Bath

This week our family drove to Bath. On our way there we saw lots of exciting things.

First, we saw deer. I don't know what type of deer as we only saw a glimpse of them through the window. We saw lots of raptors (birds of prey) one of which might have been a buzzard and another perhaps a marsh harrier!

When we got to Salisbury we visited its beautiful cathedral with the largest spire in the UK! The pillars are under such pressure they are actually slightly bent! It had tombs, a magnificent font and the original Magna Carta. The best preserved copy on earth!

Then we drove to Old Sarum, an old Normal castle built in William the Conquerer's time where an old Iron Age fort used to be! It is a ruin now with the ugly insides of walls everywhere and stairs leading to nowhere. From the hill, you can see for miles. It was great!

Next stop was Stonehenge! It was great! It was way bigger than I thought and really awe inspiring. There was an audio guide that told you about Stonehenge as well - what it is made of, how it was built, why people think it was built and myths about it. One myth is that it was made by Merlin and Uther Pendragon (King Arthur's father) was buried there! Not true, but still interesting!

Then we visited Wilsford a tiny town which some of my ancestors come from. Also, we saw a white horse a bit like the Uffington horse on a hill near the road!

Soon we got to Bath. The next morning we saw the Roman baths. They were AWESOME!!!! They had a museum with Roman stonework, pots and an undergroung place with the bases of pillars, altars and statue stands where a Roman temple courtyard had been. There was also a Roman goddess of wisdom, among other things - Sulis, Minerva. Then we saw the actual baths - hot ones, cold ones, warm ones and ones devoted entirely to healing. The original roof of Bath was massive, very high and beautifully decorated.

Then we saw the pump room. It is in one of Jane Austen's novels, Northanger Abbey. I had a delicious hot chocolate and a Bath bun.

Then we met a man with tame pigeons on the street. He let us feed them while they sat on our arms and even Becca's head!

Next we saw the Fashion museum and Assembly rooms. The Assembly room is also in Northanger Abbey and balls were held there. The Fashion museum had dressed from the 1600s to present. One of the dresses belonged to Queen Victoria! It was very interesting.

As we walked around Bath we saw a horse and cart at The Circus (a circular road with curved buildings around it). Then we saw the Jane Austen centre. We listened to a talk about Jane Austen's family and a learned a lot about her.

Finally we visited Bath Abbey and got a free 'God Loves Me' ruler. The Abbey was very beautiful.

The next day we started our return journey to Cambridge. We saw more birds of prey including a couple of red kites. Then we saw some of the Cotswolds. The town we visited was very pretty with blackheaded gulls (some moulting) and a little river.

Next stop was Oxford. We saw C.S.Lewis's home, visited his grave, saw his church and sat on his pew.

Next we saw Tolkien's house and had lemonade at the Eagle and Child where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien used to meet. Their actual seat has a plaque above it and I deliberately touched the seat on the way out. Then we saw the martyrs' monument.