Gallivanting through the Cotswolds

This morning, we bid fond farewell to Maria at the Villa Claudia in Bath.

I found her to be rather entertaining in that she was obviously Italian, but had a British-Italian accent which brought a smile to my face.  She and her husband made the breakfast croissants at night, and let me just say that the smell of fresh baking croissants wafting into the room is quite a pleasant experience!

Our adventures for the day began with a visit to the National Trust, Lacock, which includes an Abbey, the grounds that it stands upon, and the small village of Lacock.

We decided to begin our tour by heading directly to the Abbey.

As you can see from the photos, the weather was perfect, boasting bright blue skies, and the trees were just beginning to bud. 

Apparently parts of this historic abbey were used in the filming of Harry Potter as well as a few other feature films.  Amy, being a huge Harry Potter fan herself, was actually a bit excited that we had stumbled upon this place. 

 I, on the other hand, am not a Harry Potter fan, but that didn't lessen my enthusiasm regarding exploring its fascinating history.

This Abbey was founded by Ela of Salisbury, who is also credited with building the grand Salisbury Cathedral.  She founded Lacock Abbey in memory of her late husband, William Longesepee, and she became the first abbess of this Abbey, spending her final days within these walls.

In 1540, William Sharington bought the Abbey at the time that King Henry VIII had proclaimed the Dissolution of such religious structures.  

Sharington converted the upstairs of the Abbey into a family home.  The church, however, was destroyed and the stones were used to build the bakery, brewhouse and stables on the grounds. 

It remains the earliest country house brewery to survive in England.

The cloister, itself, is one of the most complete survivals of a medieval nunnery in England as well.
In one of the small lower rooms, there is a copy of the Brito Book, having been scribed in the mid-1300s.  It stands under glass to preserve it.

In 1800, Lacock was inherited by William Henry Fox Talbot, who proceeded to have the rooms updated according to the Victorian Era.

In the corner of the structure stands a turret with a round room that held important documents, one of which was a copy of the Magna Carta that had been issued in 1225 by King Henry II. It had been sent to William Longespee, the husband of the founder of the Abbey, and had been kept in safekeeping in this tower every since.  

One can tell by the entrance of the room with its thick, sturdy door, that it was designed for protection of valuables.

There were many features to the former abbey that showed that it had truly been a loving home to Talbot.  

I found the tablecloth to be amusing.

I was hoping to find a replica in the gift shop, because Marty never seem to know where the silverware is placed, but, unfortunately, I had no luck in finding one.

In the back of the house stands a grand room with an adorned vaulted ceiling as well as interesting statuary placed along the walls.

The figurines were actually formed from clay, making them extremely unique, and there apparently was a story behind every single on in the room, but I'll spare you those details.

The room also held a huge fireplace.

Talbot was certainly an interesting man, having a passion for chemistry as well as math.

His daughters were extremely talented artists, and Talbot, himself, had the desire to create beauty. As a result, he is actually credited for discovery the first negative in film developing.

People credit Daguerre for that accomplishment, but what really happened is that Talbot never applied for the patent, and so, he never received the credit.

There was a small museum set up to Talbot's passion for photography, in a building on the grounds.

Having sufficiently satisfied our interest in the Abbey, we walked around the grounds for a bit.

You have to admit, this certainly was a unique National Trust site to visit!

From here, we headed to Dyrham Park, which is actually has an ancient deer park on the premises, complete with surviving deer!  We did manage to spy some on our way out of the grounds as were were leaving.

This manor home boasts one of the best surviving Baroque interiors in England.  The National Trust purchased it over 50 years in order to preserve the history and beauty of this building and surrounding grounds. 

Rather than go into a lot of detail, I'll just post a few photos for you to enjoy.

Marty couldn't resist that selfie!

By now, it was nearly four o'clock, so we decided to hop on the bus for the long ride up the road to the parking lot rather than walk.

As luck would have it, the deer were right near the roadway, but, unfortunately, this is the best photo that I could capture:

We were obviously the "odd man out" on the bus, with Amy winning the award for the youngest person.

Come to think of it, she just might have been the youngest person anywhere near the manor house!  Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind hanging with the more "mature" crowd!

We headed out on the road to a National Trust Village called Bibury.  It had been written up in a few magazines as being a "must see", and it was on our way to our next B&B, so why not stop?

Getting there was a bit tricky, with lots of round about directions from the GPS, and, at one point, Marty took the wrong exit from a roundabout.  We immediately noticed the error, and as Amy was suggesting that he just turn around at the upcoming roundabout, classical music began to stream into the car.  We were all a bit startled by that. The timing was impeccable.

Then, within short time, while traveling down a very narrow country lane, the theme from Downton Abbey began playing.  Now, I ask, what are the chances of that? Here we were, driving through an area where many of the scenes of Downton were filmed, and the theme song begins playing!

I couldn't have planned it better if I had tried!

We finally managed to find the village, and although Amy and Marty seemed a bit disappointed, I could see the charm that was mentioned in the articles that I had read.

And where else are you going to find a pheasant so willing to plump his feathers as if showing off?

By this time, the sun was setting, so we headed out to Bourton-on-the-Water where we checked into the MouseTrap B&B Inn.  Amy immediately noticed that the description and photos that are online did NOT resemble the rooms we were given. 

