Ooh, Mr Darcy!

Now that the weather is improving, I’m strongly tempted to start a series of posts based on travel and food. In this way, I can have fun whilst pretending that I’m doing it all for my readers. This is what we apothecaries like to call a win-win situation. This weekend, I visited Bath for the first time, accompanied by my partner-in-crime Sarah, who foolishly volunteered to accompany me on one of my jaunts. I did initially consider going for a theme of pure cheesiness on these visits i.e a bath in Bath, eating a banana in Split, eating a piece of gateau in the Black Forest….. but good sense, and taste prevailed. My cardiologist is relieved, as all my ideas seemed to revolve around eating something calorific in a scenic spot 🙂

Anyway, Bath: be still my beating heart. It is a ridiculously beautiful city, jam-packed with people intent on having fun. I was strongly reminded of Rome, a cleaner, less ancient Rome anyway. That beautiful Bath stone which seems to emit its own gleam and lustre; I was quite taken aback to see how lovely it all managed to seem without any of that dreadful quaintness. Can I just say though, Charlotte St car park has the smallest parking spaces known to man. I may not be a skinny mini, but I shouldn’t need to do a sideways limbo to exit my car. We were there (in Bath, not the car park) for about five hours and did not even see half of the stuff we wanted to see.

The Royal Crescent did not disappoint. If I could just combine say three of those houses, I just might have the perfect house. Greedy, moi? Perish the thought. We also went to Bath Abbey because I had to see the famous ladders of ascending and descending angels carved into the facade as described in the Inspector Diamond novels by Peter Lovesey. The books are excellent, by the way. What else? Pulteney Bridge, a gazillion shops full of swanky goodies, the frenetic swirl of water over the weir (they had ‘No Diving’ signs on the bridge parapet. What manner of maniac would dive into a weir, making such a sign necessary? Pazzo, as we don’t say in Bath). The highlight of the day was the Jane Austen Centre. Considering the fact that Sarah says that watching ‘Pride & Prejudice’ was ‘the longest six hours of my life’ (the philistine!), we loved it. We stuffed our faces with the afternoon tea (highly recommended. The Russian Caravan tea was superb), and then visited the exhibition in the company of some American girls who were in anarchic mode. We tried on several hideous Empire line dresses, bonnets, top hats, and learned the language of fans. What I called ‘the Illuminati one-eye sign’ is apparently saying ‘I want to get acquainted’. Who’d a thunk? If you go, make sure you visit the loos. There are some queasy-making ‘facts’ on the doors that will make you very glad you live in the 21st century. We also tried our hand at writing with a quill pen and ink. Sarah, being a millenial, did not realise that you had to keep dipping the pen in the ink pot 🙂 I also pressganged Sarah into taking a picture with the costumed doorman who definitely has an eye for the ladies…… All in all, a thumbs-up for Bath, and we didn’t even have time to visit the actual Roman Baths or to swim in the open-air thermal pool. A must-do for the next time I visit. Bath, you’re awesome and you know it.