LOCATION: Bath, England
WEATHER: Partly cloudy with only a sprinkle or two. High 64
We took a 2-hour train ride from Southampton to Bath, where we will spend the next week. We selected Bath as it is beautiful, ancient city, still with Roman baths dating from 42 A.D. We are also on the edge of the Cotswolds (my favorite part of England) and we will make a few day trips to quaint villages.
We started the train ride with plenty of room, but at every stop we picked up a lot more passengers, until we were at standing-room only. We found out it is because today there is a big rugby match in Bath. We were totally squished in and there was no A/C.
All of us sardines got off in Bath. The conductor promised to leave the doors open until we could all squeeze out.
To kill some time before we could check in, we headed to a brewpub adjacent to the train station. A lot of the rugby fans were there, all with their striped rugby shirts. It was fun city! I’ve noted before how food has evolved so nicely in English pubs. I saw several vegan options on the lunch menu including “fish” and chips made from banana blossoms instead of fish! We selected this vegan option and it was delicious (but I forgot to take a photo)…
We found our AirB&B. We selected this particular one as it is close to downtown and to the train station. It is a basement flat in a very old building.
We will be very comfortable here – with a main room/bedroom, kitchen, and bath.
They have chiseled out this space for the bathroom – note the exposed rock wall.
After settling in, we took a walk to a garden center/farm shop to do a little shopping. On our way, right next to our flat is a canal with a lock. We watched a family manually opening the lock to get their long boat through. This brought back fond memories of when we rented a long boat a few years ago with our daughter Alexis.
While we are here, we will eat our breakfasts in, as well as most dinners, thereby saving quite a bit of money. We bought ingredients for tonight’s dinner and the kitchen now looks like home!
DINNER: A salad made with the local lettuce and tomatoes from the farm store. Main course was a portabello sandwich. We were vegan all day today!
We ate in front of a very old oven inserted in the fireplace area. It was quiet romantic!
Reids on the Road with Joy 