Trip to Bath - Exploring the English Countryside

Getting out of the city
Last weekend I went on my first trip to the British countryside - to a town called Bath. My friend Dave has a family "estate" just outside the city and we lucked out in getting the invite to stay! After weeks of  exams, paper-writing, and busy, bustling London city life, I was ready for an escape. So Dave, myself, Dan and my two flatmates Sharon and Paul all took off Friday and planned for a long weekend out of the city. Despite a weather forecast of cloudy and grey, I did some serious praying and talking with the Big Man and was able to work out some amazingly sunny and mild weather! So Friday morning we loaded into Paul's car for a road trip.

Paul at the helm

Dave and Sharon trying to keep us entertained in the backseat

Dan... ironically reading about how to "look sharp"... hmmm...

Somehow this trip took us 2 hours longer than anticipated (Paul tends to take side trips without forewarning us of this) and ended with me a bit nauseous and sick of the techno soundtrack Paul seemed keen on playing. However - eventually - we ended up in Bath! One of the things I couldn't get over on our drive into the countryside was these crazy fields full of bright yellow flowers. Called....rapeseed.

Seriously. Rape. Seed. Ugh! The fields full of them look awesome, but I could not get over the name!

Dave's "Estate"
So I have to say, we were hardly roughing it. I mean we may have been surrounded by cows and sheep (more pictures of that to come), but Dave's "guest house" wasn't exactly lacking in amenities. It was amazing!

Paul relaxing on the couch

And the views. Wow. Well you judge for yourself.

Soaking up some sun!

The tulips were SO pretty!

We started off every morning on the patio....

With this view....

So we took full advantage by relaxing with some coffee, mimosas and eggs and bacon. "Lovely" vastly undersells this...

"Hikes" through the hills
It was rather amusing to me that I thought these strolls through the hills were so relaxing...mostly because we were basically walking through farmland, which is what I grew up around! They even had barns full of old tractors that Dave's uncle restores.

I could picture my mom laughing at me since I can pretty much see cows any day of the week back on Barnes Road (my parent's road). But for some reason going on hour-long hikes through the British countryside was just what the doctor ordered! We spent lots of time dodging cow dung.

The boys taking a break after that "intense" hike up the hill... 

Sharon and I posing for a quick pic

Taking a break to view the countryside

My attempt at a panorama

Then we ran into some sheep...

We also found out that Dave's afraid of cows... which wouldn't have been as funny as it was if there wasn't an open gate at one point that a cow started strolling through right towards us. Let's just say Dave didn't seem amused by it....

Seriously, this cow came from like 50 feet away in a field through an open gate and walked down the trail behind us....

I also went on some runs that were honestly amazing. Running next to a babbling brook of fresh spring water whilst you see sheep and horses directly next to you is pretty relaxing.

Back at the house, we'd do things like....drink a lot of wine...and bite people's cheeks...

The town of Bath

Saturday we went into Bath for the day to explore the city. I didn't realize that because it's so well-known for the Roman Baths that so much of the town would have a Roman feel. It was one of the most charming British cities you can imagine though. 

At one point, I even made friends with a lovely street performer. Who later turned out to not be a street performer...but rather a statue of a Roman guard. I tipped him anyway.

We made friends. His name was Lucca.

One of the evenings we went to dinner at a place that Dave's aunt and uncle recommended to us. One of our appetizers was a cheese and truffle plate! Yummm! The problem is...for those of you that know me... I have a bit of an obsession with truffle oil. So when there was lingering bits of truffle still on the plate and Dan told me he'd pay for the entire meal if I licked the plate clean....it didn't take much convincing. 

I'm very classy. I know my mom would be so proud.

Castle Combe

After two days of pretty much endless relaxing, we had to head back to the city. On our way out of town though we hit the town called Castle Combe (which I believe is where they filmed War Horse and maybe some of the Harry Potter movies??) Talk about a town that was dated back a century. It was pretty amazing.

The Manor house is what actually looks like a castle...even though it's the town itself that's called Castle Comb.

 In the backyard they had these incredible gardens where they grew all the food served in the hotel.

Out front they had tables set up for lounging on the lawn (where we of course had to get a beer) and they had lifesized Jenga and Chess games....

Dan and Dave playing Jenga

Then we just wandered around the town a bit....

Got a pint and a roast on a patio....

And took one more group shot before heading home to the big city...

Now I just have to talk Dave into letting us go back there again......