2013-06-06 A very short visit to Stonehenge (or Taking the Long Way to Bath)

June 6, 2013 - Thursday

We woke up to another beautiful day weather-wise.  Health-wise, Petros did not feel very well, probably from a lack of sleep and too much good food and assorted beverages.  So, we packed up the car and took off with me at the wheel and Florine as my navigator and "stay on my side of the road" reminder.  She did her job quite well and there was only minor turn errors (on my part) and one roundabout that I had to go all around as I missed the exit the first time around.  So that wasn't too bad, at least for me, but it is possible that I might have confused other drivers with my signalling when I entered and left the roundabouts.

We were headed to Stonehenge on route to Bath.  We got to Stonehenge but it was already crowded with coaches and tourists. The nice thing about Stonehenge is that you get a pretty good view of it as you approach it from the motorway. The parking lot looked like a field of coaches and the road leading to it was jammed.  There were a couple of long queues of people as well. So, here we were at one of the world's most famous landmarks and what did we do?  We took one look at the mass of humanity and machines and decided that a drive by visit was just fine with us.  We had a good look at the stones from the car, and Irene managed to shoot a couple of photos before I pulled over by a side road so that we could program the GPS for our next destination, Bath.

Stonehenge, from a distance

Stonehenge, through a fence

Interesting pattern from the chain link fence gives a whole new look to some of the Stonehenge elements!

Back on to the motorway and on our merry way to Bath.  The drive to Bath was pretty uneventful.  Highway driving is highway driving just about anywhere I suppose.  The drivers were polite and traffic moved at a nice pace.  We slowed down for police camera signs as we were not sure how that worked and where the cameras were located and what they looked like.  It was fairly simple until we got into Bath and had to find a place to park the car.  We followed the P signs along the road and eventually located a big parking lot in the town.  I pulled into the lot and drove around, looking for an available spot.  I went past a parking spot and that's when I gave up - I had enough of the one way streets and chasing after the elusive P signs and driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Petros, who was feeling much better by now, had to park the car for me.  He’s such a good sport.  After we parked, it was off to the parking meter to pay for a ticket.  

Arriving in Bath

Photo of the parking lot sign in case we forget where we parked the car.

Bath has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and has some of the finest architectural sights in Europe.  It also has a compact City Centre, which makes it pretty easy to walk around. We bought a map from a vending machine outside the public toilets and made our way into the heart of the city.  

Bath Elim Pentecostal Church

I thought it was a church, but it houses a Mexican grill.  Not sure what else is in the building.

First item on the agenda was lunch and we found a pub that looked okay.  It was a pretty nice day and sitting outside seemed like a good idea.  So we found a table outside and went in to order our lunch at the bar at the Garrick's Head.  By this time, we were old hands at the order at the bar drill.  We had apple cider, beet salad, liver and onions, beef pie and chicken tenders.

Florine and Petros at the Garrick's Head

Irene at the Garrick's Head

Outside the Garrick's Head

Sign - Garrick's Head

Bust - Garrrick's Head?

The beet salad

The beef pie

The liver and onions

After lunch, we walked over to the Roman Baths and bought tickets which also included admission to the Fashion Museum, located in the Assembly Rooms.  We walked along the Terrace with overlooks the Great Bath and is lined with statues of Roman Governors of Britain, Roman emperors and military leaders.  Bath Abbey is visible outside the baths. 

Bath Abbey

The Roman Baths

Looking up at the dome at the entrance to the Roman Baths

The Great Bath is 1.6 meters deep and has steps leading down on all sides.  We also looked at the Sacred Spring, the heart of the site, where hot water at 46C rises at a rate of 1,170,000 litres a day and had been doing this for thousands of years.  A temple dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a deity with healing powers, was built next to the spring.  We also saw the spring overflow where surplus water not used in the baths flow out through a great drain to the Avon River 400 meters away.  Lead pipes are used to carry hot spa water around the site using gravity flow.  We walked through the museum which had many objects and film projections of Roman characters to interpret scenes of Roman life. 

