Showers in Bath

It was a long week. I completed writing a report on Wednesday, and there was only one thought in my head : I needed a break. So, on Thursday, I found myself planning a weekend getaway to Bath. The appeal was immense : it had been the residence of Jane Austen for several years. I was in for a treat.

We took a bus to Bath (the tickets were quite expensive, 11 gbp pp one way). It turned out to be quite a pleasant experience, with picturesque landscapes of cows and sheep munching on verdure. As soon as we reached Bath, we went directly to a Chinese noodle joint right outside the station. Confident of my abilities, I asked for the hottest dish they had. It was lovely and flavorful, coupled with some sweet soy milk. Soon after, I was coughing and my eyes turned red. The triumphant employee had a well earned laugh.

We then proceeded to Bath Backpackers, the cheapest student hostel we could find (18 gbp a night). We got a bunk bed in a 12 bed dorm. The room had flies and a very drunk passed out half naked person. All in all, it seemed manageable. Due to safety concerns, we carried our bags (I had a heavy backpack with a laptop) everywhere, rather defeating the purpose of having a room. This was quite a bad idea, given that it was scheduled to rain a lot, but the hostel refused to store our luggage for a charge, even though they had the facility for non-guests.

Given that we had a bit of the evening left, we set out to explore the city. We went to the beautiful private Victoria Gardens (1 gbp entry fee for students). It is quite well maintained, but rather small. Since it was right next to the canal, we had a stroll. The architecture of Bath is intriguing, and quite uniform. It is surprising that they managed to retain the style, even after the World War bombings. During this serene walk, for a few minutes, I must admit, I contemplated moving to Bath.

Along the way, a friendly uncle (the locals were so warm and welcoming) told us about a National Trust Reserve called Priory Park, and we set out to find it. We took a detour and ended up on Box Hill instead. The road was quite steep, but it was definitely worth it. We found a nice spot which offered a great view of the city on one side and pastures on the other. We left at about 8 pm, right before sunset. Back at the city centre, The Roman Baths and Abbey looked spectacular in the pale moonlight. While these are two of the most advertised tourist attractions in Bath, they’re also quite (needlessly) expensive, thus, given that we are on a student budget, we went to neither. Instead, we found a cosy spot on a downhill street, and very much enjoyed the performance of a drunk musician, whose voice sounded immaculate, as if it was on a microphone, when there was none. I aspire to have this drunk man’s confidence and passion.

By this time, I was cold and hungry. There were several options for food (Bath has a thriving nightlife), however, a lot of them shut down by 10 pm, so we ended up going to a small joint serving falafel and halloumi wraps. Their small portion of chips and cheese was immense. Alas, we could not finish it, and a seagull had a great time. Finally satiated and exhausted, we returned to our hostel. Unfortunately, our drunk neighbor was now snoring, another was busy playing loud videos on full brightness, and there was a long queue at a nightclub right opposite the premises, having an uproarious time.

Despite this, I managed to get in about 2-3 hours of sleep. We had decided to do a hike to the nearby Little Solsbury Hill on Saturday morning, and we set out at 7 am. The dark silent clouds gathered around the city ominously. We had a 1 hour walk to the base of the hill, when it began to drizzle. At the same time, my spicy antics from the previous day, coupled with a skinny latte in the morning, led me down a very dark path in the middle of nowhere. I desperately needed a washroom where there was none, so I did what I had to do, exhausting not only our spirit but more importantly our water supply. Afterwards, I had severe cramps and couldn’t even laugh for a while without cringing in pain. The light patter soon turned into a downpour. Little Solsbury hill is known to the tallest spire in the UK, and has the remnants of an iron fort on top. Unfortunately, we never found it, due to very low visibility, and a fear of unfriendly cows lurking around. It was, nevertheless, quite a fun hike. There is, after all, no joy like that of conquering a muddy hill in the most unfavorable conditions. Satisfied, there was only one more thing I had to do : visit the Jane Austen Centre. Inside, we were given an hour long tour : 15 minutes explaining Jane Austen’s family and life, another 15 minutes of a short video describing her life in Bath, 15 minutes to walk through her house, reading various plaques, and the rest to play dress up and have a photoshoot with our favorite Mr Darcy. I had a slight fear of disappointment, which turned out to be not completely without reason. It was definitely a bit overpriced (10.50 gbp for a a student), but I would not have missed it for the world.

Our next stop was the local Cafe Au Lait, where we had a lovely hot chocolate to warm us up. We realized we had no more energy left, so we went back to the hostel. A small nap ensued, which was revitalizing. We decided on dinner at Wagamamas. I dislike eating at chains in smaller cities, but unfortunately we could not find decent options to try local cuisine in our limited price range. Strangely, we also encountered about 4-5 Bachelorette parties over the course of 2 nights. Their happy smiles were a lovely sight, and put some cheer back into our weary souls.

Wagamamas was a very pleasant surprise. The vegan ramen and vegan katsu curry were yummy. They also provided a phone charging desk, which was disappointingly unavailable in our hotel room. Given the wet weather from before, my shoes and socks were completely soaked. Thankfully, I had the good sense to cover my laptop with clothes. Everything was wet and musty. All I wanted was for my feet to be warm, so we decided to have an early night.

In addition to all the disturbances from the previous day, we now had a new neighbor who snored without caring for our mental health. It was impossible to sleep, and we decided at 7 am that it was futile to try anymore. So we set out to enjoy Bath for about 4 hours more. Google spoke of an Alexandra Park which was a 20 minute walk away. Spoiler: it was not 20 minutes. There were about 150-200 very steep stairs that left me winded. My flatmate ended up being bitten by a bee. We used water and Eno (baking soda) to alleviate the pain. The view above was very satisfying. All of Bath could be seen at once, and what a pleasant sight it was. Finally, the sun was out and the world was bright and revving with color and enthusiasm.

The walk back to the city centre was much shorter. We were looking to have an affordable afternoon tea, that is, scones and clotted cream with a pot of tea, a delightfully English conclusion to our eventful journey. The Courtyard offered this, along with some other options near the Abbey. The cream was much more filling than expected. It is a shame that there was no space left for cakes.

While sitting in the restaurant, I realized that there was a stench coming from my wet shoes. I could take it no more, so, we spent the last half hour of our time looking for a replacement. On the way, we encountered a beautiful dance from the Regency Era (costumes et al) in the middle of the street. I only wish I had more time to enjoy it.

That is the end of a very happening weekend. My body is tired, but I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow. I hope to come back for another short trip to this small town that shall always have a place in my heart.