We're getting good at just asking for what we want now at breakfast... (No beans or tomatoes, please!). So after we filled on up again with fried eggs and sausage (Ken still get's the back bacon which is thin ham), fresh fruit and yogurt and toast-- we're off! Actually, first we booked a 1pm tour for the day and also got our train tickets for tomorrow. Jolly good! The station is very close so we can lug our bags and just walk. Praying that all works well tomorrow. The pic below is the door to our B&B, The Apple Tree, which is one of the most expensive and sorry, not our fave, though it's fine and in a perfect location. This pic was taken at the end of our busy day today.
Our helpful hosts told us this morning about the walking path along the canal so we gave it a go since our tour was at 1pm. As we walked out, a very interesting couple of old Brits saw us taking a pic in front of our B&B and the "Tweedle-dee"- (or dum, not to be disparaging!) -looking man made a comment about Ken's "knobbly knees" (just hear that in your mind with that Cockney accent) and I could barely contain myself! Good to start the day with laughter!
The walk was the perfect thing to do this morning after our busy day yesterday in Bath. We loved seeing the narrow, long canal cruisers and lovely homes along the Avon River. There is a series of locks operated by hand-- fun to watch boaters navigate them. We also got kind of a personal tour from a slightly creepy old guy who really wouldn't leave us alone until I grabbed his arm and said, "You go have a good day now." (Cuz yer creepin' me out!)
Anywho-- the walk lead us to the Holbein Museum which we very much enjoyed. There were many paintings by Thomas Gainsborough (he painted The Blue Boy), and we considered going into the special pay-to-enter Rembrandt exhibition until Ken got a message from our bank that our card may have been compromised. ARG! Seriously?!? This was a considerable amount of stress until we realized (1.) The charge in Luxembourg was a failed attempt to use our debit on our train tickets (weird), and (2.) There was a double charge which was another issue with a card denial at first attempt from the bus tour tix we'd purchased. Bother! Had to make phone calls and go through a laborious authentication process... but it all worked out fine. Only problem was it ate into the time we had to visit with old jr/high school friends of mine who happen to be in Bath right now. Thanks to FBook we figured this out and had plans to meet up! We still managed to get in a hug, a quick chat and a pic! So great to see Janet Agnell Thompson and sister Kerry-- lovely women and I know we could have visited for hours and hours!
The Bus tour was wonderful-- a 4-hour (in total) road trip to Stonehenge (just 1 hr away) and a tiny village called Lacock (pronounced LAYcock). We hadn't planned to do Stonehenge, but we were glad we did, even if we mainly were silly as we walked around it. You can get a lot closer than I thought, but you still can't touch them or walk in and through the circle. Still, the narration is interesting and we got in free with our English Heritage membership, a good buy for us.
Our bus (van of 16 visitors) driver was terrific. He narrated just enough and had great info about both places. The little village of Lacock was charming. It's where Cranford (PBS/BBC series) was filmed so we grabbed a few shots of specific places like what was used as Judy Dench's character's home:
Also, in Harry Potter 1, this is Harry's house when he sees his real mum and dad in the mirror:
This is a door where he and Dumbledoor talk-- woohoo.
This is a labor house that once housed 150 poor folks who were victims of the collapse of the wool trade in the 1700's maybe? (dates!) I think the open building was a slaughter house.
Anyway, there are several other little spots from various movies there in Lacock, including many Jane Austen movies, etc-- it was a treat. Nice to get refreshment at a pub called The George Inn (established 1361) where they have a wheel that was used to make dogs run (with hot coals under their paws!) in order to turn the spit where the pig was roasting. Yucky!
We were back soon after 5 and it was quite warm still. (Tomorrow's close to 90'-- the Brits are freaking out! This happened to us when we went to Paris, too-- what's up with that!?!) Anyway, we decided to just go sit in the plaza by the pump house and baths and of course, the incredible abbey. We found seats at Pasty Presto and shared a meat pie (groan) and an apple-rhubarb pie (now that's tasty!)... and some elderflower green tea-- a common drink here and totally new to us (the elderflower stuff). It's tasty! (Thanks Diane for introducing it to us!)
It was VERY nice to just sit for a while (in the shade) and just listen to the buskers and watch people (and catch up on FB, etc). Ken has been so awesome with our electronics-- getting our phones to work, charging them and our cameras every night and encouraging me to get writing with the laptop every evening!
But now I'm done, have showered off the day and should probably think about how I want to pack up for schlepping our bags to the train station and beyond for our 3 nights at the Highbury Centre in London! We have a little trepidation about being in the HOT, big city... but we'll make the most of it. Our goal is mainly to visit museums, cathedrals and just see some of the highlights as we feel like it! Old "knobbly knees" and I are having an unforgettable time!
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