section of a hull of a boat painted by Banksy, allegedly of  the rather unpleasant harbor master at the time. The museam focuses on Bristol, providing information about the history of the area, the maritime traditions, people, life and places significant to the area. There are also a number of ships that one can tour right outside the doors of the museum. Banksy To various degrees it seems that it has been confirmed that the famous graffiti artist Banksy was raised in Bristol. Most of the earliest work attributed to the artists exists in the area and there is a walking tour outlined that can help show you around if you are interested in viewing all his works in the area. I most wanted to see the Girl with the Pearl Earring, so locating that particular site was my main focus. It can be difficult to find given it is down a short ally way and you don’t really see it until you are right on top of it. But find it we did and I was very happy to see it in person. SS Great Britain Another family friendly activity on the harbor is touring the SS Great Britain. The SS Great Britain was designed by Isambard Burnel who was very significant to the area and to Britian. He combined a number of modern ship building methods and wound up with the first every steam ship to cross the Atlantic to America, which it did in just 14 days. The area around the ship is set up as it would be at the time with fun faux shipping containers, food, animals and all sorts of other things that would have been packed aboard for the voyage. It looked very fun, but we were short on time so we decided to pass. Underfall Yard Underfall Yard was probably the highlight of our time in Bristol. It is a working boat yard that you can walk around, it is also home to the original hydraulic system that operated the lock system. We met a very nice volunteer with the yard named Richard who used to teach history and told us all about the area, the history of the hydraulic system, the harbor, Bristol and all sorts of other things. We probably sat with him for at least an hour and loved every minuet of it. We walked away with a backpack full of information, a tshirt and two buttons. It was a blast. We also spent a good deal of time sitting outside watching two young brothers, who must have been a part of a sailing club, fight, shout, shove and nearly knock one another into the water more than once. It does appear that there are a variety of boat rentals in the area from the aforementioned sailing lessons to a water taxi that can take you up and down the harbor for very little cost. For those less interest in boating type things, the yard also hosts a couple cafe’s with outdoor seating and a wonder view of the harbor. Swivel Bridge and Clifton Suspension Bridge Toward the end of the harbor near the locks are two bridges of a very different sort designed by the same man, Isambard Brunel. When he was 23 he was appointed the project engineer, it took 33 years to complete but the Clifton Suspension Bridge is quite the marvel. We didn’t have time to walk up and cross it but the gorge that it dares to span (especially given it was built in the 1800s) is massive. The Swivel bridge was built in 1844 and designed by the same man. It is a large hulking mass of wrought iron and not nearly as elegant as the suspension bridge but it is a technical masterpiece. It is in terrible disrepair and money has been pouring in to study, evaluate and repair it. I found it interesting that the bridges were being built around the same time, by the same man, to solve different problems and look so very different. It was very cool to see in person. We sat at the edge of the harbor and had some snacks while we plotted our next move. We knew we wanted to make our way up to a few locations on the mainland portion of the Bristol but it took some serious examination of the map to figure out a way over all the bridges and roads safely. We did eventually manage it and wound up popping back down on the other side of the Bristol Harbor more than once throughout the day. So if you enjoy maritime type activities I would highly suggest spending the day at the floating harbor in Bristol England.
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Touring the Cotswolds

Touring the Cotswolds was one of the more difficult aspects of trip planning for me. I very much wanted to see it, some of it at least. The area is 787 square miles of protected landscape. It was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966 and remains protected today, though it does appear that the areas are increasingly under threat of development. The area is largely undeveloped, mostly farms and small towns. But development does occur for example a new Dyson factory is set to move into the area, and many of the old air bases from WW2 are being sold off and converted into neighborhoods and various businesses. Needless to say given the low development rate over the years I knew I wanted to see it, old towns, old buildings, my usual interests. The difficulties in planning occurring around exactly how to get there. We didn’t really want to rent a car, screaming around country roads on the opposite side of the road is not exactly relaxing. There really aren’t public transit options and while I could have hiked it like I did in Ireland we didn’t have the time. Thus commenced the search for a tour. There were plenty out of London, so good news for any of you wanting to tour from a London home base. But I could only find a couple out of Bath.We wound up picking Lions Tours but as it turns out the other tour we were considering was owned by the ex wife of the owner of the company we did tour with. I can’t speak to the competition as it were, but I can say plenty of nice things about Lions Tours. Booking was super easy, finding the pickup location was easy, our driver/tour guide was on time and had so many great insights throughout the day we really couldn’t have had a better afternoon. Castle Combe The first stop on our tour was Castle Combe. The town is hardly larger than what you can see in the picture below. It has a pub, a church, and a large manor house that has been turned into a very swanky hotel (which was used in WW2 by the New Zealand Forestry Officers) as well as a motor racing circuit.  