Day Trips

While I enjoy the thrills and frills of London, I also enjoy going outside of the city and seeing new places. The two places I have been able to go to recently are Bath and Cambridge. Both different from each other, but equally appealing. First off is Bath (since I went there first).

BATH

Lying 1.5 hours west of London by Train, we (my flatmates and a couple of other GMU students) arrived the Bath station at approximately 10am and wandered around for a bit. We arrived at our first destination, an Abbey (name eludes me at the moment) in the centre square of the city and went inside. It was quite a gorgeous and peaceful moment broken by the need to get to the Roman Baths before they closed.
Thus, we proceeded to the Bath Museum and learned a thing or two about the history of the hot springs and how the Romans created the structure (all of which I will not relay here since you should go to the museum and learn it first hand).

After the Bath museum, Christi, Georgia, and I headed off to the Fashion Museum where a group of tender-aged French students overtook the small halls of the museum and reminded me of the days when I was a foreign exchange student living in France. Eh-hem...anyway, after two hours of fashion history (did you know that women used fans to flirt with men?) we headed out to higher elevation to a place called "The Royal Crescent"--basically a long building that curves like the crescent of a moon. While it was lovely, it was getting cold, so the girls and I ran back down the hill to meet up with the rest of our group. From then on, since most of the shops were closed by 5:30 pm, we sat in a pub had some grub and chatted.

Two hours later after ingesting a jacket potato, some chips, and a caesar salad which were all nicely lodged in my tummy, Christi, Matt, and I decided to head off and get a break from the smoke (this is before England went smokefree). We went uphill for a good half hour (oh my thighs!) and reached a high point from which I took some good pics. Finally, we ran down the hill to go catch our train. Overall it was a great outing.

CAMBRIDGE

Now, for Cambridge...well, this time it was just Christi and I venturing out for the day. We both lucked out and went on a day that was both beautifully bright and warm--especially given the fact that it has been raining every bloody day since I've come to London! Anyhow, Cambridge is a fast 45 minute train ride north of London. We arrived at about noon and walked towards City Centre where all of the colleges are masterfully situated. We did get a little lost, however, and lost about 20 mins time which worked up an appetite for me so we ate at the Copper Kettle on Kings Parade and had lunch. Christi and I both were in the mood for cappucinos so we ordered that plus Christi ordered her first scone while I settled on a tuna salad. I was worried though that I wasn't hungry enough to finish the salad after drinking half my cappucino so I asked the waiter how big it was and he cut me off reassuring me that I'll have enough to eat which made me wonder if I'd have too much to eat. So, he came over again and I explained to him that I was asking not if it was big enough, but if, in fact, it was too big. It was too late. By that time the salad arrived. Christi helped me finish it, but we still ended up leaving a heap of tuna:(



After lunch Christi and I went our separate ways. I headed over the market and went in a couple of shops on a cute, narrow road. This path I was on eventually led me to a bridge where I found the infamous river in Cambridge. The sight was incredible so I asked the girl next to me if she could take my picture. Within seconds this girl and I were discussing traveling destinations and the need to live life to the fullest. She herself had given up a Cabinet Officer position back in her home of Australia to live in London and travel every weekend. I asked how she was able to get a working visa for two years not realizing that Australia is a part of the Commonwealth. She told me there's a possibility, if I wanted to live in Europe, to get an Indian passport and get a working visa that way. Well, can't say I'm not considering it, but let's see. I have loads to think about in terms of my future. Regardless, I appreciated her passion and faith to take that risk in life.

A half hour later, Christi joined me at the bridge and we went punting (took a cruise down the river). During out punting trip, Christi and I furiously took pictures. Both she and I left the boat in amazement at how beautiful a university Cambridge is and how we wished we could have stayed longer. Hence, the day was short, but we made the most of it.

word of the day: punting