Destination : BATH
Destination : BATH! After a long week at work Steve and I got on a train on Friday night (the 17th August) and headed to BATH for the weekend. Friday afternoon, we were blessed with acceptable weather and it was still dry when we arrived in BATH in the evening...and after a relaxing drink at ALL BAR ONE, we retired for the night after a big week at work ready to explore Bath in the morning.
Unfortunately for us, Saturday (the 18th August) brought with it BAD WEATHER! After a little bit of a sleep in to leave behind the long working week, Steve and I ventured out for the first order and most important task for the day - BREAKFAST! For those of you who know me, there is a direct correlation with my mood and the amount of food left in my belly, I dare say that Steve would not have risked me being cranky for most of the morning so we promptly sat down for a good english breakfast of Bacon & Eggs. As we ate, we looked out the window which was presenting us with worsening weather and tried to decide what we should do for the day.
Our first bright idea, with thought of doing something INDOORS was to head towards the Roman Baths for an indoor activity of sorts to keep out of the rain. I think everyone in BATH had the same idea because the lineup for tickets and entry was out the door so we quickly moved onto PLAN B. As in most superhero stories there is NEVER a plan B in motion, so we popped up our only umbrella and set off on foot to just wing it and have a look around town instead. Huddled under our umbrella and some time later we came across Sydney Gardens and the Holburne Museum of Art and weighed up the possibility of heading in there to get out of the rain. Wet, frizzy and miserable (LOL) the decision was easy... MUSEUM = WARM AND DRY AND COSY!
The Holburne Museum holds the collection of Sir William Holburne in 19th Cenutry Bath. The museum holds collections of Silver, Old Master Paintings, Maiolica, Porcelain, Glass furniture, Portrait Miniatures & Italian Bronzes particularly one called "Susini" that was once owned by King Louis XIV. The building was not always a museum. It was once known as the Sydney Hotel. The original design which was prepared by Thomas Baldwin in 1794 never came to fruition because Baldwin was bankrupted. Instead a three story building designed by Charles Hartcourt Masters was designed and built in 1795-6. The "hotel" contained rooms for drinking tea, coffee and playing cards.
The special exhibition on display while we were there was one "Canaletto & Pleasure Garden". The exhibition features paintings by Canaletto , the two main pieces are "View of the Grand Walk, Vauxhall Gardens" & "Interior of the Rotunda, Ranelagh". The Holburne Building was also a gateway to Sydney Gardens where Jane Austen once walked. Historically, Sir William Holburne was an officer of the flag ship of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, The Kent in 1747. Anyway, after spending a good two hours in the gallery it was STILL raining outside, so Steve and I ventured back to our hotel for an afternoon NAP! ;o)
A couple of hours later, feeling more refreshed we looked out of our hotel window - Nope still wet and raining. Mmm, we decided just to go for a walk and look around town. We passed the Jane Austen Centre. Jane Austen was of course Bath's most well recognised resident. She lived in Bath from 1801-1806 which she apparently disliked passionately. Jane Austen is of course best known for her works of "Pride & Prejudice", "Sense & Sensibility" and "Emma". We found our way up the road to the "Circus" which is a prime example of Georgian architecture in BATH, the building of these houses began in 1754 and completed in 1768. The buildings in Bath are really quite amazing, firstly in architecture and secondly in age. There are a number of art galleries to visit if you have the time or have the patience to take in the art, as well as a number of museums to waste time in as well. ;o) On our way back down towards the centre of town we passed the New Theatre Royal.
The New Theatre Royal is over 200 years old, it was built in 1720 and is a Grade 2 listed building with Georgian Architecture and it plays host to several festivals during the year including the Shakespeare Festival & International Puppet Festival. We made our way past this interesting looking theatre with our stomachs on our minds, stopped for dinner at TGI Fridays with several cocktails to follow! *giggles*... As you can imagine we stumbled our way back to our hotel room to sleep and take on Day 2 of our BATH Tour!