Compared to the other towns in the area, it is largely untouched by modern updates which makes it perfect for filming. Used as Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in Dr. Doolittle, thanks to some fancy movie magic the four inch deep stream was turned into an ocean port. It was also used for filming in War Horse, Stardust, Downton Abbey and numerous other television shows. The church is extraordinarily large given the size of the town tucked behind some houses across the street from the market cross, St. Andrews was built mostly in the 15th century by donations from wealthy wool merchants. It is also home to a faceless clock that was built around the 15th century and is likely the oldest clock in the country. Malmesbury Malmesbury was our second stop and a little bit bigger that Castle Combe. It is home to Malmesbury Abbey which was founded in 675. The area has seen it’s fair share of battles, given the age of the settlement it was actually the one of the most significant towns in England at the time of the Norman invasion and the first English King was buried in the area in 939. The main attraction to the area now is the Malmesbury Abbey, which was a significant pilgrimage site throughout history. The spire was actually seven meters higher than the one on the Salisbury Cathedral, but sometime in the 15th century the spire collapsed taking a large portion of the church with it. After the collapse the archway through the collapsed portion was bricked over and the remainder of the church remains today. Aside from the interesting history and architecture the church is also home to four illuminated bibles, the tomb of King Athelstan, and a grave stone denoting death by tiger. It also has a fabulous little cafe toward the back where you can get take-away or eat in coffee and sandwiches, I highly recommend the brie and cranberry. As well as a stained glass window by William Morris. Cirencester Cirencester was bigger still than Malmesbury. We didn’t have a lot of time there, we just ran a quick peek through the main high street and I popped into the extremely large church that was wedged in between houses and the town hall building. The town had a lot of activity during the early Roman and then again in the Tudor period. There are a good number of shops and restaurants here today as well as plenty of places to stay. But my favorite part was not surprisingly the church, that had an incredible wooden roof. You can actually smell the wood when you walk in. I have never seen anything like it. Bilbury Bilbury was on the smaller side, two main roads, an inn, a fish farm and a small market that also served food and ice cream. Once upon a time William Morris declared it the most beautiful city in England. It was another quick stop, but we did a quick loop down the river and up past Arlington Row a 1300s wool manufacturing building. We toured around and munched our sandwiches which we had picked up at the Malmesbury Abbey. Bourton on the Water Bourton on the Water is probably on every tour to the Cotswolds, and for good reason it is a gorgeous little town built up on both sides of Windrush River. It has a ton of things to do and see, loads of restaurants, and places to stay. But unfortunately because of all of these things it is also terribly popular and very commercialized. It was almost impossible to walk around, let alone get a picture of anything other than other people. I had to walk all the way to the end of town to get a decent shot and there are still loads of people in it. For this reason it wasn’t my favorite spot but it was really beautiful and I am glad I got to see it. Tetbury Tetbury was our last main stop, it was in its day a large market town especially for the wool and sheep trade. We only had about 15 min in town, and our tour driver really wanted to show us this staircase which was used by all merchants driving their sheep into town. It was pretty neat seeing it but more exciting to me at least was the house right next to it. A former Malt house is the location that Eisenhower allegedly met with Churchill to start planning the D-Day invasions during WW2. It is now the home to the Girl Guides in the area, so you cannot tour but there is a nice little plaque commemorating the location. Badminton Our last stop was not a planned stop, but we had a little extra time and our tour guide just couldn’t help himself. So we took a little detour onto the grounds of Badminton House. Like most manor house locations a large land owner was given lands for being in favor with a king, which was then farmed by tenets on the land. The lord of the manor would receive income from the tenet farmers and in return they would be protected by the wealthy family. In addition to the individuals working the farms, the large houses were staffed by hundreds of people and small towns on the grounds were created to house the individuals that worked up in the house. Badminton is one of the few privately owned manor houses left in England, inheritance taxes have managed to make private ownership terribly expensive and most people have sold the large homes or turned them into hotels, schools or in one case at least an amusement park of sorts. But this one for now at least is lived in by the family that allegedly invented the sport of badminton. We couldn’t get close enough to the main house to get a decent picture but I did take a picture of the house that belongs to the family that takes care of the dogs. I’d live there. Then again I would probably live in any of these charming towns, touring the Cotswolds was a dream come true.
