Baths in Bath

Hi Everyone!

Like any good regency novel, a trip to the countryside simply couldn’t be complete with a stop in Bath. As you can see, mom and mumma Bailey are getting on very well!

Our first top was to the Roman Baths. This hot spring was believed to be a gift from the Goddess Minerva. So they built a temple for her. Additionally, the waters were thought to have healing powers. People of all sexes and social statuses came to the bath in a rather egalitarian fashion actually, to benefit from the healing powers of the mineral water. Bold move for them because this water is SMELLY.

We made a wish in one of the ponds, with me being the only one to actually make it into the center! I had to tell you because we all know how I lack all sense of hand eye coordination.

Also, I could not get over how smart they were to create heated floors in the roman times. They created these little columns and then laid cement and then tiles across the top. Then they would light a fire on the bottom layer, and the heat would move throughout the floor between the columns and rise to heat the flooring laid above it.

At the end you can actually try some of the magical spring water….I think my face says it all.

We followed up the roman baths with a walk around the Bath Abbey. Here are a few snapshots. Just let me know when you're tired of looking at Jesus ;), otherwise be prepared for lots of church pictures on this road trip, they're everywhere lol!

Afterwards we went to the Pulteney bridge.

Then we went to the residential homes of Bath. Look familiar? That’s because this location was featured both in Downtown Abbey and The Duchess.

Also, Jes and I accidentally took a picture that mirrored mom and mumma Bailey. I think we’ve been spending a lot of time with each other or something 😉

We found this cute and quirky bookshop that served free tea and coffee! Talk about quality service. Mumma Bailey read us The Last Hedgehog and Jes read us All My Friends Are Dead. The quirk, dry humor had us belly laughing and this bookshop did not have peace until we left.

Then mom really wanted to go to the Jane Austen museum. That actually was a total bust, since Jane only stayed in that house in Bath for two months. However, Jes and I had a lot of fun messing around with the props (which we were allowed to touch) and writing each other letters with calligraphy pens. 

Mumma Bailey didn’t feel like walking around the museum but looks like she had just as fun on the outside too!

We did a lot of walking, so we rested before dinner. The two mom were totally being silly and watching the people below. They were like our very own neighborhood watch program hehe. Or just nosey mums. (let’s go with the latter – oh and my ears will probably be boxed when they read this but TOTALLY worth it, you’re welcome family).

Jes had her heart set on this gelato shop, so we were all very excited when we found out that it was still open after dinner! The only think is, the seagulls would try to steal food from us. So we had to protect our precious ice cream from those treat thieves. Here is Jes’ protective stance.

If you think that I’m eating my way through England, I totally am and I’m enjoying every bite! Don’t mind me when I come back to the US fat and happy 😊, plus I know you all love me unconditionally (tbd August first 😉). Got to go now, about to take a luxurious bath in Bath – and yes I’m totally doing it just so that I can say that hehehe. 

Love you guys,

Carolyn

Bollocks to Brexit

Hi guys,

After a good sleep and checking up on my ponies this morning the four of us went on a quick walk to Haresfield Beacon Field to find the topography map and get a good look at Wales.

Then we went into Stroud, which was celebrating its 20^th anniversary for their farmers market. 

Jes went up to some protesters and asked if we could get two stickers that said “Bollocks to Brexit” and we proudly marched around with our stickers on all day. Well, we marched with our stickers on until this grumpy old man and woman walked up to me going “Have you no shame!” and the woman went “Truly shameless walking around like that!” and continued on in my face saying “What were you thinking going out with words like that about Brexit?!” Guys, you know me, I’m always one for a quick retort and not one to ever bite my tongue. And yet here I was totally thrown for a loop and speechless. I was so shocked, and then I couldn’t really figure out what they were so riled up about until I heard the word Brexit. By this time my mom and Jes had realized what had happened, and Jes came up and physically removed me from the situation, while the grumpy old couple carried on with their day.

We all know that after the shock passes in a situation you didn't react to, well, you’re pissed and wishing you had given you're two cents in with lots of colorful words. Well, let’s just say that sticker was proudly and loudly worn for the rest of the day lol. I was just daring for someone to say something because if it happened again I was so ready with an arsenal of perfect retorts (which of course never got used that day…murphy’s law). Our mums were very supportive of our freedom of speech rights though!

Hilariously while I sat there stewing in anger, we had this group of hippies following us around singing and drumming for world peace. I think the universe was trying to send me a message. These hippies were a one song wonder, and let me tell you boy did that tune get caught in our heads. I could not get rid of it for the life of me, the four of us were humming it all day. They seemed to be following us throughout the town and even marched past our window when we went to a café for lunch. Have I raved about the food here enough? Because again, this meal was so fresh and yummy, everyone got quiches while I got a spiced chutney and cheddar toastie.

