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My parents' flight arrived at 7:40AM, and I had to meet them at the airport (an hour away from central London). I woke up naturally at 5:29AM (20 minutes before my alarm) and still felt that I was rushing to finish getting ready to leave. I needed to take out my rubbish and recycling, make a breakfast of the perishables in my fridge, and make sure I had everything I needed. I left the flat at the time that I'd planned, but when I got to the tube, I waited 30 minutes for a train to the right terminal. As the ride is largely underground (and thus, I had no cell service), I was worried that my parents would get there and try calling me. I got to the meeting point just as they did, luckily.
After that, we picked up the rental car (and we were upgraded… to an Audi!). My parents drive manual cars back home, and Dad thought it would be an interesting challenge to get a manual transmission here, as well. It certainly was interesting.
For my friends who don't know, I'm already REALLY jumpy in cars. Car accidents just seem to follow me around, whether or not I'm the driver. Typically, when I'm uncomfortable in a car, I just hold onto something with a death grip (unless I'm driving, but I drive like a grandmother -- actually, my grandma told me I drive too slowly). Usually, the situation is safe (and it's just my fear), so I don't want to offend the driver by making my fear obvious.
In this instance, my typical tactics were not enough, and most of the trip was punctuated by me yelling, "GAH!" or "BAH!" or, occasionally, "THAT'S THE CURB!" In my defense, we did hit the curb a couple times. Also, in my defense, Dad appointed me navigator, so I was sitting in the front passenger seat and VERY aware of how close we where to the edge of the road. Dad is definitely getting the hang of driving in the UK, but I think the major issues are:
1) the clutch is on the left side, so he has to shift with his left hand
2) cars drive on the other side of the road
3) cars can park in either direction on either side of the road, so it's hard to tell if we're driving the right way
4) the speed limit on the narrow country roads is 60mph (this TERRIFIED me)
We stopped first at Stonehenge, the greatest henge in the world (thanks, Eddie Izzard). It was very impressive although visitors are not allowed close to the site, and it really is just like ALL the pictures. Still, I was not disappointed. I took a bunch of pictures of Stonehenge, but I also took a disproportionately large number of photos of some nearby sheep and a field of rape (this strange yellow flower used to make canola oil, which is called rapeseed oil here).
It looks pretty much the same from every angle...
Here's some sheep from Stonehenge. You can see a field of rape in the background.
From Stonehenge, we drove to Longleat, the estate of the Marquess of Bath, which is open to the public. The grounds are incredible (and also hosts a Safari Park). The weather was perfect for touring the gardens, and the house was equally as impressive. We spent a couple hours at Longleat before continuing on to Bath. We checked in to our bed & breakfast and got dinner.
Longleat
The B&B hasn't been the best experience. For one, I've been able to access the Internet for, maybe, 15 minutes. Also, a train runs right under the B&B (it's built on an archway over the track) and goes by every 30 minutes or so during the day. Luckily, we haven't noticed it at night… In addition, there is no ensuite bathroom… but there is a shower… in the corner of the bedroom… It's a really odd setup. The owners are very nice and hospitable, but I'm kind of glad that we're only staying for 2 nights.
Today, we went into Bath to sightsee. We took a wonderful 2-hour free walking tour in the morning. We pretty much got to see all the major sights, and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny. He told us a bunch of great stories about Beau Nash. My personal favorite story was about Robert Coats, a wealthy socialite who desperately wanted to be an actor. He paid a theatre in Bath to do a production of Romeo and Juliet with him as Romeo. The play was so bad that during the balcony scene, when people were booing and throwing vegetable matter, he took out a snuff box, took some snuff, offered some to Juliet, and offered some to the front row of the audience. After Romeo's death scene (in which he took a whole 2 minutes to die), an audience member called out, "Die again, Romeo!" So, he did. He got up and died again. The performance brought him such fame that he toured the production for many years until he retired.
Our guide also pointed out a number of Jane Austen sights, including the gravel walk where Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth get together at the end of Persuasion. We even got to walk down it, too!
Afterwards, we went to a local pub for some cider (and pie). It's true that the West Country has FANTASTIC cider! Also, the bartender was kind of cute. From there, we went straight to the Roman Baths.
The baths are really cool. We took the audio guide because it was free, and although the information was very interesting, the presentation was a bit boring and contrived. There were little bits narrated by Bill Bryson, who's a very funny man, but his commentary was very uninteresting and didn't add much to the tour. Originally, the Romans associated the place with the goddess Minerva. About halfway through the baths tour, there was a gift shop selling "Roman-style" owls (on account of the Minerva association), so… I bought one. Go, Bryn Mawr!
At the very end, we got to sample water from the spring. The water has a high iron content, and it's very warm. The taste reminded me of blood. Honestly, it was an awful lot like drinking blood. Dad and I finished our glasses, but Mom couldn't finish the water… It was disgusting.
Partially to get rid of the taste, we went from there to Sally Lunn's for tea. I got a Sally Lunn bun with lemon curd and clotted cream and tea. I love England.
By the time we finished, it was already after 5PM, so we came back to the B&B to reenergize (translation: Dad and I wanted to try to get Internet). We couldn't connect to the Internet, so we decided to go for a walk (as most places were already closed at 6PM on a Sunday). Dad walked around trying to find free WiFi (which was largely unsuccessful). This lack of Internet has been very trying… Right now, I'm compensating by writing my blog post in TextEdit.
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I will post more Bath pictures later!
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