bath // the city, not the tub

So after mom and dad left last Saturday in the wee hours of the morning, I was feeling pretty sad. I got some things done around my flat - lesson plans, laundry, and cleaning - but I knew the inevitable tears were bound to come. They finally did and I was cheered up by the fact that I was off to BATH the following morning with Ads. I've been wanting to go to Bath since moving here 18 months ago and had always heard wonderful things about the restaurants, the Roman Baths, and the spas they have there nowadays.

We left Sunday morning from Paddington station for a quick train ride to Bath. It takes less than two hours to get there and it goes by in a flash. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel - The Abbey Hotel. After we dropped our things off, we went to walk around the city and find something to eat. As this is England, it started pouring rain out of nowhere and we got completely soaked. We found a nice pub called Pig and Fiddle and had a good lunch. It stopped raining while we were there so we were able to get out and go for a good stroll on our way to the Roman Baths.

          

              

We arrived at the Roman Baths and waited in a short queue to get inside. This really is such a cool place. They believe that the baths date all the way back to 60 A.D. Over thousands of years, people have thought that the water has healing powers. You can't swim in it (or even touch it) now, but at the end of your tour you can drink a cup of it. I'm sick now sooooo…..don't know how effective the 'healing' water is! But it is a very cool place to visit and I would highly recommend!

After visiting the baths, I was ready to try out one of the buns at Sally Lunn's House. This is said to be the oldest house in Bath and it serves buns with sweet and savory toppings. Adam and I both got sweet buns -- mine with cinnamon butter and Adam with dulce de leche. They were both so good and simple!

All those buns and roman baths, made me ready for a nap and a bath! So we went back to rest and relax before heading out for drinks at The Huntsman and dinner at Gascoyne Place. They do live jazz on Sunday nights and the band was incredible! Our food was pretty damn good too. 

On Monday morning, we woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go. Adam's good mate, Phil, is from Bath and was there with his wife Ara and daughter Mae. They took us to Jika Jika for brunch…we enjoyed some really great food and coffee. I got to spend most of the time holding baby Mae (and trying to convince Adam to hold her too - he's never held a baby!)

After our delicious brunch, we all made our way through Bath to the Royal Crescent -- a semi circle of flats/houses/offices which face onto a gorgeous green and has an amazing view of Bath and beyond. 

We strolled around this area for a bit, then went to Picnic coffee for another cuppa. Then we walked down to the River Avon. It's breathtaking…people stroll down the sidewalk and picnic next to the river. I could've stayed down there all day but I had places to be! 

A trip to Bath isn't complete without a little time at the Thermae Bath Spa - a modern day version of the old Roman baths. It's basically a fancy swimming pool, but the best part are the aromatherapy steam rooms. I left feeling very relaxed. 

THERMAE

Bath was such a lovely city! I will definitely try to make my way back there before my time in London is over.

xx
K

mom & dad in london // part 3

On Thursday morning, we all woke up and got ready to go. Mom told me that she and dad wanted to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and then go to Westminster Abbey. Well, I did both just two summers ago when I was here visiting for a few weeks (before my big move). So we all went out together to grab some breakfast at The Kitchen Table, another of my favorite places in West Hampstead.

            

After a great breakfast, we were ready to head towards the palace for the changing of the guard. I've done this once before, and I guess when I did it the first time I didn't realize the whole ceremony behind it. So when we showed up at B Palace, I thought it was fine for us to just stand by the street and wait for the guards to come by and that was that. But after standing around for a good bit, we realized we were missing a whole thing going on inside the gates! I felt terrible for making mom and dad miss it but honestly it was so crowded towards the front of the palace we wouldn't have been able to see anything anyways. But we we were able to get a few good pictures of the guards marching in and out at the beginning and end of the ceremony. It's pretty cool they do this every day from 11 to 12 for tourists to see.

                                        

Once we left the palace, we walked the short distance to Westminster Abbey. I got mom and dad in the queue, and then I left to go get us tickets for Once (the musical). I enjoyed my walk up to Trafalgar Square and down to Covent Garden. Mom and dad loved Westminster and I was happy that they got to do a little exploring on their own. While they were there, I got some work done and ran a few errands.
       
                               

pictures from my walk down charing cross road

They showed back up at my flat at 4 (so proud of them for not getting lost!) and we got ready to go to dinner and our show. Mom and I have always been HUGE fans of the theater and musicals so we were really excited. We had spoken for months about which show to see and finally decided on Once after hearing great reviews for it. I am so happy we chose it in the end; we all loved it - even dad! Before we went to dinner, we took a walk through China Town. We ended up at a tapas restaurant called Jamon Jamon and mom and dad both loved trying Spanish tapas!

date night with mom and dad! 

Friday was a bank holiday in England which means everyone was off work and the tube was super crowded. There were tons of tourists everywhere so I wanted to make sure we had our day planned out properly! Mom wanted to go to Kensington Palace to see the Fashion Rules exhibit. Obviously dad had no interest in looking at a bunch of old gowns worn by Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Diana. So Adam met up with us to take Dad to the V&A Museum while mom and I checked out all the beautiful dresses! Before we went our separate ways, we had lunch at Carluccio's in South Ken.

     

hyde park

glamorous dresses worn by diana and queen elizabeth throughout the years

                                                

the grand staircase in Ken Palace

                                     

the exhibits were exquisite

trying on this funky little mask in the gift shop made me wish i lived in the 1700s

After we left Kensington Palace and Hyde Park, we stopped by Oxford Street and Selfridges so mom and dad could see what it was all about. Per usual, there were a million people around! Mom took pictures of all the crowds because she couldn't believe that so many people were in one place at one time. Selfridges is one of my favorite places in London because I have never seen another department store in the world quite like it. It's basically one little boutique after another after another and it's massive! While we were in there we spotted a men's watch which cost a cool £291,000. You have got to be kidding me. We took the bus back to my apartment so we could ride over Abbey Road.

We had a little while to relax and get ready before our final dinner at Aubaine in Hampstead. I was feeling pretty bummed out that it was our last night together. Time went by WAY too fast! We had a really lovely dinner though and it was the perfect end to our fabulous trip.

our last night together

Okay I'll try not to get too mushy (but I can't make any promises)…

Mom and Dad, I can't thank you both enough for coming across an OCEAN to come be with me for 10 days. I am so grateful for your love and support these last two years as I've taken a journey that none of us really ever imagined I would. Without you guys, I would've never had the courage or strength to make it out here as long as I have. You two are a precious gift in my life and I am so lucky to not only call you my parents, but my friends. I love you both more than you know!

xx

K