The crossroads of the world - the laundromat

Hello, all:
I know I'm behind, but I'm finally on a train from London to Paris so I have time to write.  Today is Thursday, July 7.

When we arrived in Bath on Sunday, July 3 and left on Tuesday, July 5. it was a beautiful day in Bath on Sunday and the pictures are lovely.  There was finally full sunshine and low humidity; I felt like they should have declared it a national holiday.  Of course, everyone wanted to be outside and who could blame them.  We wandered around town on Sunday evening to see the The Crescent and the Circus, two things on our bucket list.  Monday morning was wash day. We emptied one suitcase and filled it with items to be laundered and took off for the .7 mile hike uphill to the Dolly tub, apparently famous for their "good machines."  When we arrived, two older British gentlemen were there.  They helped us figure out the machines, ah, I know, spoiled Americans, and then we fell into conversation.  One of the gentlemen was older and pretty distinguished looking.  Turns out he had just come back from Wimbleton and was able to watch the Andy Murray match.  I told him we had looked for tickets but were pretty daunted by the entire process.  I asked him how he got his; he put in for the lottery in December and was chosen in January.  But, here's the kicker, but 20 years he was the steward on Center Court where the wheelchairs are.  He finally had to give it up because of his legs because you have to stand the entire time, but he said he had seen some incredible tennis during his lifetime.  Can you imagine? Watching from centre court for 20 years?  I had been talking with him while Cham had been talking with Eddie Blackstone, a country music singer/songwriter originally from York.  Turns out he was the first non American to sing with one of the Jubilee shows in Nashville.  He was then asked to sing in Branson for several years.  He retired to run a pub, but was called back into the business for a number of years so now he's totally retired.  He left about 5 minutes before we did after some fond farewells. We packed up and when we went outside, he was waiting for us to give us a ride back to town.  We had gotten a pretty good idea of layout of Bath because our hotel was in a great location.  I'm pretty sure he took us the long way around because we knew the individuals he had played with.  It was a wonderful encounter.  Cham offered to have a pint on him when we got to the hotel but he said the entire time he was in America he was treated so well it was time for him to return the favor.  Truly, unforgettable.

Because Eddie was so kind, we were able to attend an afternoon concert in the Bath Abbey performed by a group if incredible singers from Santa Barbara.  They were practicing for an international competition which was being held in Wales.  They were fantastic.  I have attached one of the many beautiful songs they performed.  It’s amazing to hear these pieces of work performed in these glorious spaces.  You truly understand the phrase “soaring voices.”

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent floating the thermo bath.  Yes, it was overpriced, but when you're in Bath, you do what people have done for years.  We started in a covered pool, moved into the saunas, three of which had aromatherapy, then you go to the roof top pool.  It was perfect to float in the warm water under partly cloudy sky.  They are very firm you have two hours so after an hour, we repeated the process.  It was hard to leave the under ground pool because I found if you floated on your back with a noodle, they had an artificial current that would catch you, Quillians you will get this from the Budapest experience if you're reading this, and shoot you back out into the water.  If you just floated, the current would naturally pick you up and again and you'd repeat the process.  Marvelous!  Cham then treated me to my first English tea, the Homestead doesn't count, and we did a small one at that in the historic Pump Room.  If only those walls could talk, the intrigues, especially during the Victorian era.  After tea we noticed a small fountain, picture below, where you can have a glass of waater from one of the springs.  Without being too graphic, one glass will make everything right with your world.  The literature said that when the Pump Room was built, there were make complaints because facilities couldn't keep up with the cure.  I bet!  Some people were encouraged to drink a gallon of the water.  I can't imagine . . . 

The day before yesterday we found ourselves back on the road to deliver the car to the airport.  What a sense of relief for both of us to turn the car in. Cham had gotten the hang of driving and he actually did very well.  I, not really frightened of many things, never offered to drive.  Kudos to Cham.  We stayed in a Holiday Inn in Farrington.  What a great location!  (Can't say a lot about the hotel because they were going through renovations, but their concierge Damain was outstanding!)  We ate dinner at the best Italian restaurant we've ever been to, including in Italy.  My swordfish was perfect and that's a fish that can be so easily messed up.  Yesterday afternoon we found they have the Exmouth Market.  Tons of street vendors appear, cook their dishes, and leave after two hours.  We wandered into a park which was empty, one hour later it was packed with people eating outside.  We wondered at the strange landscape of the park until we came back an hour later and saw people sitting on the humps eating.  I hope I've been able to capture some it because it really was a great idea.

We went to a play last night, Hobson's Choice, old movie and pretty good play.  Lots of themes and a notable actor, Martin Shaw, was the lead role.  Apparently he does a lot of British television.  In the beginning it was like listening to Shakespeare before your ear gets used to it because he spoke with such an accent.  It was a lovely evening.

So, now we're on the train to Paris.  We crossed into Normandy about 20 minutes ago.  We get a car tomorrow to go to Gent.  We were originally supposed to go to Bruges, but all the apts within our price range were gone so we decided to go to Gent instead and do a day trip to Bruges.  

Some thoughts:

1.  It's not as easy to be spontaneous with the lodgings as one would think.  You either have to ready to settle or plan in advance.  I wish I could be a more settle person, but I'm still happier when I've planned for things.

2.   I've been astounded by the number of people who roll their own cigarettes, especially woman.

3.  The people in London are so much less stressed than the people in NYC and if anything, the business people have a lot to be stressed about these days.  Also, the waiters and waitresses seem to actually like their jobs.  Truly, everyone has been so pleasant and very few questions about our political process.  They all seem to be very embarrased we've been here for Brexit.  We're assured them it's been a welcome break to get away from our own process these days.