Day 27: Wednesday 23 April 2014

Time to move on from London today.  So I check out from the hotel and cab it to Paddington Station where I am to catch the train to bath.  Now here is a funny thing, when I booked online the difference between a first class ticket and economy was minimal so I booked first class, and guess what there is a first class lounge at the station like they have at the airport except not as swish.  So I relax in the lounge for half an hour or so waiting for my train, I enjoy some orange juice, coffee and pastries with a complimentary copy of The Times, old chap. Although I must admit that The Times has gone downhill since it went tabloid.

The train trip was a pleasant hour and a half through the very green English countryside, with complimentary refreshments.  Once I arrived in Bath I picked up my hire car which appears to be a larger version of a Fiat bambino, but seems like fun to drive.

The Fiat

I am staying at a hotel in Bath called The Kennard, it is in what was once a Georgian townhouse and is quite elegant but with small rooms again.  My room is in what was probably the attic which means climbing heaps of stairs to get it.  When I checked in the proprietor was showing me to the room and as we walked up the 3 flights of stairs I suggested that next time we use the lift, boy did we laugh about that.  The other good thing about the hotel is that the tariff includes a cooked full English breakfast, so I am looking forward to that.  I will provide a detailed description of that in due course.

As most of you would know, Bath is in the county of Somerset and the folk here really do have a different accent and sound a bit rural.  Imagine a Two Ronnies Sketch with them wearing smocks, straw hats and saying aaaagh a lot. The proprietors of the hotel also sound different but then again they are Italians so they would sound different wouldn't they.

River Avon & bridge - Bath

Was drizzling a bit so donned my coat, down three flights of stairs and a 5 minute walk into the centre of the town.  The whole place is very touristy with the main attractions in town being the Roman baths and the Abbey.  There are also lots of interesting little lanes with shops, restaurants and pubs snuggled away in them.  The bridge across the river near my hotel has shops and restaurants built as part of it like those bridges that you see in Florence. 

When I was in the tourist information centre I asked for a map of the region and explained that I wanted to go to Frome and Sutton Veny (SV).  Now Frome was not a problem as that is in Somerset, the same county.  However the lady in the tourist information office had never heard of SV, she had to look it up on her computer.  SV is in the next county but still less that 20 miles away.   I think she said something along the lines of "aaaaargh, that be on Mars then" although I could have been mistaken given her accent.

Centre of Bath and Bath Abbey

Anyway for something entirely different I had lunch in a pub with a pint of Best bitter. 

Dinner was at the local pub near my hotel, steak and ale pie with mash and gravy, and a couple of pints of cider.  I really must find a decent restaurant for dinner tomorrow night.