Bath

Mom and I have spent the past few days in Bath, a primarily Georgian city (1700s) with Roman ruins. Bath has the only natural hot springs in Great Britain, and the Romans discovered this in the 1st century AD. They built a large complex of baths using the hot springs. Today, you can tour these remains, which we did. Much of the original Roman architecture is intact. There is also a new spa that is separate, which also uses water from the hot springs.

The Great Bath, from up above. Green is the water's natural color.

The Bath Abbey.

Hot springs overflow, used since the 1st century.

The Great Bath, the largest of several baths in the complex.

Mom.

Mom and me.

Me.

We also went on a tour of the city of Bath, most of which was built in the 1700s. The architecture is very uniform and beautiful, and was created from limestone mined nearby. It is Palladian style, and the city was largely designed by one architect, John Wood, and his son.

A building along the Pulteney bridge that is in need of a bit of help.

The Pulteney bridge with the river Avon beneath it. It was built to look like the Rialto bridge in Venice.

The Royal Crescent, a series of houses and flats that are incredibly expensive. Built in 1770.

One end of the Royal Crescent. The stone becomes dirty over time and must be cleaned.

A theater in Bath. 

Mom in front of a hotel on the river Avon (sadly not ours).

Winchcombe and the Cotswolds

We've spent the past few days in the Cotswolds, which are essentially a range of hills and farmland in southwestern and west-central England. There are many small towns in the Cotswolds, and we've stayed in one called Winchcombe. It is a lovely countryside village with approximately 4,500 people. Originally, most people in the area did farming and raised sheep for wool, but now there's obviously a variety of types of work. The pace here is much slower and more relaxed than London, so we have just been doing lots of wandering and some shopping.

Most of the houses are a specific style and made of stone, as shown here. They are unlike anything I've ever seen in the states, and are very beautiful.

This evening, we actually met someone who builds these stone houses. He is the one in charge of laying the stone. Sometimes, the builders simply receive large blocks of it, which they must then cut themselves! All of the new houses are built to look like the old ones, some of which date back to the 13th century.

Earlier today, we did a short 5-mile day hike just outside of town. We walked through fields to get to a burial site from the early Neolithic period called Belas Knap. It is approximately 5,500 years old, or dates back to between 3,600-3,500 BCE. We were not initially planning to do the hike, but one of the archaeologists who worked on the site actually stayed at the same bed and breakfast we did, and she insisted that we see it. 

The walk was fairly wet, as it was raining on and off the entire time. Fortunately, being Seattlites, we are quite accustomed to rain. 

The footpath up to Belas Knap. Perhaps not the best trail signage I've ever seen...

We were prepared for rain.

Winchcombe from above. This was one of the less rainy portions of the trip!

Mom and me in front of Belas Knap, the burial mound.

Mom at one of the entrances to Belas Knap. The mound wasn't completely hollow, but it did have a few entrances. These were excavated in the 1800s.

The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace

I have seen so many diamonds the past two days. With the queen's Diamond Jubilee this year (celebrating her 60 years on the throne), it seems as if every historic site in London is showcasing as many diamonds as possible.

Yesterday, we went to the Tower of London. We saw traitor's gate, where Anne Boleyn and others entered the Tower to be imprisoned. We wandered through the various towers within the complex, where prisoners were kept. Many prisoners carved messages on the walls, which have been preserved. Finally, we saw the crown jewels, including the one currently used by the queen. They were magnificent. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures inside the exhibits, but I took some outside.

The Tower of London.

Traitor's gate. 

The part of the complex that holds the crown jewels.

Mom and me with the London bridge in the background.

Today, we went to Buckingham Palace and saw the State Rooms. It was very crowded but definitely worth the trip! Each room had beautiful art--paintings, sculpture, porcelain vases, furniture, etc. It is impossible to explain the magnitude, and of course no pictures were allowed on the inside. But here are some of the outside.

Front of the palace.

In the back of the palace.

Arrival in London and the Houses of Parliament

We arrived in London two days ago in the late morning. It took us quite awhile to get to our hotel in Kensington via the Underground, and so did not do a whole lot. We did, though, wander around the Kensington gardens and Hyde Park, as well as scope out the shopping on Kensington High Street.

Yesterday, we saw the Houses of Parliament--especially fascinating for a student of politics like myself! We started off in the Royal Robing room, where the queen puts on her robe and crown once per year to officially open Parliament. This part of Westminster Palace was rebuilt during Queen Victoria's reign, and is absolutely gorgeous. Everything is either dark wood, covered in gold, or beautiful portraits. After that is the Royal Gallery, with portraits of various monarchs. The queen also walks through here on her annual visit to Parliament, en route to the House of Lords. The House of Lords is also exquisite, with loads of gold (especially on the queen's throne!). The queen gives a sort of state of the union speech here each year. The rest of the year, the members of the House of Lords meet here to discuss various bills and debate issues.

After this, we entered the House of Commons. According to our guide Sally, "This is where the true politicking happens." There is no more gold--just wood. It is much less lavishly decorated than the other areas. Here, the elected members of Parliament meet (these are the career politicians, rather than the Lords, for whom their role in government is a side job), also to debate bills and issues. The room is much too small for the 650 members of the House of Commons. This was purposeful. The room was rebuilt after London was bombed during World War II. Winston Churchill helped design it, and required that the room be small because he wanted politics to be "hot and passionate," and believed that the size of the room would shape the politics. It is also in this room that one per week for half an hour, members of the House of Commons get to ask the Prime Minister any questions they want. The Prime Minister has to try to answer these questions the best he can. The event is televised, and according to our guide, quite interesting and dramatic.

After the tour of Parliament, we were fairly tired and still feeling jet lagged, so we just wandered around for awhile and did a bit of shopping.

Me with Westminster Palace (the Houses of Parliament) in the background.

Big Ben.

The queen's entrance to Westminster Palace. It is only used once per year, in May.

Packing and departure

The past few days have been a flurry of laundry and packing. I arrived home from Seattle/my summer job with only 6 days to do ALL of my laundry from the summer (the dryer at the house I lived this summer had broken). I also had various appointments and duties before I left. Therefore I was extremely busy and a bit stressed out (I apologize to the friends back home I didn't get to see before I left!).

Somehow, though, I managed to get it all done and pack everything I will need for the entire year into a suitcase and my Kelty backpack. Most of what I packed is pretty standard, except for a few of my old prom dresses (never thought I'd use those again...). Other students who studied at Oxford in years past told me that fancy dresses are a must because of formal dinners and events.

My flight leaves Seattle around 1 p.m. today, and then I have a layover in Washington D.C. I will arrive in London tomorrow around 10 a.m. My mom and I will sight-see in London for a few days, and then begin a tour of Southwestern England. I will post further updates upon arrival in the U.K.!

Everything I'm taking. It doesn't seem like much!

At my house with my longtime best friend (9 years!) and summer housemate Liz. I will miss her so much!