Bath Abbey from the Roman Baths

The Roman Baths with Bath Abbey behind it

The Roman Baths

The Roman Baths

Petros and Florine at the Roman Baths

One of the many statues around the bath

A re-enactment

Model of what the Baths could have been like in its hey days

Roman Baths

Roman Baths

Roman Baths

Outside the Pump Room

Street

Mime

Assembly Rooms

After that, we left through the gift shop and walked along the street on our way to the Fashion Museum, which is housed in the Assembly Rooms and was about a 10 minute walk away. At the museum, which is housed in the lower level of the Assembly Rooms, we admired the Fifty Fabulous Frocks display, the Dress of the Year collection and Glamour dresses.  There was also a dressing up area where one could try on Victorian dresses.  

After we had our fill of fashionable clothing, we made our way upstairs and admired the Ballroom with its high and beautiful ceiling, the Small Octagon Room, the Great Octagon Room and the Tea Room.  We looked in on the Card Room, which housed a café. 

Florine and a Bath chair

Octagon Room

Ball room

After that, it was time for us to explore a little more of the great Bath outdoors.  We walked to The Circus, the masterpiece of John Wood the Elder with numerous theories to explain its stark originality.  Viewed from the air, it forms the shape of a key, which led to speculation that perhaps it was a Masonic symbol, amongst other theories. The Circus is one of the reasons that Bath was designated a World Heritage Site.  

The Circus

The Circus

After that, we walked to the Royal Crescent, which is one of the world’s best know landmark.  It was built between 1767 and 1775 by John Wood the Younger and contains some 30 houses.  One is the Royal Crescent Hotel at Number 1, and is open to the public. 

Royal Crescent

Royal Crescent

A grey phone booth near the Royal Crescent (we were more used to the ubiquitous red ones

From the Royal Crescent, we crossed Royal Avenue and took a path through the Royal Victoria Park that lead to where our car was parked.  

Royal Victoria Park

Royal Victoria Park

Royal Victoria Park

It was time to drive to Widegates and this time, Petros took the wheel.  That was just as well as the roads got narrower and more curvy as we got to Cornwall.

What we saw on our drive to East Trenean Farm (not bad for photos shot through the window of a moving car)

A bridge that we drove over

Unknown structure that we passed

A tunnel

Country side

It was about a 3 hour drive to East Trenean Farm in Widegates, which is near Looe, on the south coast of Cornwall.  We drove on A and B roads and the M5.  We had to look hard for the farm when we got to Widegates – the sign was small and not very prominent.  

Almost there!

Nice country road

But, we did find the lane that led to the farm and got their just after 7:00 pm.  Tanji and Steve Cork were very welcoming and after Tanji showed us to our cottage, Steve gave us a bottle of Pinot Grigio as a welcome gift.  We got a 2 bedroom cottage, the Water Mill, behind the main farm house. It was very nicely renovated with a sitting room, a dining area and kitchen on the entry level and the 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on the lower level, which had walkouts to the garden.  

East Trenean Farm

East Trenean Farm - main house

East Trenean Farm - path to cottages

The Water Mill Cottage, our accommodation at East Trenean Farm

We got recommendations for a place for dinner from Steve, and he was kind enough to call to make a reservation for us.  He gave us directions to the Blue Plate restaurant and we left right away so we could get there for our 8:00 pm reservation.  The Blue Plate was located in Downderry near the coast, about a 15 minute drive from the farm.  We made it to the restaurant just before 8:00 pm.  

The Blue Plate Restaurant

Petros and Florine with local brews

The restaurant, which specializes in seafood, was quite full.  We shared some bread, spicy olives and Fowey River mussels for our starters.  Petros, Irene and I had the fish of the day and Florine had scallops. We had crème brulee and strawberries and cream for dessert.  

Fowey River mussels

Local strawberries and cream

After dinner, we went for a little walk down a footpath to the beach.  It was a nice evening and quiet on the beach.  After that, we got back into the car and drove back to the farm.

The beach

Where we stayed:  East Trenean Farm, Widegates, Looe, PL13 1QN; 44 15032 40519; Tanji & Steve