On Friday afternoon, I caught a train from Glasgow down to London. It was a long ride, but quite nice as I was able to finish reading “The Stars Like Dust” by Asimov. By the time I got off the train I was off in my own literary world and had to remember that the tube at rush hour isn’t a time to wander around slowly. Oops.
I headed far south in London to stay with Enrique and Audrey of QM2 fame. They have a very nice little flat which is still being painted, and we had a great chilli and cornbread for dinner. Lots of wii was played, and I had a comfortable air mattress in the living room.
Early the next morning, I caught the tube up to Queensway and hopped on the Arcadia bus to Bath. It’s a fairly long ride, but I alternated between reading “The Things They Carried,” napping, and looking out the window. I enjoyed the company of two girls who are part of Arcadia in London, and I hope that we’ll keep in some contact in the future. When we arrived in Bath, we went immediately to the Jane Austen Centre where we had a talk about Austen and Bath, and then went through the exhibition they’ve set up about Austen’s novels and times. It was mostly dresses on mannequins and references to novels, but actually pretty enjoyable.
I then went and had a nice lunch at a pub with the girls I made friends with on the bus, and we had a great time chatting and getting to know each other. We headed back to the centre in time for a walking tour of bath, also Jane Austen themed, and saw lots of architecture and made a stop by the Upper Assembly Rooms. That’s where a lot of events took place such as balls, teas, theatre, and dinners, both in Austen’s novels and in Bath society in general. There were some serious chandeliers there.
After the tour, we had to get back on the bus and went for tea at an incredible tea room in Bradford-on-Avon, so conversation continued over a pot of tea, scones, meringues, and sandwiches. We sat at a little table next to the fire, and it was a very cozy hour. Back to London we went, and I got back on the tube to Enrique and Audrey’s, where we watched CSI, had some more chili and got a good night’s sleep. Sunday brought another easy train journey and got back to the flat late afternoon. Overall, a very successful weekend, though I wished that we had taken a stop by the baths in Bath. I suppose it just means that I’ll have to go back some time!
Annie — Nice cloud picture, and I see you got a shot of the dam on the river at Bath.
Happy Birthday, Ann!
love,
Sabine, Penn and Heinrich