First Night in Oxford

The next morning, July 10th, we got up early to store our bags with the Accommodation Services office at the University of Bath before heading back to town.  Sidney wanted to try to find a shipping carton for a poster she liked at the Fashion Museum, and on our way, we stopped in for breakfast at the Pump Room.  I had some sort of bun thing with what tasted like rehydrated raisins.  It sounds gross, but it was really tasty.

After breakfast, there wasn't much else to take photos of.  Sidney did find a poster tube, so we went back to the Fashion Museum so she could pick it up.  Then it was time to navigate the trains!  We walked to the train station to print our tickets and then took the bus back to collect our belongings.  We were on a super tight schedule.  Unfortunately, the first bus driver who came was immediately going on break, so we had to catch the next bus, along with an Italian family of five who held up the process the entire way.

We made it to the city center and were just one stop from the trainstation with maybe three minutes to spare.  Since the doors don't close on the train until 30 seconds before departure (thank you, British pal Vikki for that tidbit!), there was still a chance we could make it.

Until the Italian family decided to chat with the bus driver for two minutes to decide if they were going to get off or not.  Ugh.  One minute is just not enough time to make it up the stairs with 45 lb bags, especially when there are about a zillion Asian tourists all trying to get out of the station as you're trying to get in.

Sidney's bag "Herbie" (because he's so small) was the lightest and she was up those stairs lickety split.  I wasn't far behind, but with my stupid mangled suitcase "Mangus", it took longer.  Poor Barbara nearly fell down the stairs wrestling with "Big Carla" and eventually had to have some nice gents help her out.

Needless to say, we did not make the train.  I was lucky enough to rip one of the wheels of Mangus on those stairs, so now he is good and truly mangled.

 Mangled Mangus, the most ridiculous suitcase ever.

  

He took his anger out on me by cutting my ankle with the dangling remains of his wheel at some point Sunday.  Rude.

Anyway, since we missed our first train, we caught the next one an hour later to Didcot Parkway.  We had reserved seats on the first one, but naturally on this one, we did not.  We also had giant suitcases, so we rode from Bath to Didcot standing near the luggage rack.  At Didcot, we got off and had to change trains, but again, since we missed our first train, we missed our second.  The next train that went directly to Oxford was in an hour - definitely would have cut down on our preparation for our nice reception.

Luckily, thanks to Barbara's sharp hearing, about 15 minutes after arriving, we caught a different train that was stopping in Oxford!  Snaps to Babs!

Upon arrival in Oxford, we caught a cab to Brasenose, checked in, and got dressed for our orientation, reception with libations, and dinner.

This photo reminded me how incredibly badly I need a haircut.  Perhaps that will be one of my Oxford adventures!  We were so glad to have made it in (mostly) one piece.  Too bad Mangus wasn't as lucky.

Hot Springs: British Style

On July 9th, after rising and shining following our hellacious evening, the gals and I took the bus into town for breakfast and sightseeing.  I was really excited about Bath, because I'm such a Jane Austen fan.  Jane (we're on a first name basis) lived in Bath from 1800 to 1805 and set two of her novels there - Northanger Abbey (my favorite) and Persuasion (another favorite).

After missing the first bus stop at the city centre, we got off on the second at the train station and walked back.  This was lucky, as it caused us to pass Sally Lunn's, which I remember from one of my guidebooks.

I really enjoyed my Sally Lunn Bun, which had gammon ham, mature cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise on half of a Sally Lunn Bun.  Yum, yum!  If you're ever in Bath, I highly recommend it!

After breakfast, we walked to the Tourism Office to buy our museum tickets.  All together, admission to the Roman Baths, the Fashion Museum, Assembly Rooms, Pump Rooms, and Jane Austen Centre cost less than £20.  A real bargain that will keep you busy all day!

After that, we walked literally 20 yards to Bath Abbey.  It was huge and gorgeous.  I'm such a church freak, though.  I love these old cathedrals, basilicas, and abbeys!

Apparently I'm not the only one who loves churches - the place was JAM PACKED!  After we escaped the throngs of people, we went to stand in line for the Roman Baths, somewhat unnecessarily.  Word to the wise - if you buy your tickets ahead of time at the Tourism Office, you can jump in front of the line!

The Roman Baths were neat but also crowded.  I got bored with listening to the audio tour long before the tour was over.

After the tour of the baths were over, we stopped in to the Pump Room for some of that curative spring water.  I'd heard how terrible it tasted, so I was really nervous.  Honestly, it just tasted like hot well water, and as someone who spent a fair portion of her childhood drinking well water at her grandparents', it tasted fine to me.

