Today we took a train ride to Bath--Just an hour and a half West of London. The day started out well, took a nosedive, and then ended on a good note! Read on...
When we arrived, we really hadn't done much research on the city, other than that the Roman Baths were there, we really didn't know much else. So like every other cit we've visited we took the City Sightseeing Tour Bus to see what there was. We really enjoyed the bus ride and learned alot. For instance, there are city ordinances that state that you have to use Bath Stone (Local Limestone) on the facades of the houses in order to keep them all uniform and in the Georgian style. Back in the day, the whole house was made fo the Bath Stone, but it's become too expensive for that nowadays. We also saw Nicholas Cage's new home. He lives at No. 7 Laura Place. The funny thing about this, in order to keep his privacy, he's removed the number from the front door---next door is 6 on one side and 8 on the other...Now, I'm not rocket scientist, but I'm pretty sure no. 7 would be in the middle of those two, don't you? Following our City bus tour, we got some lunch in a pub and went inquiring about a side trip to Stonehenge. We made it JUST IN TIME! We gave the shop our deposit and were heading right for the bus. Here's where the day went south...the tour bus driver gave our seats away! I really thought Mike was either going to wring the guy's neck or start crying! I can honestly say, I haven't seen him get this upset since we got banned from ordering pizza from Veneto's! He was ranting and raving to the driver, then we went back to the shop where we bought the tickets, more rants--People don't really flip out here, so it was a bit of a scene! It was ridiculous though, we were holding tickets! Mike was so mad that we went to go rent a car to drive ourselves to Stonehenge, it was 1:30, and they closed at 1PM! Here Mike declared (in the words of Christopher Rotola) that this was his "WORST DAY EVER"! Quickly, I said we would go and see the Abbey and the baths and take the scenic tour, and we would have missed all that if we did Stonehenge! We went and saw the Abbey which was interesting because there was an AMERICAN flag inside! It was a flag from WW2! Also in the Abbey, back in the 16th Century the wealthy people of Bath would pay to have themselves buried INSIDE the church. It was very expensive, but they were promised a quicker entry into heaven if they did! You can see pics of the tombstones inside the chuch. Finally, at the end of the day we made our way to the Baths after the crowds had gone and the que had died down. It was really very interesting to see. Of coure we both touched the water which was against the rules, and it was really very warm--not hot, but like Bath Water (no pun intended). Our tour brochure said that one American called it "the best 90 minutes they'd spent in Europe"...Now, I wouldn't go that far, but it was neat to see! After that, we just walked around the quaint little city and then back to the train and back to our London abode in the Cloisters (only for another 6 days though!)
Tomorrow marks the first day of American football....It's usually a holiday at our house and Mike usually has a sleepless night before because he's so excited, but we have to say it's a little anti-climatic here. We are going to see the first game at the "American Sports Bar" in Piccadilly Circus--I think they are showing the Dolphins game, but it's not that same as seeing everything...The Giants game doesn't even start until 1AM here! We're making the most of it here, and when we move we're getting Sky Sports which shows all the games.
On a sidenote, Mike has mentioned that he feels as my blog can sometimes be a little "Anti-Mike"...While I agree that sometimes I do poke fun at him, all of what I say is true, as I tell Mike sometimes the truth hurts! Hahaha! So to everyone Mike has told that I sometimes exaggerate my stories, or tell slight un-truths, please know that it's just his male pride getting the better of him, and yes, he did almost cry when he didn't get to go to Stonehenge...we were almost at a Chris Rotola boiling point--luckily I know how to handle a 6 year old!
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