Mike and I had a fun day in Bath walking the beautiful streets, having lunch, and hitting three museums: the Jane Austen Centre, the Fashion Museum, and the Roman Baths. They were all on the small side, so we were able to see them all without feeling rushed. I would say that the Jane Austen Centre and Fashion Museum are worth doing if you're a fan (which I am). The JAC is quite small. The nice people who run it give a little talk on Jane Austen and then let you roam around on your own. Even though I've read biographies on Jane Austen, I still learned some new things. The Fashion Museum had an area where you can try on Victorian clothes, corsets and all, a display on clothing from the 19th century and an exhibit called "Fifty Fabulous Frocks." (I just love the word "frock." So much more fun to say than "dress").
"Picture me with a babel of noise going all about me at a public bath house."
- Seneca the younger, circa 60 AD
I think anyone would enjoy seeing the Roman Bath. It's a beautiful site with a very good audio guide included with admission.
A different morning Mike and I visited Glastonbury Abbey and the Glastonbury Tor. It started out quite stormy. Picture pouring rain, gusts of wind and temperatures in the 40's. Not surprisingly, we had the place all to ourselves.
But all that wind blew the storm away, so we even got a little blue sky for some of our pictures.
Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Supposedly the purpose was to cut off the pope's power in England, but it was probably tempting that the abbeys were the richest entities in the land.
There is a grave for King Arthur and Queen Guinevere at the abbey. While there is doubt about the truthfulness of this claim, it brought a lot of money and pilgrims to the site.
Glastonbury Tor is the tallest hill for miles around with a ruin of St. Michael's church on the top. Glastonbury Tor is said to be the isle of Avalon from the King Arthur's legends. It's known for being a windy spot on the best of days. It felt almost dangerous on the very windy day we were there, like any moment the wind might pick us up and blow us down the hill. It's such a pretty view of Somerset though.
These pictures just seem too good to be true; at any moment, I expect to see a snap of Robin Hood leaping over a wall! And I have to say, my obsession with all-things-England does not extend to trying on a Victorian corset. :)
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