After the Pump Room, we headed to the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms.  Unfortunately for me, the Assembly Rooms were closed for a wedding (we even got to see the bride and tell her best wishes!), but the Fashion Museum was open.  It was really awesome, especially the wedding dress special exhibit!  On the way there, I saw my first British phonebox!

The oldest dress in the collection - from the 1600s!

A 1760s court dress

You know we look good. 

Shoes!

Hey, J Lo!

Once we wrapped up our tour of the Fashion Museum, it was time for the lady herself, Jane Austen!

Honestly, the Jane Austen Centre was a little bit of a let down.  The exhibits were so-so and the mini biography they gave us was nothing I didn't know before.  At least I did learn Jane's real address: 25 Gay Street.  It's now a dentist's, which probably comes in handy for all those toothaches people get from the delicious cake they serve in the third floor tea room at the JA Centre!

Raspberry drizzle!

Come out and play, Jane!

After the Jane Austen Centre, we were all a little tired and ready to relax a little.  I wanted to see the Royal Crescent, so we headed over to the park for a spell.  It was nice to feel the sun and watch the Asian tourists strike funny poses.  My favorite was the man who stuck his arms straight out in the air and did a little hop.  Nothing else, just a hop.

When the sun went behind the clouds and we got chilled, it was time for dinner at Gascoyne House.  The food was savory and filling - I had mushroom risotto balls.  A perfect way to say goodbye to Bath before we left for Oxford the next day!

Hail, Britannia!

We finally made it to Bath, and oh, what an adventure it was!  Don't let the exclamation mark fool you into thinking it was more fun than it was.  It was miserable.

We collected our bags from the hostel and walked to the bus stop.  We were expecting a bus to come round every twenty minutes or so.

Forty minutes later, we decided to suck it up and pay the €7 it cost to take the AirCoach.  It's bigger, the driver puts your bags under the bus for you, and really, it was worth the peace of mind.  We were getting snappish with one another, which is never a good thing, particularly when you're on a six week journey with each other!

We finally get to the airport and make our way to check our bags, which we're all terrified will be overweight.  Sidney and I were safe, but unfortunately Barbara had to pay an overage.  :(  But she wasn't the only one with suitcase issues.  The extendable handle on my case would not, um, de-extend, so I had to take it to oversized luggage.  Luckily there wasn't a fee charged, but I was worried the handle would get broken during the flight.  Given that there wasn't anything to be done, we went through security with no issues and walked to our gate with ample time to spare.

We all grabbed some sandwiches in Cafe Cú in the terminal (so good - ham and cheese!) before going to sit at our gate.  It was at this point that we discovered our flight was delayed.  Not good, since we were already going to be cutting it close to make the train from Bristol to Bath, where our hostel was located.  However, as there was nothing to be done about it, we stood around until we finally boarded.

I had heard how miserable RyanAir was, but oh my gosh.  They never stopped talking, offering us drinks and candy and magazines and lottery tickets (seriously?!)...all at a very "reasonable" price - HA!  All I wanted to do was finish Room.

We made it to Bristol, disembarked QVC-Air, and walked through to go through customs and collect our bags.  Unfortunately, we walked right past both baggage claim and security, having followed the folks who had no checked luggage.  Of course we realized this two seconds too late and had to wait for security to bring our bags to us.  No catching that train now, especially when I saw what had happened to my bag!

Just as I had feared, the handle had been snapped off.  This meant I had to pull it by the little handle on top of the suitcase, causing it to hit the back of my legs with every step.  I also had to take baby steps to avoid hitting my heels on the bag, which made me go much more slowly that my travel pals.

After realizing our train was gone and the buses were finished for the night, we debated on the cost of taking a taxi versus booking a hostel in Bristol.  After learning the cab ride would only close us £48, however, we decided to press on.

Our cabbie had been to Las Vegas and about 30 of the 50 United States.  He had also been made to disappear by David Copperfield in Las Vegas in this trick:

Well, not this group, but this same trick.  He wouldn't tell us how it happened, though.  Oh well.

We got to Bath Uni and tried to follow the directions on the e-mail they sent Barbara when she booked the rooms.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the place we were directed to go was closed.  Luckily, Barbara and Sidney spotted some guys who were able to take us to the library to collect our room keys instead.  Twenty minutes later we were all securely in our rooms.  Well, almost all of us.

The Accommodation Services folks had given a key to poor Sidney's room to someone else!  So at 3:45 am, while she is enjoying a deep slumber, in busts a random guy, drunk, who wants to know what she's doing in his room.  She tells him it's her room and shows him her key.  He is goodnatured enough to go to a friend's room (and invite her to breakfast - she declined!).  Too bad he wasn't thoughtful enough to keep it down so Sid could go back to sleep quickly, though she did say she eventually fell back asleep.

Our days in England were not off to a promising start, but surely things would get better.