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Eating in Bath, England

Eating in Bath England is easy to do, well lets be honest I tend to find eating anywhere easy to do! My point is Bath being a spa town, tourist attraction, weekend getaway sort of place and being home to 80,000 residents means there is a good number of great restaurants in the area. However, I was reticent going in. I had some bad experiences with English food in the past, and with the Heathrow airport if I am being honest. So I did have it in the back of my mind that I may not be very happy with the food when we go there. I could not have ben more wrong. We in no way had difficulty finding decent food. If anything I kept eating even though I wasn’t hungry just because there was so much great food to experience.  Seafoods The first place we tried was Seafoods. It was our first night, we had been traveling all day and the night before because getting to Europe from the West Coast of the USA takes an eternity. We had checked into our apartment and the hunger hit us. Need. Food. Now. And what else does one eat in England if not Fish and Chips. We searched a few places and because Bath is a bit fancy most of the places that come up were offering large fancy plates and a higher cost. We wanted authentic and local. So we picked the smaller and cheaper of our options and landed at Seafoods.  We wanted to sit outside and were told there was no table service outside. So we ordered the small of both fish and chips, we also ordered the traditional sauce and a garlic aioli from the counter and made our way outside. And then there was a bit of confusion. We were sort of forgotten about and 20 or so minutes later the women we ordered from came out and asked again what we ordered. We told her and 10 min later our food arrived but either she gave us the large on accident or in England small means something very different. It was so much food I could hardly eat half. But it was so delicious I ate way more than I really had room for.  Even though it was a Bank Holiday and the town was overrun with tourists the area and restaurant had a very local feel. Lots of folks milling about and ordering take away, sitting and eating in the park across the street from the other restaurants. And the ice cream shop next door must have been something else because the line never got below 15 people. We were both too full to try it after dinner but I will be forever curious exactly how good that ice cream must have been to warrant that kind of crowd, especially when it wasn’t the only ice cream shop close by.  The Raven Another quintessential English experience is eating in a pub. A local suggested The Raven. It a lovely little spot hidden away in a side street bustling with locals. Thus exactly what I wanted. It was clean and well kept with two bars, one on the ground floor which was extremely crowded and one on the first floor (or what we Americans would call the second floor). The bar tender at the ground floor shooed us upstairs because there wasn’t really any place to sit and I am oh so thankful he did. It was much quieter and the large windows offered a lovely amount of light and views of the streets below. In taverns and pubs in England there is usually not table service, you order at the bar and pay on the spot. I ordered two different kinds of pies, sauces and sides suggested by the bar tender because I had no idea where to start and shortly our food was delivered. I could rave about how good those pies are all day but I won’t. If you ever find yourself in the area just make sure you go and try them yourself. Chicken and ham pie, with mashed potatoes and sage sauce. Don’t question it, just order it. You can thank me later.  Patisserie Valerie Another English staple is the afternoon tea service. Though surprisingly this is relatively new tradition to the English people. The drinking of tea has been a part of English society for a very long time but it wasn’t until the seventh duchess of Bedford (Anna) that the idea of a light meal service between lunch and dinner was popularized. Among the landed gentry it was not uncommon for dinner to be served after eight pm, leaving a good long stretch in the day with no food. Thus the habit of afternoon tea complete with snacks was born.  There is no shortage of tea services in Bath. I have mentioned that the Pump Room which is associate with The Roman Baths offers a variety of services from just scones and tea all the way up to champagne service with a tray stacked with goodies. Emma from Gotta Keep Moving has a nice run down of the more popular places to take tea in Bath. If that is the sort of think you are looking for.  Operating as my truest self I of course opted for the least assuming location for an English tea service, a French patisserie. I will be honest the location, lack of line and low cost had nearly everything to do with the decision but it did not disappoint. Patisserie Valerie was established in 1926 and operates out of a art deco store front complete with original windows and glass vaulted ceiling in the main dinging area. It isn’t large, the service was a tad slow but the tea hit the spot and the tower of food was outstanding. It turned out to be so much food in fact we had to take all the desserts to go and ate them later that night in our apartment.  Cornish Pasties  Cornish Pasties probably seem like an odd drawn when not in Cornwall. But much to our delight there was a large density of Cornish Bakeries in Bath which meant we got to eat the foods of Cornwall even though we didn’t have time to visit it (this trip).  If you are unfamiliar with the tradition of the pasty. It is similar to a hand pie or empanada. A circle of short cut pastry is filled with uncooked meats, sauces and vegetable, folded in half, sealed and cooked to perfection. We visited a couple different locations, both claiming to be award winning and famous and all that. Both were excellent.  The first was the Cornish Bakehouse which has several locations across England. We ate here on more the one occasion, for one because it was great but it was also conveniently located on the way to the train station so it made for a quick stop on the way to where we were headed. They also had their pasties out of the oven sooner than other locations which didn’t hurt. I think my favorite meal of the entire trip was here, it was a surprising red chicken curry pasty that I am determined to recreate now that I am home. The other location we tried was The Cornish Bakery which also has a couple locations in Bath, one of which is right across from the Pump Room near the baths. We excited our apartment a tad too early on the day we left Bath and it had started raining so we chose to wait it out in the tiny little bakery. We had tea and a delicious carrot cake while we waited and then took a sandwich and sausage rolls to go. On second though the sausage rolls may have been the best thing I ate in England. I will probably change my mind again. It was all too good!
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