We then went a bit further away to Cirencester. Here we explored the local town shops and I found this absolutely perfect sign…alas did not have enough room for it in my backpack, but I’m sure you all will appreciate this picture.

Also, my nephew Ayaan is literally my favorite two year old on the planet. When he was a baby I saw him every week, and even when I went to law school, we facetimed often or met up at the aquarium or kids museum when I had a break. Well, his mom sent me a message saying that he has a toy phone and often “calls” or “tests” me (x’s are hard). He also tells people “Aisha is working in London with Peppa pig.” I laughed so hard when I read that message from his mother and then we happened upon this Peppa pig book in town. I simply had to take a picture and send it to him saying “Aisha misses you in London with Peppa pig.” Now this child totally believes I am working with Peppa pig. Also, mom says that they should make a Peppa pig goes to law school book so that Ayaan can actually understand what I do, but I think that I can just be the cool aunt that works with Peppa pig for forever…I feel like I’ll get major bonus points with the preschoolers.

We visited the abbey in Cirencester which had Ann Boleyn's cup. It was not very special or ornate so I didn’t take a picture of it, but can say that I’ve seen it! However the abbey itself was very pretty.

This podium was from the 1200s, which is crazy because I honestly don't think anything we've made today will last remotely that long. 

Jes is always good at planning and made sure we snagged donuts from the farmers market earlier in the day. So after walking around the cathedral we took a break in the park to eat our sweet treats! Here’s our park view (the donuts were inhaled on my part well before I even thought to take a picture).

On our way out of the town we found tallest yew hedge in the UK! Isn't this absolutely mad. 

With very full bellies, we made our way home to my ponies. I’m going to be so sad to leave, but also so excited for the adventures to come!

Lots of love,

Carolyn

Stroud

Hi Guys!

Today was a big driving day. Well not exactly for me, because not only am I hopeless with this whole opposite side of the road thing, I also never learned how to drive a manual car. Trust me, it's the first thing I'm going to learn how to do when I get home...well maybe not first, since I've got a pesky little thing called law school, but definitely second! 

We took a taxi to meet Jes, which took about an hour and a half. Then hopped into a car for another 4 hours to get to Stroud, Jes' hometown. All I can say was my butt was so sore from sitting that long! I was nice and let mom sit in the front like the good daughter I am. But I can't complain too much because we had some epic car-eoke where even mom sang along! I know!!!

We made it to Stroud and the first thing we did was meet Mumma Bailey (Jes' mom) at the local ice cream shop. Here they have a field called the Common, where it's literally nationally owned land and you can let your cattle and horses graze freely. Usually we learn in school that the problem of the commons is a bad thing, because then nobody takes care of it or that it get's used up too fast because people get greedy. Apparently that's not really a thing here. Small town life? Also, a little bit weird to eat ice cream next to cows. But trust me when I say that was the freshest ice cream I have ever had. I fear that I'm doomed and will never eat ice cream again when I get home! (Weeeelllll maybe not never, since I said the same thing when I went to Italy and yet my fridge was fully stocked with dairy deliciousness both law school semesters.)

After our ice cream we walked around Stroud on a quintessentially English path. Mom was obsessing over the flowers and the English gardens that everyone had, while I couldn't get over the thatched roofs. I mean it's a roof made of straw! How odd. But Mumma Bailey said that they only have to get replaced every 20 years, which already beats the tiles that mom had to replace on our roof back in LA. 

This is Jes always being half a mile ahead of us on the walk. She doesn't know about leisurely strolls, despite my best efforts to teach her.

We are making faces because the moms keep stopping our walk to talk about plants. I think they've already totally bonded only two hours into this road trip. This could prove to be a very dangerous combo, since moms always have the most ammunition against their daughters...

Obviously as you see in this photograph, none of our national secrets were spilled. Got about a week left for that to happen. Wish me luck, and mom if you're reading this, please keep the embarrassing stories to a minimum yeah? Well, actually there's probably not that many since I'm the perfect child ;)

I don't think there will ever be a time when I'm not totally excited by farm animals, and there are lots of farm animals here. Sheep, cows, HORSES. It may not smell the best, but let me tell you, it's just so exciting! I'm like a little child and run up to the gate and call out the them. So far, only the cows took the bait with my mooing...gotta work on by bhaaas and neighs.

We walked all the way to Frampton canal. From our viewpoint you could see Wales off to the left but it was too far to get a good shot on camera. The water didn't look too bad, as there were people paddle boarding and leisurely laying on their houseboats.

