I just returned from a three-day trip to Bath, Exeter, and Dartmoor. The whole program traveled to Bath together by "coach" (bus) on Thursday morning, then we parted ways on Friday afternoon to begin our own weekend adventures. Bath is, of course, famous as the city about which Jane Austen wrote two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, and in which she lived for five years (though she hated nearly every minute of it). As we learned on our many walking tours, Bath was a city that people visited for the winter season every year in order to "see and be seen." We contented ourselves on this trip with simpy seeing- the very inauthentic Jane Austen museum, the Georgian house museum of #1 Crescent, the Pulteney Bridge nearby our quarters at the (surprisingly nice) YMCA, the Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths and assembly rooms, etc.
My favorite walking tour was actually the one that Jessica, Sarah, and I took on our own on Thursday afternoon. After hitting the key sites, we continued to wander until we reached car dealerships- a sure sign of extreme sketchiness or suburbia, neither of which we had intended to encounter- and decided perhaps we didn't quite know where we were anymore. Witness, the "lost-but-at-least-we-have-a-map" photo of Sarah and me, above. That was only moments before our faces wore expressions more akin to a "too-bad-we've-walked-off-the-righthand-corner-of-the-map" look. Luckily, it doesn't get dark here until 9:30 or so, and it was only about six. We eventually meandered back to the centre- note the British spelling : ) -of town, but not before stumbling on an incredible Norman church and cemetery. The group ventured out together that evening, first for delicious Thai food, then for some "pubbing and clubbing" that culminated in Jonathon, DJ, Katie, Jennifer, Chelsie, and I abandoning ship to eat pizza by the river at midnight- not a bad ending to the day!
The next morning was an early one, but well worth it, because Jonathon, Sarah, and I snuck in a morning run that took us up a hill overlooking the city. We spent the rest of the morning touring Georgian edifices and museums; the group picture is of us sitting on the "ha-ha" in front of the Crescent. This was the wealthiest area of Bath, designed by John Wood the younger to look like an Italian palace. The Crescent is divided into 30 separate, but adjoining, houses. A large park stretches in front and is split into an upper and a lower ground by a sunken rock wall- the so-called ha-ha. The lower ground contained sheep and cows and the ha-ha was to prevent the cows from meandering up to one's front porch. The intended effect was for the inhabitants of the Crescent to look out their front windows, see the park in front, and feel like the lords and ladies of a country manor and park.
Shortly after noon on Friday, 12 of us split off, heading for Exeter. We essentially acknowledge Jonathon as our fearless leader (whether he wants to be or not), as this was not the first weekend that some of our group realized he simply had the best plans and therefore decided to accompany him. Those of us who are natural-born planners (like Jessica and yours truly- plus, let's face it, most Davidson kids have just a little OCD-ness in that department) have tried to help, but usually we find he's already one step ahead of us. Since Jon's pretty laid back about who accompanies him- more than happy to have the company, but going to do his own thing whether you come or no- traveling in a pack worked pretty well. We arrived in Exeter only after Jessica, Josh, Sarah, and I found ourselves settled in the baggage/loo hallway for the duration of the train ride, and were greeted with blustering rain. So, out came the lime green rainjacket and the pink umbrella (there was no hiding our tourist origins now) and we all trekked to a very homey hostel. That said, we were misled initially by the fact that an underling made us stand out in the rain for ten minutes because they weren't "open" yet. But then the owner found us and let us come in.
The main Exeter attractions are the Exeter Cathedral, an old Roman wall, and underground passageways that we were unfortunately too late to go through. We also did a roundabout walk through the city- without getting lost, this time, as Jonathon was in the lead- and ended up at Quayside, of which I have provided a photo below that doesn't do its beauty justice. We slept well that night, and headed out this morning to Dartmoor National Park, perhaps better known to you as the infamous moors of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. There was just the right amount of mist for it to feel authentic, though the moment was disrupted by laughter when we found our footpath taking us straight through the Dartmoor Golf Club green, backpacks, rainjackets, and orange Sainsbury bags proclaiming our American- and tourist-ness. And yes, several elderly Dartsmoorians had to set aside their putters and drivers and waited grouchily for us to get out of their way! (Sainsbury's, by the way, is the lifeline of the college student studying abroad in Britain. It's a rather reasonably priced grocery store, found nearly everywhere, and we have feasted happily many times on bread, apples, peanut butter, and such from our Sainsbury bags rather than paying for a meal in a restaurant.) In the afternoon, we divided forces again and the self-designated "fab five" (Josh, Billy, Sarah, Jessica, and I) headed back to Cambridge while the rest of the group stayed in Exeter. We have our own London adventures scheduled for tomorrow, of which I hope to provide an account later.
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