We finally had decent weather today. Mostly clear skies, a bit cool but not windy and, most of all, no rain. It was a Sunday so, even though we got up late, when we sauntered out from our B&B the streets were largely deserted. We thought how pleasant and peaceful Bath is on a Sunday, until around 10am when the busloads of day-trippers showed up.
We wandered around the streets for a bit. We had planned to visit the Abbey but, of course, there were services going on so we couldn't. At 10:30am we joined a big crowd waiting for a free, 2 hour walking tour of Bath, organised by the local tourist bureau. There must have been almost 100 people in the crowd. Fortunately, 4 guides showed up and each took their own group in their own particular direction. It was a shame we didn't do this on the first day as, while it was very interesting, it covered a lot of ground we'd already been over. Still, the guide told us details that were new to us so it wasn't a waste of time.
After the walking tour we went back to Dough for lunch. We shared an antipasto platter to start with, which was very good. We then shared a pizza made with turmeric dough and an eggplant parmigiana. The pizza was tasty but I can't help feeling the various unusual doughs are just a gimmick. Regular dough would have been just as good.
After lunch we visited the local art gallery. The permanent collection was rather small and dull, but they had a special exhibition of drawings and paintings of dragons from various books for children. Mary and I were the only visitors to this exhibition without a least one small child in tow to justify our presence. I still think we enjoyed it more than the various parents did. No Tolkien or Le Guin dragons, but still some that were very good.
Next we got on the hop on-hop off bus that tours around inside the city. A terrible tourist trap but still fun to do as it took us to some places we hadn't been too before. Still, we sat up the top, and the best bit was watching how the driver manoeuvred a double-decker bus around the sharp turns and narrow streets in Bath. A Ferrari very nearly got crumpled.
One of the highlights of our Bath trip came next when, on a whim, we bought Koiugnettes from Maison Georges. These are spirals of rich, buttery pastry with a filling coated with syrup. I had the orange cointreau and Mary had the pistachio. They were divine.
We then went back to our B&B to pack as we are leaving for Brighton early tomorrow. After packing we headed out for an early dinner. We went to the tourist trap that is the Sally Lunn tea shop. We planned to have a light dinner so we each had a Sally Lunn bun (basically a brioche roll) with a topping. Mushrooms on toast for me and something with chicken for Mary. We then spoilt our good intentions by having dessert. Ginger pudding for Mary and apple & pear crumble with custard for me.
Finally we went on the Bizarre Bath comedy walk. It is a mix of stand-up comedy and magic tricks. At one point our guide blind folded himself and lead us along streets, claiming he was following a ley line. Then, for no particular reason, a man rode past on a bicycle with a bag over his head, tooting his horn - following another ley line presumably. Steward (or Stew for short) the toy rabbit also was wrapped in chains, then put in a bag and thrown in the river. However, he was a trained escape artist and bobbed back up to the surface 10 seconds later (how did he do that trick?). The show culminated with a member of the audience been put in stocks, jeered at, having rotten fruit thrown at them (actually just a few rather limp carrots) before having their head cut off. Yours truly was the chosen victim. A hilarious evening.
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