We ended our walk at the pub where we went for dinner. The food was AMAZING. I'm not exaggerating, mom got minted lamb on top of mash. I'm not crazy about lamb, but I almost stole her dish it was that good and so fresh. Here they make mashed potatoes and mix it with cabbages, which sounds odd but is really typical British food and way tastier than expected. However the best part of her dish was the gravy, it was this rich Sherry lamb broth sauce that was "rounded and had depth." (So says Mumma Bailey). Honestly, it was good and I stole more bites from my mom than I'll probably admit to. Not that my meal wasn't equally good, I had chicken and brie sandwich with homemade jam. So, yummy. If I thought the food in London was fresh, the food here absolutely blew me away. 

However, the very best part of the day was realizing that I'm staying with PONIES. Oh my god guys, I'm in 7th heaven. We are living on a side house in a farm and the hosts were so kind to let me meet their ponies. My whole day was made! Literally I never wanted to leave. The kids were telling me all about their competitions. They actually have a British version of western games (which I totally would have done had I had that option back at home!). Gymkhana is what it's called over here. The kids also get to take their horses out and on the rolling hills and race them home across the commons. 

I wonder if these kids know how fabulous their lives are. I'm trying not to be too jealous, but I am definitely pretending that I live here and that these are my ponies that I get to ride and take care of and that's my ranch backyard. Maybe after a few years at a firm I can get a little horse property with a ring. Life goals am I right? 

Getting ready for lots of silly adventures. 

Love you all,

Carolyn

Westminster Abbey And Windsor Castle

Hi guys!

Today was a day of W's. Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle. I actually woke up early today, because we had a lot of ground to cover, I know, I was up by 8 am. Oh the horror of getting up early on vacation!

Westminster Abbey was nice, but so crowded that it took away the magic of someplace special like that. St. Margaret's church is right next to it, and while we were waiting in line I popped in there and actually liked it way better, it had the right feel of good energy with a bit of crispiness in the air.

You can't take pictures inside the church, but it was exactly what you'd expect to see. Lots of graves of kings and queens, the famous unknown fallen soldier grave that all the princesses leave their wedding bouquets on top of, golden alters, stained glass windows. It was beautiful. I did get to walk the coronation walk! I pretended that I was getting knighted there. Yes, I realize I'm a girl and a coronation is about becoming king or queen, but being a knight sounds way cooler and being royalty sounds like too many rules.

Just embracing the public transportation life, mom and I caught the train to Windsor station and walked to the castle. Between Kensington and Windsor, this castle is totally where I would want to be. It was way fancier and nicer. I actually got to see some very famous portraits of Queen Victoria and Albert and Henry VII. I never ceased to be amazed when I get to see something in real life that I only saw pictures of for years in history books and university lessons. Every time I'm like, woah, this is right there. Especially if it was an art piece that I had to write about or analyze, because that means I stared at it for hours picking apart why the placement of the hands resembled power and humility, when in all reality it's probably just because the painter wanted it that way or the person simply was standing that way and no thought went into it at all but I had to come up with 500 intellectual words about it. Don't tell my old art history teacher that though, every apple was a metaphor and she'd be horrified if she ever read this.

The town was adorable, so mom and I walked around going into shops here or there and looking around. Sometimes to escape the heat (poor mom burns so easily while I was doing everything to soak up the sun). Sometimes because we just wanted to play around with all the hats!

Did you realize that these little things go for about $200 each! Like what the heck! Who knew a hat could cost so much. They were so silly I couldn't help but make faces. However, I do kind of want to go to a posh British event now and wear one of this hats. We decided the last one that covered half my face was the best look for me, however I'll not look into it too much that my mom liked the one the covered my face the best! Lol! Here I thought I was passable in terms of looks.

To finish off our perfectly sunny day in Windsor, mom and I got gelato and ate our ice cream walking along the Themes River. There were so many swans and ducks out we got so distracted by the birds and didn't end up walking very far. I guess that's being present though right? Or just being a bit lazy after being on our feet all day long.

We had a long journey home but finally made it back around dinner time. The great part about getting home at 8 is that the sun doesn't set until 9:30 so you hardly notice that it's late at all! Seriously, I could use this amount of daylight in LA, it fakes me out all the time here. I'm going to have to say bye to my tiny apartment in Shoreditch. I can't believe this month and a half flew by! Like way faster than I was ever expecting. But I'm also excited for this epic road trip to come with Jes, her mum, and my mom. We've got a bit of a drive tomorrow, so the blog might be short, but stay tuned for all the adventures!

Lots of love,

Carolyn