This is the Pulteney Bridge and is lined with shops, kind of like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
This is the Royal Crescent, basically just high end real estate.
We had our first real English pub meal in Bath and saw a fantastic Agatha Christie play,
Spider's Web. It was really good.
Forty-fifty years ago, the entire city was black due to all the coal they used. In the '70's the government gave tax credits out and everything was cleaned. Well, all ex
cept this section... It would of looked a bit different then.
From Bath we took a couple of day tours through the scenic Cotswolds and Stonehenge. We saw all the quaint village stuff you expect to see in Southern England. Loads of sheep, thatched houses, and beautiful flowers.
True to the stereotypical England weather, it pretty much rained the entire time. Well, more of a drizzle really. So it was perfect.
Here are a couple of pics from the Cotswolds. This picture was voted the most "picturesque" street in England.
Tom found a New England Coffee House in a little town called Stow-on-the-Wald. Turns out the owner is from Conneticut.
Here I am at Harry Potter's mom's house (where she was murdered) eating a delicious Magnum ice cream in Lac
ock. Lacock is a very quaint town pretty much owned by the National Trust. It has been used to shoot various movies such as Harry Potter and the BBC's version (and only good version in my opinion) of Pride and Prejudice.
And of course there is Stonehenge. Tom was really looking forward to this. It was like pulling teeth getting Tom away from his scetch book just to take a picture with me. If you ever need a picture of Stonehenge, we have about a bazillion from every ground angle you can get.
The tour also took us to another Neolithic site. In Avebury, we were uninhibited by rope
s forbidding us to go near the stones and could go right up and touch it. If we could get next to it, so could the sheep. If the sheep could get next
to it, so could it's poop. Ergo, my foot in fresh sheep poop.
Since we only had two weeks, we sadly had to leave Bath. Our next stop was Conwy in Northern Wales. This is when things get a little tricky. Again, since we had little time in England, I thought it best that we rent a car in order to save time. Tom didn't really like this idea, particularly since he was the one that would have to drive...on the other side of the road. He really did a great job though. Ironicly, the first thing the Hertz lady said when we got the car was "It's brand new. Only 200 miles." Translation..."We will know if you even get one scratch on this car." It was a nice little car though, Mitsubishi Colt. We had the brand new car smell and everything. Everyone was really quite nice. No real road rage for the poor Americans who didn't know what they were doing. And with my navigating skills it really wasn't a bad way to do it.
King Edward I built an Iron Ring of castles following his conquest of Wales in the 13th century. After 4 hours of driving, we stayed at our first B&B in Conwy. Our accommodations were much more comfortable. It was nice not to share a bathroom with other tourists anymore. Our B&B was right next to Conwy Castle and just outside the city’s walls.
The castle walls are still there and surround the little city
against the Irish Sea. The castle itself was really cool. It is amazing how plants just grow on buildings. I guess that is what happens when you don’t live in a desert. Just outside t
he walls on the shore is the “Smallest house in Britian.” It is only 6 feet wide, 8 feet deep, and 10 feet high. The last resident of the house was over 6 feet tall. We drove through Snowdonia National Park, and toured anot
her castle. Caernarfon castle is the only castle Edward I made as a resident castle. He actually lived here. The others were just forts. Unfortunately, we forgot to pay for parking and had to hurry back to make sure our car was not towed. We wouldn’t want that. Anyways, Snowdonia was beautiful. I would love to go back and spend more time there.
The next morning I went for a nice run outside the city and up some rolling hills. As usual, it was gray and rainy, which I love, but the best part was a random herd of horses I ran into near the top. It was pretty cool. And of course, as luck would have it, I didn’t bring my camera, so I was pretty bummed. Not to fear, for we were now headed for Liverpool. Due to its infamous association with the Beatles, Liverpool was a must see for Tom. I thought it was a great city. After a few days in the 13th-16th century, it was nice to be in a city in the 21st century. We did all the Beatles stuff; visited Mathew St, Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawber
ry Fields. We took the Beatles Story Tour, listened to live music and had at least 2 pints of beer spilled all over me. Yep. Solid day, I’d say. And again as luck would have it, for some reason
nobody in Liverpool needs to do laundry on the weekend. They have no laundromats (possible business venture, Erik?), and no laundry service in the hotel over the weekend. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the night washing my pants in the bath tub with hotel shower gel.
Next on the list is the Lake District. We really didn’t do this place justice. We really did not get to spend enough time there to actually enjoy it. It was over Bankers Holiday and we had a tough time finding a place to stay when planning the trip. It was a nice B&B though. The owners had a really cool dog named Ripley. She was a riot.
Then there is York. An incredible city. We climbed the 275 steps up York Minster, visited the Yorkshire Museum, Cliffords Tower, and had some fair Italian food in the Shambles. Definitely a must-se
e for any visit to England.
About 1000 miles later, we arrived in London. Very cool and very diverse. We spent 5 days here. Tom spent 6 hours in the Tate Modern and I figure 1 picture of that would basically wrap up his London experience.
We really had a great time and I can't wait to go again.
If you happened actually read all of this, you are quite wonderful.
Nice view down into the Salt Lake Valley from the Red Pine trail.
Climbing around the rocky crest was everyone's favorite part. The little black dot in both pictures is Tom navigating his way around the jagged boulders. Just like a mountain goat! 
And a nice picture of Maybird Gulch (I think that is what it is called). Pretty awesome. Hey, snow.
Thanks Tom and Greg for making great hiking comrades and helping me get this hike off my list. We made it with minimal injuries. Thank you Greg for not giving up after almost getting decapitated early on. I really have not laughed so hard in a very long time. Thank you. It's a wonder he only made it out with a stiff neck. Well done.
