Day 02: Stratford-Bath-London

Welcome back to Day 2 of my riveting series, What I Did In Europe.


I somehow managed to awake, on my own accord, quite early in the morning of this day. It was either the ridiculously early sunrise or some overnight build-up of excitement, since this was a feat I have attempted to achieve multiple times in the past 16 years, and have succeeded in none of them. By 6am the sun had accomplished such a high position in the sky as to make one assume it was midday. Anyway did the usual post-waking stuff, found I was an hour early for breakfast, so grabbed my DSLR and headed downstairs and outdoors- oh, but had a chat with the friendly receptionist. Sifting through his Brit accent revealed that the sun had risen at 4.45am, breakfast was at 7.30, and did I sleep well? Unfortunately this translation only took place after said words, but thankfully the humble nod sustained me throughout without cause for too much embarassment. Anyway here're some of the pics I took around the hostel:

Anyway after breakfast (English! Croissant, eggs, 2 cups of coffee [don't ask] and the likes), we bade farewell to the hostel (not really. we just strolled off with our luggage) and boarded the bus to Bath. No, there wasn't a shower in the bus. The Town of Bath. So-called because the Romans built a great bath-not kidding-over there when they conquered the area a long time ago. So they preserved this great public bath where water still flows today (albeit untreated) from the nearby hot spring. The town itself was quite large. Pulling in from afar and elevated ground, one could view much of the town, which scrawled itself down the hills and lay quite neatly at the base. For someone foreign, it seemed quintessentially British to me. Paved roads, river flowing through, streets lined with small shops, an indoor market (where lunch can be got), and of course the hundreds of British folk strolling around was a dead giveaway. Surprisingly there were several Asians about, but the sort who had Brit accents and knew no Chinese.
We first visited some Jane Austen's Centre, showing where she lived and how Bath had impacted her writing. Okaay. Not really a big fan of hers, but interesting nonetheless. Spent about an hour here, then left for the rest of Bath. Harris had an apartment here, but he no longer owns it though. Had a look at it from the back, then the entire troupe ambled to the entrance to the Great Bath. You could tell it was Roman from the start- in fact it was the one place that kinda stuck out and caught your eye the moment you entered town. Archaic, antiqued roman architecture in the middle of a quasi-modern town. Yes, it did tend to stick out.
Indoor tours in the UK, I've found out, is conducted not by a conventional tour guide, but by renting a nifty handphone-like device, which, by pressing numbers denoted on a sign next to whatever attraction you're viewing, would initiate a short monologue, whereby you would then place the device to your ear and nod away attentively. It was thus a strange but common sight to see people stumbling around the museum-cum-exhibit staring at whatever there is to starre at, all the while with this application plastered to the ear. I tried to get a picture of this occurrence, but people were made suspicious. A DSLR and flash tends to do so superbly well. Anyway the Bath was great (pun intended), and well-preserved Roman architecture is really a sight to behold, and one didn't need the 3D models shown off the hanging TVs to imagine the Romans of old walking up the temple steps or making an offering at the sacrificial altar. There were several baths spread over several wings, but the main one was quite magnificent.

and finally: Had free time to wander around, so we guys decided to savour the local delicacies (read: hotdog) and soak in the splendid view(s) from the bridge. You could see the river winding around the gardens, and faintly make out the far-off houses on the hills beyond. Lunch at aforementioned indoor market consisted of ham/bacon sandwich and a Dr. Pepper and took up quite alot of time. Didn't have much left for sightseeing, so just strolled back to the meeting place-pausing occasionally to take shots of the pigeons(shoot bird)-and bought some local ice cream before boarding the bus. We only managed to see a straight minute line of sights, and still wish I had the whole day in Bath to just roam around.


This would be a consistent theme of the trip, as many a retelling of the trip to friends would consist of many an exclamation of "no time!". We did cover ALOT of stuff over the barely 9 days, and both Harris and Teo commented upon arrival that they couldn't believe we accomplished so much in just this number of days- rather, it felt three weeks or more. But I'm not complaining, only I now-as do many others, I know-have the urge to return to London and Paris one day to continue the trip.

Back to the trip! The previous day, Harris and the bus driver were commenting on how absurd it was to travel to Oxford after Bath, and then head to London, since this was absolutely-I inferred from the multitude of exclamations-out of the way, and would only have half an hour in Oxford. The decision was thus to bypass this Oxford place completely and head straight to London. Everyone was in compliance since this would mean we could visit-ta ta ta dahh- Stonehenge! Yay. Sadly the drizzle prevented me from using my DSLR, but got some pics on my Olympus compact. It's with Warran though-long story which I shall narrate further down. Anyway it was great to see this Wonder, albeit oft seen in television or books. In fact this preceding fascination only served to make the occasion that much more meaningful, despite being hampered by rain and a bloody fence.

Then took the long bus ride to London(!). Bus rides were another major theme of the trip. Especially long ones. This literature thing must be rubbing off me, I'm talking in bloody lit essay terminology. Anyway this bus ride included playing those primary school guess-games of murderer and black magic etc etc. Playing murderer with Ms Chia is especially funny. Go try it some time. I think the bus rides were one of the most memorable and bonding experiences of the trip, and I say this with no satirical undertones whatsoever. Really. Playing cards, singing along to songs (FOB, Timberlake, even Michael Jackson) blasted from a handphone, irritating those seated at the front. Hah. Jeremy dubbed us the Backseat Boys, even.

When we got off the bus, Warran realised he had lost his camera. Sadly a search of the bus proved futile. Although I did find the King of Spades under Meiyi's seat. Tsk. Luckily it was only the second day, so I lent Warran my camera, and with an inconceivable and unlikely link to the upper portion of this post, I have just explained why I do not have my camera now.


After dinner at the hostel, Mr Harris brought all of us around central London, via the famous Tube! Here's a nice shot of us on the tube:

As we exited our station, we saw the Big Ben looming just across the street. A general action of whipping-out-my-camera rippled throughout the group, followed by various cries of "Ah **** no battery". Hah. Amateurs. We then walked around central London, skirting around Soho (ahem) and back to Leicester Square station to return to the hostel. Nights in London are quite rowdy (think drunk girls shouting at us), and very crowded (think everyone shouting at everyone). I'll just let the pictures do the talking:

Anyway back to hostel where we fell asleep almost immediately, legs overtired from walking and mind overloaded with sights.