[Holidays] Easter 2012

Last weekend was Easter, in case you hadn’t noticed, and I continued my tradition of not going home to see my family. This year, for a change, I didn’t spend it working at the JGT though. I was invited to my girlfriend’s cousin’s wedding on Easter Monday (seriously, who gets married on Easter Monday?), so the two of us went down to Bath for the weekend for a holiday beforehand.

Bath is a beautiful city. I’d been there a month a so ago for the BULSCA Student Lifesaving Championships, but didn’t get to see much of the place as I spent most of my time at the pool or driving around trying to find somewhere to park, buy food, or fill up on petrol. Having the chance to actually do some sightseeing was a nice change (even if the weather didn't always play ball)!

A view over Bath from the top of the abbey tower. (Credit: David Brown)

The hotel we stayed at was in a beautiful location just outside Bath. Overlooking a river, with an old stone bridge (still tolled by a man in a hut!) running past and a water-wheel outside the restaurant window, it was a perfect setting. It’s a shame that the same can’t be said about the quality of the accommodation or food, but never mind. You can’t have everything.

The grounds of our hotel. (Credit: David Brown)

As far as tourist attractions go, we made the obligatory visits to the Roman baths and the abbey. The tower tour run by the abbey is definitely worth going on. They take you up onto the roof, then across into the bell tower where you’re shown the various means of ringing the bells, taken behind the clock face, and shown the bells themselves. The tour finishes with a trip up to the top of the tower, from which the views over the city are pretty spectacular.

Another view from the top of the abbey tower. The rugby ground is visible on the other side of the river Avon. (Credit: David Brown)

As for the baths, I would urge anyone that goes to Bath to check them out. They’re really very interesting, particular if you have an interest in history. It’s a bit on the expensive side, but we spent a good 2.5 hours there wandering through them. You start on the terrace of the main bath, then go downstairs and work your way through an extensive museum that goes into great detail regarding the layout of the baths, how they were used, and the people that visited them. After that you find yourself back at Roman ground level next to the main bath (with its strangely green water), with access to the various side rooms running off it that contain the various other types of Roman bath in a range of states of ruin. The audioguide is excellent, and very comprehensive, and they even have some portions featuring comments from Bill Bryson on his impressions of the baths, which I found very interesting. 

We also took a wander around some of the other parts of Bath, taking tea in the pump rooms, seeing the Royal Crescent and Circle, and walking along part of the river - not the most picturesque riverside walk in the world sadly.

The main swimming pool at the Roman baths. (Credit: David Brown)

I also paid a visit to something perhaps not as widely frequented by typical tourists to Bath. Whilst my girlfriend went to the Jane Austen Centre, I had a look around the Herschel museum. I didn't know about it before the weekend, and only found out about it from the 'visit Bath' leaflets in the hotel. Apparently William Herschel used to live in Bath, and it was from his back garden there that he and his sister discovered the planet Uranus. His house is now a small museum dedicated to the Herschels and their life, complete with a replica of the telescope used for that famous discovery. Naturally I had to go and see it! The museum was very small, which was not really very surprising, but they had a decent selection of exhibits, and I was able to look around the workshop and garden. I'm glad I went, but I couldn't have spent more than the half an hour that I had there really.

A replica of the telescope that William Herschel used to find the planet Uranus. (Credit: David Brown)

The wedding itself was..........interesting. The weather was horrible, which was a real shame, but the setting for the reception was very picturesque. The ceremony was held at the couple's non-denominational 'mega-church'; which meant lots of worship songs that are impossible to sing along to unless you know them already (complete with Christian Rock band), hands in the air during the singing, and lots of "guys", "yeah", and "bless you" from the worship leader. I tried very hard not to look at my girlfriend, her brother, or his wife during the service, as I'm pretty sure that all of us were thinking the same thing and I would have been unable to stop giggling.

All in all it was a nice Easter, spent with people for a change rather than by myself, and in a beautiful location. It was a shame about the weather, but what else can you expect during April in the UK.