Brent Cyclists and David had organised another bike ride out of London and I join again. And this time Ann joined us as well She only started cycling after she moved to London so it was great that she was now up for trying something longer.
The weather looked decent (typical London weather – it wasn’t really sunny or really cloudy but somewhere in between that made it really comfortable for a bike ride).

Ann, Chris and I took the tube to North Harrow were we met the other cyclists. We were a group of 12 in total as we headed off into the suburban sprawl of north west London.

We mostly drove on quiet streets and through a couple of green areas with more or less clever ways of making us get of the bikes and duck, crawl or lift our bikes over obstacles.

We also went along the canal and through the lovely Langley Park.

We were getting hungry as we got Windsor on the horizon. With the goal in sight we made a last stride to our designated pub in Windsor for a well deserved meal and a pint. Ann was reaching her limits but for a first bike excursion 32 km is very impressive.

After the refueling the rest of us continued back more or less in the direction we came. With a stop for tea (and ice cream) in Langley Park. Before making it back to Uxbridge were most of jumped on the tube to take us home.

Another nice ride with the people from Brent and Harrow.

Head over and read Ann’s account of the trip.

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

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 Kings 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 Natures 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.

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.

My cousin Martin had moved to London four weeks earlier so I visited him and we did some sightseeing together. Here we are in front of Buckingham Palace where the queen lives.

London greeted us with nice weather and we had a couple of nice days getting familiar with the city. I stayed in London for three days. It’s my third visit to London but the first time I’ve really like and enjoyed London. I’m looking forward to exploring more of it with Ann