A vacation in Bath

Yes, getting from Salzburg to Bath took about 13 hours. I have discovered that most "travel" does not involve travel. Mostly, it's just waiting around. For instance, I sat in the airport in Cologne for 4 hours. During the course of the day, I read an entire 420 page book because there was literally nothing else to do. I didn't get to Bath until about 2 in the morning! Fortunately, Liza was there to greet me with a delicious cookie so it was all worth it.

Bath is a beautiful little town and it was SO nice to just relax and catch up with Liza. The weather was perfect while I was there so we spent a lot of time having picnics in various parks and soaking up vitamin D. Also, I was successfully English by having a Cornish pasty, treacle tart, tea, and cider & black, among other things. One night, we went to a cute little old movie theater and watched a French film while sipping wine. It felt very classy. (Also, the French film was called "Little White Lie" and it was good, but very sad. I should have expected this from a French film, though...)

A park near Liza's residence, with Bath Abbey in the background.

We went to the Roman Baths (yes, that's what Bath is named after) and it was really fascinating to see such old ruins. I'm still not entirely sure why the Romans thought it was a good idea to come all the way up to England, but they sure had some nice bathing facilities! Things dating back to the 1st century just boggle my mind. Also, it was amusing to see the workers cleaning out the main bath (you can see them in the background of the picture) because they kept knocking scum at each other. A fun job?

Liza and I at the Roman Baths

Another day, we went up on a tower tour of the abbey and got to see how the bells work (it made me jump when they rang right next to us). I love walking down the little spiral staircases in these big cathedrals--the steps are worn down from so many feet, and the middle post is so smooth from so many hands using it as support. You can just feel the oldness and can almost picture a bellringer or a priest walking up the stairs 400 years ago. History!!!

The Royal Crescent, one of the more famous locations in Bath.

I stayed in Bath for three wonderful days, and it felt like a real vacation because it was so relaxing after all the busy-ness of the previous week! But it went way too fast, and it was time to go back to Copenhagen. (Although I was definitely ready to stop living out of a suitcase!) I made a pit stop in London, though, because my flight didn't leave until (far too early) Saturday morning. I stayed with some wonderful family friends on Friday night, and I had the opportunity to wander London for 2 hours on Friday afternoon (that was as long as the station would hold my luggage without the price rate going up). Since I've been to London before, I didn't feel particularly compelled to rush around seeing everything, so I just had a leisurely walk while trying to avoid stepping on the heels of tourists. It was interesting to see all the things being set up for the royal wedding (which was exactly a week after I was there). There were already stands and barricades set up near Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. In fact, I realized later that I actually walked the exact route that the wedding procession went from Buckingham Palace to Westminster! (Well, it probably is the most direct route). That's my only claim-to-fame with the royal wedding...I was kind of there? Just a week too early. Somehow, I managed to get pictures of most of the touristy things anyway...Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, the ferris wheel, a red phone booth, Big Ben and Parliament, the Thames, Westminster Abbey...pretty good for two hours, eh?

Stands set up for the wedding by Westminster Abbey.

And so, I returned to my beloved Copenhagen, relieved to see that there were finally flowers and good weather! Thus marks the end of my travel break. (Hooray, I finally finished writing it down!)