Bath

We slowed the pace right down today with only 2 planned activities (although we still racked up 18,000 steps). We spent our morning with Simon doing the Essential Georgian Bath Tour. It was a great way to combine history and photography. Simon was witty with a wicked sense of humour, and obviously knowledgable and passionate about his city. He was able to take us to spots to take the "classic" shots as well as some not so common shots. Tips on editing also came freely which was nice. We were able to customise the tour as it was just us. We highly recommend this tour as a great way to get a better in-depth history of Bath. As a side bonus, you get great photos! However, only do the tour if you are comfortable walking as we walked for 4.5 hours albeit at a slow pace.

As a random example, we learnt about rebus(es)? rebusi? (didn't learn what the plural was!), a pictoral way to depict one's name and commonly used a few hundred years ago. Or from the internet "an ornamental device associated with a person to whose name it punningly alludes".

For an ugly building, the Hilton had a charming breakfast area!

Only the English...teapots instead of cups for tea

Apparently one of the most instagrammed shots in Bath when the leaves are a dark purple

Beautiful and uniformed fronts but the back is a different story as the builders at the time only had to conform to the plans at the front!

Royal Crescent

Close up of the "corner" house

An insurance policy on the outside so the services know whether or not the house was covered in case of fire...otherwise they'd move on!

Yes that is what I am!

Just so you can see how ugly the Hilton building was...built upon an old bomb site. Not sure what the council was thinking to pass this!

Pulteney Bridge

Famous for cinnamon buns

Nearly the size of Jonah's face

Is it possible to divide this into 5 fairly....

The children had been so good. They passed the quiz at the end of the tour!

Rebus ouside Bath Abbey of the man who called for the rebuilding of the current cathedral. Bishop Oliver King

Back streets and "not so common" shots of Bath

Bath Abbey

Sign for a previous bookstore and painting over a blocked out window (to avoid tax)

Our second activity was a narrow boat cruise on the Avon. We had hired a boat from Bath Narrowboats for Malcolm's mother belated 70th birthday celebration. Let us get the negative things out of the way first...

We had booked the premier "Lady Victoria" with the polished timber interior, nice seats and extra space so Malcolm's mother could lie down if need be (she has chronic back pain). However, when we arrived, we were told that her engines were gone (which was true) and we were given a much lower class boat which wasn't the cleanest and was nowhere near as nice. This would have been fine if we were informed before hand to give us a choice of whether or not we wanted to proceed. However, this never happened. Instead we saw another group go on an equivalent type boat, and we were told in a rather non-chalent fashion without an apology that the boat in front of us was the only one left.

Having carried the food all the way, we decided to proceed and enjoy the beautiful day regardless. Grandpa had fun helping Jonah drive the boat, the scenery was gorgeous and peaceful and food delicious! Our 3.5 hours whizzed by quickly and before long, we were back at the Hilton. We had so much food left over that dinner was sorted.

Avon River

This was what made the cinnamon buns SO good

This only lasted seconds...

The George, pub right on the Avon

I know understand "The Ugly Duckling". Cygnets are ugly!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Nana!

From Cornwall To Somerset

Our last Cornish stop was the picturesque small fishing village of Port Isaac. Malcolm's parents were big fans of the series Doc Martin and that was where the series was filmed. To their great excitement, filming was in progress when we arrived! They were content to watch the crew film for a 15 second footage of someone entering the chemist...It gave us an opportunity for a quick walk up the hill to enjoy the sunshine and the views.

The view along the walk from the carport to the village. We would end up on the grassy section across the water

The Doc is in! Port "Wenn"

From the village looking out to the water

All that space and no one around us!

Enjoying the sunshine!

Looking down back on the village from the top of the hill

We would have stopped at Tintagel Castle...However, the footbridge construction that was supposed to finish this summer was still ongoing. We left Cornwall behind and ventured into Burnham-on-sea in Somerset. After many small and windy country roads, the M5 was a welcome break despite it being a longer than usual drive.

Burnham-on-sea was where Malcolm's mother was born. She dearly wanted to show us her childhood home which was still there! We strolled along the main street and the waterfront before stopping for ice-cream at Forte's where she used to have ice-cream as a treat when she was a little girl

14 Eton Road! Nana's home as a child

The waterfront

Ice-cream time!

Wells was known as the smallest city in England. The Cathedral was also where Nana used to sing as a child. We found an excellent blog post on Kidsandcompass and just followed it! The gothic Wells Cathedral was beautiful, both on the outside and on the inside, and there was hardly anyone there which made it even more enjoyable. Construction on the Cathedral began in 1175! Unfortunately, there was a service on and so we couldn't enter the East end. The Vicar, after discovering that Nana sang here as a child, kindly took her quietly to where she would have stood and let her take a photo!

Right next to the Cathedral was Vicar's Close, claimed to be the most complete medieval street in England. It was only short and didn't take long to visit. It did, however, take a while for the students to clear so I could take a photo. Unfor, tunately, I couldn't do anything about the not very medieval parked car that was on the street!

Rounding out the attractions was Bishops Palace, the home of the Bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years. The grounds, including the moats outside, were peaceful and serene, and came complete with its own swans.

Entrance to the Bishops Palace

Ruins of the Great Hall

The beautiful and extensive grounds

Looks so English...castle wall, moat, ducks and swan!

Wells Cathedral

Incredible detail

Inside using the West entrance

Vicar's Close

It was not easy to get a shot without the parked cars!

It wasn't too far to Bath from Wells and we arrived by 6:30pm. Our home for the next 3 nights was the Hilton, likely the ugliest building in the city. However, it was super convenient and we were glad that it was such a close walk to everything. Dinner tonight was at Yak Yeti Yak, one of the placest that made the top value eats in Bath. The pork (can't remember the name but it was the one with coriander and spinach) and the Chicken Chilli were a hit! Unlike the song, we wouldn't mind going back. We were glad the food was quick as everyone was tired after a long day of driving.

Bath!

Dinner time!