Stomping Around Bath

This year at my school we are doing what are called Twilights, which means we have after-school-hours workshops from 3:30 to 4:30 on five different days but we get a few Fridays off to make up for the extra hours – not a bad deal if I do say so myself. Our first day off was Friday October 15th, and what better way to celebrate than to go on a trip!? So on Friday afternoon Kari and I made our way to Bath – I was super excited, not only because tons of people have told me how beautiful Bath is, but also because I have lived here for over a year and have yet to see very much of England. What a great opportunity. The trip to Bath only takes three and a half hours. You go to Victoria station in London, take the underground a few stops to Paddington, and then another train for an hour and a half to Bath. We had a half an hour to spare at the Paddington train station so we went to Starbucks and had a tea – and almost missed our train (and then feared that we got on the wrong one)! It was a little hectic and slightly worrying, but we made it!

We stayed at this adorable Bed and Breakfast owned and operated by an older lady that was about a ten minute walk from the centre of Bath and the train station. The room was very nice; clean, comfortable, and quite big, with a nice ensuite bathroom to boot!
The night we got there we did some exploring of Bath, got our boundaries and did a little reading up on the city and all the touristy things we could do. In the morning we feasted on our yummy continental breakfast and were out the door by 9am – got a chai tea latte from Café Nero (necessary!) and were off. We started off on a Free Walking Tour which started outside the Abbey, except we got the guy who was training another guy, who was waaaaaaaay too quiet and also very boring, so we ditched that quickly and went to the Roman Baths. The baths were super cool and interesting – in 836BC the Romans, led by King Bladud, discovered that there was seriously hot water under the ground and so they built the baths and used them for healing purposes – it was believed that the hot springs had healed the King, and so they were thereby known as the “sacred springs.” People would come from far and wide to bathe and seek healing through prayer, and they would be cured of whatever ailments they were suffering from. Now the baths are a tourist attraction, and they tell you that you shouldn’t touch the water because it is not cleaned, but obviously we did anyways. It is really hot, too – anywhere between 64 and 96 C, depending on the time of year.

After the baths we went for a Thai food lunch which was absolutely to die for, and headed to the top of the town (only a thirty minute walk from the bottom) to see the Palace Circle which is just what the names tells you – a palace in the shape of a circle. I have to admit, it did look way more spectacular in the photos. After that we walked to the Fashion Museum which we only paid a pound to enter (we got a deal with our Roman Baths ticket). I didn’t really know what to expect of it, but it was really fascinating. They had a special Princess Diana exhibit with ten of her dresses on display and explanations of where she wore them and how she became a fashion icon – I am totally in love with her and her clothes!

After the fashion museum we went to a comedy club called Komedia. We got tickets to the comedy show on the main floor, close to the stage, and dinner for only ₤26.00 – steal of a deal, I thought. The food was great, I had a lamb burger and Kari had a squash and chili lasagna which just made love to my taste buds, and the show itself was hilarious – three comedians over the course of two and a half hours, and a fantastically funny MC that kept the show rolling between intermissions. It was a really fun night, but Kari and I were exhausted by the time the show ended at 10:30 – we had been out for fourteen hours! We made our way back to the B&B and crashed for the night.

The next morning we decided to head back to London – we had done everything in Bath we wanted to do and we found last minute tickets to see Stomp for ₤25.00, so we bought those and took the 12:00 train to Paddington. While we waited for the 6:00 show time we decided to go to Abbey Road, which neither of us could believe we haven’t done yet. It is so close to the West End and is super easy to find. Walking across that short section of pavement made me feel closer than ever to being a true movie star (hah!) – although it was way too cold to pull a Paul McCartney and go barefoot. Kari and I just had to laugh, too; I can’t imagine living near Abbey Road and having to drive by it every day. There were so many people and they (we) just completely stopped traffic. Cars were lined up all down the street waiting to drive by while countless Beatles fans strutted their stuff back and forth across the road. You would have to go insanely early in the morning to get a picture without other people in it.

After Abbey Road we went to the West End, had Indian food for dinner (scrumptious!) and then made our way to Stomp. This show, I have to say, is one of the best I’ve ever seen, and it isn’t even a musical. It was incredible, the music those eight people could make with the most random props. They started off with brooms and their feet and hands, and then there were matchstick boxes, basketballs, sinks hanging from their necks by chains (yup, sinks), paint cans, tin trash cans, martial arts sticks, lighters, the list goes on and on. And man, was it ever funny! The performers don’t actually speak or say any lines, but their facial expressions and body language does enough talking and they made the audience roar with laughter. It was incredible how they could interact with us so much without saying a word. Kari and I absolutely loved it.
I got home at about 10pm on Sunday night and fell right to sleep. It was a fantastic weekend – Bath was beautiful and super interesting, Stomp was hugely entertaining, and I got to be a Beatle for about five seconds. I can’t wait to see what my next long weekend has in store for me!