Where Water Unites Antiquity and Present Day

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long since our last post...having full-time employment has definitely put a slight cramp in my energy to write on the blog! Haha...

In our efforts to continue traveling once a month (though we did miss February, due to job interviews and starting work), last weekend we took the train out to Bath, which is about 1 1/2 hours outside of London. Situated on the River of Avon, Bath was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. Just a bit of background for those who might be interested, according to UNESCO, the inscription "World Heritage Site" is a "designation for places on earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity and as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy." Thus, the city of Bath is included in a long list of 890 infamous natural and cultural sites, such as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, and the Grand Canyon in the USA.

After arriving on an early morning train on Saturday, we settled into our adorable hotel just over the shop-lined Pulteney Bridge (the Redcar Hotel, equipped with a quaint hotel bar, run by the receptionists, and a full English breakfast on the weekends - which, for the record, means eggs, sausage, toast, and beans), and began our explorations. The city of Bath appears to have a bit of something for everyone - the antique and fascinating Roman Baths, a Fashion Museum, the Bath Abbey, cobble-stoned streets lined with high-end boutiques and major retail chains, The Sally Lunn House (the oldest house in bath, dating back to the 1400's, infamous for the Sally Lunn bun, eaten with just about any sweet or salty spread you can imagine), and of course, the modern-day Thermae Spa for pampering spa treatments. A quaint and lovely town, Bath is associated with many historical figures - once home to novelists Jane Austen and Frankenstein's Mary Shelley, astronomer William Herschel (who discovered the planet of Uranus), and frequently visited by Charles Dickens. Even Louis XVII and Napoleon III spent brief exiles here, while American rock and roll musician Eddie Cochran (late 1950's) died here following an automobile accident on his UK tour in 1960.

With the goal of having a relaxing overnight away, we managed to effectively balance site-seeing with leisurely strolls, tea in the Royal Victoria Park, and an hour soak in the Thermae Bath Spa on Sunday morning, before we boarded the London-bound train to head home. Fortunate to have an entire weekend of sunshine, Bath was the perfect weekend escape! Below are some of our favorite photos, with a bit of history to go along with them....

The Roman Baths
Built by the Romans in the town once known as Aquae Sulis (the "waters of Sulis"), the Roman Bath complex was built over the course of 300 years. Home to various hot, warm, and cold baths for public use (at that time), these structures were built around natural hot springs that continue to exist and pump warm water today. With a gorgeous blue sky, we were fortunate enough to capture some amazing reflections of the architecture in the Bath waters....

Overlooking the River Avon

The Quaint Shops and Restaurants

Lounging with a cup of afternoon tea in the Royal Victoria Park
(Home to 57 acres of outdoor gardens, ponds, and a small golf course)

The Thermae Bath Spa Cross Bath

Fueled by the natural hot springs of the area, the Thermae Bath Spa Cross Bath enables modern-day visitors to lounge in the natural waters (which, are of course, highly chlorinated for hygiene purposes). Capable of holding 12 visitors, we were fortunate enough to have the place to ourselves for the full hour (well, us and the "lifeguard.")

Relaxed and ready to head home, post-bath...

Up next...Bryan's mom Jana and step-dad Brian arrive next Saturday, for a one-week stay in London. Our first family visitors! Very exciting!

-B&B

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." - Loran Eisely

A Different Playbook

October marks the precious yet fleeting overlap of hockey, baseball, basketball, and American football, and this past October in particular is when we packed our bags for London! Many of you know that I am an avid sports fan, and while I would never trade our London adventure for a few sporting events, I have definitely had to adapt to the circumstances. Since Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament is just 2 weeks away, I thought it'd be appropriate to post some of our London sports ruminations...

