A Bath day and a Sunday

[byslantedlight]

I do like Bath... I was feeling the need for some history and some culture (okay, and some Lush bubble bath) on Saturday, so I decided to take myself off... and there was coffee and fruit toast, and blue skies, and...

...and mini London Bridge. *g* Properly, a bridge with shops on either side of it. On the bridge. Can you imagine how fab the

Comments

[golden_bastet]

*That's* what wattle looks like? Hunh, I may have actually seen that at some point...

I did a semester abroad with a program that ran side trips every few weeks to different places that were day trips from London: you'd sign up, get over to the program headquarters early some Saturday morning, and then catch a chartered bus to the location. Bath & Canterbury (Canterbury!) were my favorite places. Although okay, Oxford was kind of neat to wander around in the rain, too. And then there was...

I need to go find my journal and reread it; it's been a few years. :-)

[dollidaydream]

What a great day! That cyanotype is beautiful, isn't it? I love all the visitors noted in the book. The Duke of Orleans caught me eye. How romantic! Was the independent bookshop Toppings, by any chance? They arranged a book signing by Lee Child that I went to at the end of last year. An independent bookshop is a very good thing, in my eyes.

[byslantedlight]

It was a lovely day, and the cyanotype is gorgeous. I know what I want on one of my walls here at home now, too! *g*

The bookshop wasn't Toppings, which was one reason I was so surprised to find it! I loved Toppings in Ely, which is actually so much nicer than the one in Bath (oddly enough - maybe because it's just that much quieter that the staff have a bit more time to be friendly) - although to be fair maybe my visits to the Bath branch were just badly timed somehow. No, this was Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, and apparently it's won loads of awards for being a bookshop, and oh-my-goodness Mr B serves at the counter looking like a cross between... John Simm and Martin Freeman, which doesn't hurt... *g*

[dollidaydream]

What an utterly awesome name for a bookshop! The last time I was in Bath I really got a sense that it is an island nation unto itself, with its own character and even fashion sense. I *think* I like it, but I'm not sure...

[heliophile_oxon]

Oh wow, how perfectly beautiful! Would you believe I'd never seen a photo of that bridge before? It's almost too perfect!

[byslantedlight]

Isn't it fab! Actually I went back to pick up my mosaic stuff (...*g*...) and paused for a smoothie and lemon drizzle cake in a cafe that sits on it too. No window to the river, sadly, but it was nice being there!

[solosundance]

Bath looked very lovely in the sunshine - I haven't been there for yonks. I love the way you present the pics in your posts, giving us a timeline so we can share the day. Finishing of course with the sunset (and end-of-day confessions *g*).

I quite enjoyed Poldark. Or, given Aiden Turner, 'Smouldark' (as I read on twitter) :D It was fun to meet Ross and Demelza and the Warleggans again. In the 70s version I rather liked the doctor too - I totally remember shipping Ross/Doctor, heh. Can't remember his name now but I'm looking forward to meeting him later as well!

[byslantedlight]

Hee - I guess it's either the historian or the storyteller or the twelve year old in me.. "I did this, and then I did that and then..." *g* But I'm glad you like it! I can't imagine another way of doing it, to be honest!

Smouldark - yes! *g* I remember watching Poldark when I was a kid, but I was too young then to remember much about it now, although the name Demelza was really familiar to me. When I've rewatched so many old programmes from that time, they've seemed paced so slowly in comparison to what we're given these days (Flambards, Blake's Seven, oddly...) that I'd quite like to see the old version again after this, to compare... I shall keep an eye out for the doctor... *g*

[gilda_elise]

Ooh, Bath! I'm going to Bath next year, so your trip report was read with much enjoyment. :-) I hope I can find that bookstore. I love to wander around in them, even if I don't buy an many books anymore.

And a mini-London Bridge! It looks so much like the one moved to Lake Havasu in Arizona. I'm sure this one is much older, though.

[byslantedlight]

You're going to Bath on your trip - excellent choice! Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights was a bit hidden - I really only found it by accident. Find it on a map, and stash a copy in with your plans! *g*

The London Bridge that was taken to Arizona (*grr, spit, selling-heritage-grumble*) was the one rebuilt in 1830 apparently,and Pultney Bridge was built in 1774 according to Wiki, so it's a bit older... and still standing! I dunno, it makes no sense to me - if you take something apart to that extent, then it stops being the thing it was in the first place, and it's all just... wrong... It had to be rebuilt before it fell apart under the traffic, but... selling it abroad still seems wrong...

[gilda_elise]

To make matters somewhat worse, yes, it's over a river. But Havasu City is hot. It's usually the hottest place in the state. It seems rather odd to have a connection to a place known to be cool and wet (well, wetter than where it is now. *g*) And from what I've read, it's only the outer facade that's from the original bridge.

[byslantedlight]

it's only the outer facade that's from the original bridge
Yes, exactly - so the bloke didn't "buy London Bridge" at all, he bought the stonework and built a bridge in the same general style, and covered it with the stones, and then said he'd "bought London Bridge". Which is just... wrong, because London Bridge is so much more than that, it's history and tradition and culture, and by the 1960s it really wasn't considered okay for people to do that to other people any more!

[snailbones]

Oh, such lush piccies, ta ever so. Bath always looks so pretty - it's kind of serene isn't it? I've never been on the bridge, but I almost took a job on it once, well, some folk who had an office there. I turned down the job, but I was desperately sad not to have the bridge as my work address *g*

And books! Oops *g* But you can't go to Bath and not hit the book shops, and you can't go into a book shop without buying... so not your fault at all *g*

[byslantedlight]

Bath is lovely - oh, and wouldn't it be brilliant to have a bridge as your work address! I'd love to work in that mosaic shop! *g*

... so not your fault at all *g*
Yes! See, exactly! Yes... *g*