Travelling Austen's England - My Itinerary and Experiences, June, 1997
	This journal tracks my sixteen day journey through England. The trip was made with my friends, Rebecca Davey, Arnessa and Dee Garrett, and Amy Rider. My eternal thanks to them for their companionship, to Bernie Parkin for her asssistance in planning the trip, and to Kathleen Grant and Joan Winsor for their scanning efforts.

Part Three - Windsor and Bath

After six nights in London, we finally headed out to Bath, in Somersetshire. It only took an hour and fifteen minutes to get there, as it is served by an intercity express-type deal, unlike the regional "commuter" lines we'd used to get to Winchester, Salisbury, and Axminster. But a note about training and tubing it with luggage: few of the train stations and none of London's tube stops are adequately fitted for the handicapped or the luggage-impaired. Lots of stairs - consider yourself warned! And the gaps when boarding the tube cars! We're talking foot-wide chasms (long cars combined with curved station tracks) and foot-high steps up/down! The pompous, recorded voices are serious when they tell you to "mind the gap."

Before we left, however, we headed out to Windsor to see the castle. The visit was a bit of a disappointment - and as it was friday the 13th, it was destined to get worse. Not only were my allergies getting the best of me, but it seemed that everything of interest was closed! We saw the changing of the guard (complete with goat, fifes, and glockenspiel - it couldn't help but remind me of the Rubber Band from the Warner Bros. Cuckoo shorts) and Queen Anne's dollhouse. Oh, and since the Royal staterooms and both chapels were closed, they threw us a bone - bone china, to be precise - by allowing us to see the dinnerware museum. Whooppee. I wanna see the DaVincis!

Moving right along. Bath has been around since pre-Roman days, but reached its zenith of popularity and wealth in the eighteenth century. Though Bath's best days as a center of aristocratic fashion were over by the Regency period, the place remained popular with hypochondriacs (like Mr. Woodhouse) seeking to "take the waters" from the spa's healing hot springs as well as status-seeking wannabes (like the Eltons and the Thorpes) and low-level aristocrats (like the Elliots). Jane Austen lived here for five years, between 1800 and 1805, when her father's health began to fail. She had visited Bath in the decade previous, which inspired Northanger Abbey. Over a decade after she left Bath permanently, Austen wrote Persuasion, parts of which take place there. Both novels were published after her death in 1817.

We rolled into the station at five pm, and called our B&B - the Wentworth House Hotel, coincidentally - for directions on foot. Due to poor directions, the woman had us gallavanting for two hours about Bath, which we saw in full before finally finding the place. After the second turn through Laura Place, on Great Pulteney Street (Pulteney Bridge), with my huge pullman, I found myself nearly wishing for the sight of John Thorpe and his rickety trap! We finally found the place, then headed down the street to the only food establishment in town that was open - a plain but clean fish-and-chips shop that had wonderful mushroom pies. The mom and pop who ran the place were incredibly friendly and, by the looks of their crowded shop, very popular.

The next day, we hit the Abbey first, after which we happened upon a street performer belting out Silent Worship - the duet sung by Frank and Emma in Emma2 - out in front of the Pump Room. We did the Roman Baths museum, had tea at the pump room (I love clotted cream!), did a Jane Austen walking tour of the city (see the Bath website for the map!), and explored the museum of costume and the assembly rooms.

The Pump Room plays a prominent role in novel (both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion) and film - scenes from the 1995 film version of Persuasion were shot here. Recall, for example, the tooth-clenched confrontation between Captain Wentworth and Lady Russell. The place is a bonafide food service franchise howadays, but you can still chug gritchy "Bathwater" to the civilized strains of the resident strings trio. Or, have a 5-quid cream tea by the sedan chair collection. The Pump Room just a few steps away from Bath Abbey, and next door to (and above) the Bath Museum.

For thousands of years, Aquae Sulis, or Bath, drew crowds seeking its therapeutic hot water (!). The natives, the Romans, the Georgians, the Victorians, and most recently, the Tourists. Here, see relevant antiquities, lots of greenish bubbly liquid, and plenty of Victorian-era ornamentation.

The rest of the walking tour was comprehensive and fun! We saw Wolcot church, where Jane's parents were married, and where her father, The Rev. George Austen, is buried in the churchyard.. We also saw the Austen home at No. 4 Sydney Place, and No.1 Royal Crescent. This is the premier townhouse of John Wood's quintessential Georgian crescent complex, constructed in 1775. See lots of George Stubbs paintings, Wilton carpets, a huge chair, a whist game in progress, a pianoforte Marianne Dashwood would key to nubs, and a charming dressing table like the one Gwyneth Paltrow uses in Emma2.

I bought a lovely lace bonnet veil to use as a fichu at a lace shop on Pulteney Bridge, as well. At the museum of costume (on Bennett Street), I got some great ideas for my own period dress from the regency wedding dresses on exhibit. Most notably, the sleeves on the gown of the unlucky Lady Byron.

It was a great day. And our B&B was lovely. We learned, however, that two people wishing for a room with two single beds should book a "twin" room and not a "double" room. Duh.

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