Bath

No time for clever titles today, I'm sitting in an Internet cafe and the time is ticking by. I've been booking accommodation for the next week, which is harder than I expected. Although I wanted to spend a few days uninterrupted in Cardiff, I've had to break it up with a trip north simply because I couldn't get anything on Saturday night.

Tonight is my last night here in Bath. I actually decided to extend my stay here by a night simply because I was enjoying the place so much and I wanted to see more of it. Not to mention I was told tonight is going to see around 10,000 toga-clad partiers hitting the streets for one of the biggest nights of the year. Honestly, who can say no to that?

Yesterday was mostly spent wandering around the city and taking in some of the sights, primarily the Roman Baths. This was the site of a huge temple and hot spring baths way back in the days that the Romans were occupying the land and has been used by various other people throughout history since. It was only recently rediscovered - around 100 years ago - and is a pretty spectacular place to visit. I was told to leave an hour to go through the place - I ended up in there for almost three.

The tour concluded with a chance to taste the water in the Pump Room which, of course, I did. I then spent the next five minutes desperately searching for something else to take the taste out of my mouth. It's worth a taste, but only once. Back in the old days it was prescribed as medicine - funnily enough, medicine these days tastes just as bad.

After this I was determined to find a decent vantage point from which to see the city, so I headed north up a long, tall hill in hopes of finding a good spot. After an hour of walking I was just about to give up hope (especially after the freezing cold wind and tiny particles of ice had started to pelt me) when I chanced across a cemetary that had some amazing views of the city. It was a suitably creepy area too - lots of crumbling tombstones and sunken graves made me think of Night of the Living Dead. No zombies, though.

An hour later I was back at the hostel - and I was buggered. Lightweight that I am, I spent most of the night relaxing in front of the teevee, but before I went to bed I headed downstairs to the bar to grab a drink and book another night.

This morning I went on the free walking tour of the city, which I'd tried to do the day before but I couldn't find where it was so I missed out. It was a great walk as well as a great tour, taking us through a surprisingly large area of the city. I know someone will be interested to know that I went past where Jane Austen spent 18 months living in Bath (and apparently wrote Northanger Abbey) as well as walked one of the walks she discussed in both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I haven't gone into the Austen Centre though, partly because I've been told it's not that good - but also because my interest in Jane Austen ended around seven months ago.

Our tour guide was a great old guy. He's been doing the walking tour for 24 years now and he obviously knows his stuff. He was also far fitter than the rest of us as he had no problem scurrying around the streets and outrunning us with ease.

After the tour I hopped on one of the tour buses that circles the city in order to visit Prior Park, which promised (and delivered) a stunning view of the city. I took many, many pictures here (it was a beautiful area) but I had to rush my way around in order to get back to the bus in time.

I'm really glad I took the time to stay another night, there's a lot I missed seeing yesterday that I managed to catch today. Plus the weather today was a lot better - it was just as cold, but the sky was mostly devoid of clouds.

Tomorrow I thought I'd head out to Cheddar to see the caves out there before heading into Cardiff. But, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself - I still have a toga party to get through!