The West Country

On Monday of this week I packed up my little day pack (rug sack in pommy) full of necessities for a little trip Westward. My first move was towards the old Roman city of Bath which has been standing for over one and a half thousand years. Also home to massive Cathedrals, prim parklands, the river Avon and the Bath Rugby team, the city of Bath has been world heritage listed so as you walk through the very town centre, the only buildings you can see are made of old stones and spotted with plaques representing past famous residents.

The city was a dream. I dare say it was more Italian than parts of Italy, due entirely to it's fully preserved nature. As a UNESCO world heritage site, the city is void from urban sprawl rendering it a very small city indeed. On an inbound train, the train operator will announce: "Next stop, Bath. One minute until arrival." At this point, a quick look out the window at the grazing cattle and green hills will confirm how small the city really is. Only at the very last minute do you pull into the city. It was exciting to stay in a small scale town like this as most of the places I've visited have been capital cities.

I booked St. Christophers hostel for three nights here in Bath before realizing that I would only need a couple of hours to see the whole city. Nevertheless, it proved to be a good base for further exploration of the region.

I spent the remainder of Monday scouting out the city after having talked with the people at the tourist information centre. The next day, I was fortunate enough to come across a 2 hour free walking tour of the city, provided by the Mayor of Bath's honourable guides who tour for the love of their city (they don't even accept tips). It was a good tour and I felt satisfied with what I'd seen of the city. As the tour did finish quite early, I still had a chance that afternoon to check out the River Avon ('avon' being the old Celtic word for river, hence, river river) and the Bath Rugby grounds.

Sitting on a park bench near the rugby fields, I met an old fella who reccommended visiting the nearbye city of Bristol for something else to do during my three day stay. He said I could make a day trip of it, so that's exactly what I did the next day.

Bristol is also a very old town. Situated near the South-West coast, the town is known in England for it's extensive Maritime history. Here, the jump from wooden sailing boats to metal-hulled motor boats was made by a man called Isambard Brunel who designed the SS Great Britain which he sailed all the way to America. I had a chance to visit that same boat via ferry, as well as an older model of ship named "The Matthew".

On my way around Bristol I also found a massive Cathedral which was built just under a thousand years ago. Inside I found the tomb and remains of English royalty buried on the site in 1444. Nothing like that in Australia.

On my last day in Bath, I took a three hour tour to England's first world heritage listed site, Stonehenge. Upon arrival I found it hard to come to grips with the fact I was actually there. As a younger lad I remember seeing it on a Microsoft Windows background but now I was really here. With the 6 pounds you pay to get in, you receive an included audio guide which tells you all about the mysterious stones.

Fun fact: 'henge' comes from the old English word 'hanging' making Stonehenge 'hanging stones'. The sprawling fields that surround the monument were also mentioned in the audio guide in respect to ancient Celtic burial mounds, alleged UFO sightings and the formation of crop circles.