quick run and a day in Bath

quick blog for now as it is late and i am just back from Bath, a town about 70 miles from here with a population of about 80,000.

got a decent 6 hours of sleep and was out the door running at 7am. did the usual run as it is the easiest route to run when i am in a hurry to get back and we needed to catch an early train. was somewhat surprised to see so many runners out so early, but it is nice that we are getting more daylight early, and the sun was coming up behind me as i headed up to the church and then over to the river. black water today and lots of swans and white geese out. did about 6 miles and headed home.

quick bowl of cereal and off we went. turns out the tracks were under repair and we had to take a train to didcot and then bus to swindon and then back on the train to bath. about 60 people were left waiting at the bus as there was no room amid the usual typically good planning of the best western railway. was fun watching the bus driver call in for backup, saying the crowd was really upset(at this point the crowd good naturedly started jeering) and was about to lynch him. funny. also funny later when he pulled off of the road to scream at people drinking on the back of the bus. by now it was 10:20am.

bath itself was a beautiful town with the most really old architecture and buildings still standing. even where we stopped for some tea and a "bun", the building was built in 1480 or so. i forget the exact date- really old will do. the recipe for the bun was 325 years old and found in a secret cupboard. pretty good with a chocolate topping. go figure.

we walked about 9-10 miles around town seeing many of the jane austin historical places as well as others. very pretty scenery along the river and the cliffs. really nice place to visit, but if we were to do it again, any day other than saturday might be better as to put it mildly, we were not the only ones with the idea of seeing Bath today. despite the cold and wind- wind- wind- get it?

repeated the same deal on the way home, train, bus, train and then walked back. a somewhat long day, but a worthwhile trip. more about it on another day.

stopped for potatoes and broccoli to make jacket potatoes at home. should be raining any moment according to BBC. and no word yet on the fate of the cat.

151 to go.