The last few days of this trip have been very busy so I haven't had that much time to work on my blog posts. I apologize for the delay and I promise that I will continue to post again. With that said, we had to leave early on Monday to get to Bath, where we would spend most of the late morning and afternoon. Bath is located pretty close to Bristol (where we would go later that day) and Wales. The City of Bath is situated along a river and surrounded by hills. The architecture there is a lot different than other English cities I've been to so far with most of the buildings in the city centre having facades made up of golden-colored stones. The first thing we did as a whole group was tour the Roman Baths. I found the whole thing interesting from how the site was excavated and preserved to the various areas of the site that were separate from the Great Bath that is so iconic. I got to see the working sewer system, temple ruins, uncovered artifacts, and much more. It felt really cool to be that close to ancient Roman history. One thing I'm glad I didn't do while I was there was drink water from the water fountain in the complex which tasted like metal (yuck). I made my first non-food purchase of the trip which was a catapult pencil sharpener (it's pretty cool).
Bath Abbey
Temple Courtyard
Great Bath
After the tour of the namesake of the city, we were given free time to explore the city in smaller groups. I was in a large group with a lot of girls so we ended up stopping in stores that catered to their interests. We walked to a roundabout named "The Circus" which had a nice park at the center surrounded by townhomes with the golden-colored stone. It didn't take long for people in the group to get hungry so we ended our free time at Nando's, a popular South African restaurant. I wanted to get something and all the chicken meals looked really good, but I also didn't want to waste my packed lunch. Even though I didn't even buy anything during our free time in Bath, it was still fun to admire the architecture of the city because you almost forget you're in England at times.
Bath Street
Later in the afternoon when everyone met back up, we took the coach to Bristol for dinner. Bristol is much larger than Bath in both size and population. Driving through the city centre reminded me of London. We got off the coach near Bristol Harbour and had dinner at a restaurant called Za Za Bazaar. It was buffet-style but all of the stations looked like night market stalls. I opted for the East Asian and Indian food, placing a wide variety of new and comfortable foods on my plate. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant and I had a lot of fun with my friends at the table. The dessert stations had "jelly" or Jell-O shots (non-alcoholic) and we had a few "rounds" but the gelatin didn't taste good (I promise that it was non-alcoholic). Overall, it was fun to go out to these cities that were over two hours from the school which is something that most "London tourists" don't get to do. Getting to experience these amazing places is something I will forever be grateful for.
Za Za Bazaar
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