- In the U.S. over 27 million people play fantasy sports and I am proud to be one of them. If you're not familiar with this growing trend, this is how it works. Basically at the beginning of each season you draft players to a team that you manage, with the potential to trade players with other teams in your league and add/drop players that are still available. You then win or lose based on accumulating certain stats each week. So you're essentially the coach, manager, and GM. I've played with a group of friends since college and thanks to technology have been able to keep playing while in London. Besides not being able to watch most of the actual games, I've been able to compete in my league fairly well. As most fantasy fans will attest to, there's nothing quite as intense as participating in your draft whether it's live or online---a mixture of suspense as you await your pick, combined with the anxiety of being on the clock making your choice...good times. Anyway, our online basketball draft this year turned out to be on the 1st weekend we arrived in London. Since everyone else was in the U.S., the time was set for 7pm CA time....3am London time. So while staying at my cousins (still looking for our flat), I woke up promptly at 3am, and prepared for my draft quietly, in the dark, on the ground, next to the bed, while Brandina was fast asleep 3ft behind me. Two hours later at 5am, my back sore from being hunched over with paper scattered about, I quietly shut down my warm laptop and crawled back into bed, waking up just a few short hours later to continue our search for a place to live. Needless to say, Brandina had little sympathy for me.

- Unless you have a specific sports package here, most NFL games aren't shown in the UK. Some bars show a few games, but that would get expensive, so I spent most of the season watching a few of the "early" games (6pm for us) streaming poorly online on my computer. When the Chargers decidedly made the playoffs though, we planned to go watch the game at this BBQ place called Bodeans with some friends. When we were informed that they canceled their satellite and would be streaming it online onto their big screen, I should've seen the red flag. We opted to stay home, since we could watch the same poor quality on our own computer. A few hours, some beers, a pair of headphones, me in the dark again, and 3 missed field goals later, we begin our mourning process as the Chargers choked again...not sure if it would have been any better had we watched on a quality TV.

Brandina decided to capture the moment

- The Super Bowl is arguably the most watched event in the U.S., and since there are quite a bit of Americans in London, the bar industry has decided to capitalize. We learned the hard way that if you want to watch the Super Bowl somewhere you need to book well in advance. Most restaurants and bars hold big "Super Bowl Events" complete with a cover, drink and food specials, and long lines. Since we waited until a few days before, the only place with space was Planet Hollywood. While we were hoping for something a little less "chainy" it actually ended up working out well. It cost just £5 per person and that included a drink. We were able to snag a table and a good view of the tvs. While there was obvioulsy a large contingent of Americans, I was actually surprised at how many Europeans were there, rooting on "their" teams. Everything seemed pretty normal, until one of the first time-outs, when out of nowhere, these high school cheerleaders began performing in the middle of the restaurant! This was apparently part of the "event," though them falling 3 times as they performed some lifts probably wasn't on the agenda. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not even sure what they were cheering. I don't think they were rooting for a certain team..."Go American Football!" perhaps?? After Brees brought home the ring, we headed home at 3am on a Monday...good thing neither of us was working yet....

- As March Madness looms, I'm disappointed that I don't know anything about the teams this year, but I guess that hasn't stopped Brandina from beating me in the brackets before. I'm even more upset that barring a miracle win in the Pac-10 tournament, my beloved Arizona squad will end the longest NCAA tournament appearances streak at 25...a sad day indeed.

My love of sports isn't restricted by borders, and I am happy about all of the soccer (or football as they call it here) that I can watch in the UK, though I still need to learn the difference between all of the leagues. I also went to my first rugby game a few weeks ago with my cousins and had a great time, though our local team lost in the last second. I still have no idea about cricket, except that it's a good excuse to tailgate for 2 days.

Some quick hitters:

- We're hoping to go to the 49ers/Broncos game here in October, which should actually be a good game between these one-time legendary squads, as they've both rebuilt and are on the up-and-up. Go Niners!

- We'd also love to go to Wimbledon, but those tickets are pretty hard to get.

- There's a rumor that the 2012 Olympics are going to be in London....hmmm.

- Speaking of the Olympics, what a game last night! The US hockey team gave the Canadians quite a scare, forcing OT in the last 24 seconds, while the Canucks won, I think its safe to say the hockey tables are turning...

- Bryan

"I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures." ~Earl Warren

And for my fellow fantasy sports fans...

"Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day. Aren't we all?" ~Vin Scully