In Trips to England on April 10, 2010 by Michael Tagged: bath, england, sommerset, spring, trips
Ann had a some days off for Easter so we decided to go explore the city of Bath 150 km west of London for a couple of days.
Bath is build on a number of geothermal springs which is water from deep beneath the surface being heated and squeezed up through cracks in the limestone underneath Bath where it arrives at the surface at 45 degrees C. Over the course of history different people have used the springs for treatment of all sorts of things.
The picture above shows the layer of history that can be found in Bath. When the Romans occupied England they build a spa around 30-60AD at the site of where the Celt’s before them had worshipped one of their gods. Over 300 years the Romans build a vast complex of bath, spas and temples at the site. After the Romans left the huge complex it got flooded and collapsed and forgotten(!) around the 6th century. You can see the original Roman columns reach about 1½ meters above the water. Below that mark things were covered in rubble and protected above that the locals at later centuries took the material for their use. So literally what is below that line is the foundations, plumbing and structure build nearly 2000 years ago that still leads the water in lead pipes and supports the building above. The Roman Baths were not rediscovered until around 1880 when one of the owners of a house on top of the site complained about getting his basement filled with water. Later the columns and museum was build on top of the Roman remains.
The balcony is at the level of the current street level and in the background of the picture is the Bath Abbey. The abbey also have a long history dating back about 12 centuries, this one is the third church at this site that has been in that place since from 1499.
The city of Bath got a renaissance in the 18th and 19th century when it became fashionable again to go to the spas. John Wood senior and junior were great architects of the time and build a number of world class landmarks like senior’s Circus above or junior’s Royal Cresent below.
While we were in Bath the annual Comedy Festival was going on so we got to see the central square being filled up with red people and a great street theatre called Jane Austen’s Bath Time.
We had a great couple of days exploring this UNESCO World Heritage city. For a more comprehensive description of what we got up to go read Ann’s blog of our day 1, day 2, day 3 and see the video she made :)
In Trips to England on March 4, 2009 by Michael Tagged: ann, cambridge, couchsurfing, england, holiday, spring
While central Europe is still struggling to shed the winter I went to Cambridge to meet Ann. Cambridge is a 50 minutes busride from Stansted airport so we had decided on Cambridge for our weekend together instead of London. It was really great to spend time with Ann again, last time we saw each other was in Denmark for the Christmas holiday. It is the first time we are vacationing together in a place which none of us knew beforehand so we had a good time exploring together.
The atmosphere of Cambridge reminded me a lot about that of Ann Arbor, Michigan where I lived back in 2005/2006. They are about the same size and the university has a very prominent role in the cities. Both places are very green, there is many university students and interesting cafes, restaurants and museums. Both have a size big enough for life but small enough that a bike ride will take you anywhere in less than 20 minutes or less.
Cambridge University includes a number of old and distinguished colleges which in the Oxford and Cambridge meaning of the word is independent institutions within the university where students live, eat and socialize. Below is the Chapel of King s College where we went to Evensong Saturday night.
Another thing I really liked about Cambridge was that it was so bike infested. Every now and then we would experience a near miss when a student, biking as if his life depended on it, would flash by. But I loved it and it added to the cozy atmosphere of the city.
We stayed two nights at a cozy Bed & Breakfast a bit of a walk from the center. The last day we couch surfed with a British/Kiwi couple. We had a great time talking with Lou and Alex, went to a concert, had dinner and got introduced to Nature s home Elucian Islands in Second Life that Lou had just launched the previous week.
It was a very nice weekend I must say but of course the time went by too fast. Next time I see Ann will be for Easter in Malta 
If you are interested in reading more check out her first and second post from the weekend.
PS. For some nice pictures from the Cambridge area in spring check out what Tina omme i London did this weekend.
In Trips to England on November 26, 2008 by Michael Tagged: ann, becky, camden, christmas, friends, jamie, meetin
Last weekend I went to visit Ann in London. It’s really nice to have her closer so we get to see each other more often. It does mean that I dont get the boost of sun a trip to Malta would give to a pale guy like me 
Hopefully we’ll manage to make a trip to Malta for Easter.
In the meantime we enjoyed the sprawl of London. The picture above and below is from the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. As you can see it was a great day for strolling and the market was bustling with people along the almost two miles the road stretches.
London is getting into gear for the Christmas shopping and and there where lights up a lot of places. Here we make our way down Oxford Street, the big shopping street, in a painfully slow tempo. Looking at the city as it slowly sail by makes up for it.
Saturday night we went to Camden Town to meet up with Jamie and Becky who used to live in Prague. They went back to London. (It was Jamie who had advised me on my Scotland itinerary and his parent’s house I stayed at in Glasgow).
Jamie is a folk musician so we went out to hear him jam at a very local bar called The Golden Lion. It was good to see Jamie and Becky again and to hear their take on London. Jamie is at the back of this picture in stripes – this night he was playing violin, flute and guitar.
While I was there I borrowed cousin Martin’s flat which was very appreciated. Ann has a lot more details about the weekend at her blog. The weekend was over fast and I’m now back in Prague.