Amy is in the main building, above the bar, and I hear it is noisy.  We are on ground level, away from the bar, and the internet is horrid.  It has taken me nearly 3 hours to complete this blog.  So, if you don't see one tomorrow night, you'll know that I just couldn't take the frustration anymore.

All in all, we had a grand day with lovely weather.  Marty did the driving while Amy did the directing, and I sat in the back seat, trying NOT to be a back seat driver.

I do believe I lapsed twice in the course of a day.  I'd say that's probably better than what most would manage, don't you think?

Yes....it certainly was an eventful and fun day.  Hopefully you will hear from me tomorrow!

Gallivanting Through Bath

We did out fair share of gallivanting through this fair city today, and my feet are certainly feeling it tonight!

We awoke to beautiful blue skies as you can see in this view from our bedroom window.

And here you can actually see Bath Abbey in the middle of this photo in the distance.

I had picked Villa Claudia because of it convenient location to the city, about a 20 minute walk.

Today, we actually made the walk twice, as well as hiking all over the city, which might explain why my feet aren't happy!

We began the day with a lovely breakfast, then headed into Bath to attend Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church.

The views along the way were stunning.

The church itself had been bombed during the second World War, but I was told by a local that the Irish community had made the repairs to the West Wing in six days.

It stands majestically along the River Avon, and one would never know by looking at its exterior that it had been partially demolished at one time.

The interior had just received a make over with new gold gilding applied to add to the beauty.

It truly was amazing. 

After the service, we headed towards the Roman Baths which had been on our list of interesting things to see.  

These baths are one of the best preserved Roman remains in the world.  This thermal spa continues to supply water at a temperature of 46 degrees Centigrade every day.

 A stone among the artifacts date this geologic wonder bag to AD70.  We learned a lot of history about the place via personal audio devices and we actually spent a couple of hours exploring the grounds of this amazing historical site. 

The pools are lined with the original lead that was used when the Romans built them.

Statues of Roman Gods adorn the upper part of the main bath.  

There is a pump room attached to the complex where one can enjoy a taste of the waters

but we thought we'd pass on that idea.

Directly across from the Baths is Bath Abbey.

and, actually, Marty was able to take this photo of the three of us, while we were actually on the top level of the Roman Baths, with the Abbey in the background.

You can get a feeling for the massive size of the structure from this photo of Marty standing outside the door.

We never did manage to get inside for a peek, as the hours were limited due to daily services.

We hiked to the Royal Circus

then onto the Royal Crescent, which was built in 1767 as a Royal Residence.

where Marty managed to get a photo of all three of us standing in front. 

We traveled through Victoria Gardens

exiting at the Lion's gate

next to which stands a War memorial with the names of the many Bath casualties from World War I, World War II, and present day conflicts.

Our walk around town offered some interesting architecture as you can see by these photos.

And, now for a bit of a humorous story.  When we purchased the tickets for the Roman Baths,  we had the opportunity to purchase a "group" ticket which gave us entry into two other museums:  the Victoria Art Museum as well as one other.  I had been particularly interested in seeing the No 2 Crescent museum, which I mistakenly took as being the "other" museum.  In all fairness, the attendant did say that the third museum was the History of Fashion museum, but I had thought that was contained in the #2 Crescent Museum, and I did mention my interest in the latter several times.  But she never corrected my error, and we soon found out that the ticket was for a venue that wasn't what I had expected or planned.   We never did see the #2 Crescent Museum, and I was pretty ticked that I had spent extra money for a museum of which Amy and Marty were definitely NOT interested in seeing,  Plus, it was off the beaten track, and our feet were getting pretty tired.

So, we decided to compromise and at least see the Victoria Art museum so that we could reap SOME of the rewards of the extra money we had put out.

I noticed that no one actually asked to see our tickets and we were given free roam of the floor that held art throughout the years in a gallery.

Among the collection was this famous painting of Henry VIII from 1567 

and this Adoration of the Magi dating from 1460

I was amazed at the richness of the colors that still held in these fine pieces of art so many centuries later. 

Then there was this painting that reminded me so much of our dog, Buster, from years past.    

It really captured my heart. 

Marty caught me resting my feet awhile in front of a statue of a woman holding a lamb.

I was still feeling a little ticked that we had put out that extra money for no reason, when Marty brought to my attention that there was a special exhibit in the downstairs gallery that required the ticket for admittance.

"Well, let's do it!" I explained, filled with the satisfaction of knowing that the ticket would not be wasted.

We showed the ticket to the attendant, who marked our admittance, and we entered the exhibition.

And, here are two examples of what we saw: 

This one was entitled, "The Smell of Feet"

And, here you see, simply:  "Feet"

Well, that was certainly worth that extra money put out, don't you think?

At the risk of offending someone, I'll refrain from critiquing them.

Dinner was at the Huntsman which I had reserved prior to leaving for our trip.

The interior was very quaint and the staff was quite attentive and friendly.

And, as you can see, these two were certainly happy with the draft choices.

Dinner was, once again, excellent, and we headed back to our room, on foot, enjoying the night beauty of Bath.

Marty keeps joking that we are going to go back tomorrow to tour the Museum of Fashion, but I can guarantee you that won't be happening.

We will be moving on, and although I did enjoy our time spent here, I really am hoping for a more relaxing environment without the crowds of people whom we had to maneuver through today.

So goodnight for now.  I need to recoup for tomorrow!