Visitors in Bath!

Last weekend our friends Beth and Dan came to stay with us in Bath. Like us, they have come over from Melbourne to live in the UK for a while, but as they are living in London we don't get the opportunity to see them very often so this was a special treat. Beth had been to Bath once before but it was Dan's first time, and luckily the weather delivered one of the warmest, sunniest days we've had so we could show off our town at its finest.

We picked them up from the station in the morning and came home for some lunch and a big chat. Then we headed out for a lovely drive through the countryside to visit Stonehenge, one of the most visited and mystifying historic sites in England. While some have labeled it “just a pile of rocks”, it really is the most fascinating pile of rocks we've ever seen. They've been standing there in a carefully arranged circle in an otherwise empty green field for over 4,000 years, and nobody knows who put them there, how they got them there, or most importantly why?! There are lots of theories, ranging from Druids to giants or even aliens. At any rate, it's quite an impressive sight and definitely something to ponder.

Back in Bath we went for a wander, taking in all the famous sights – the Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge and the Circus (pictured below). We were hoping to catch a glimpse of “our Kylie” who was reportedly staying in the Royal Crescent Hotel for the weekend, but we were out of luck. No sign of Johnny Depp either, to Bec's continuing disappointment – he owns an apartment on The Circus so naturally she's always on the look out! We spent the evening in town, with Amanda and Anthony joining us for some drinks, a Thai banquet and some excellent conversation. The red wine sent us all off to bed quite happily.


Unfortunately Dan had to leave us early on Sunday due to work commitments, but Beth stayed on for a very girly afternoon – a visit to the Museum of Costume which Johnny strangely enough declined, followed by a few hours of serious shopping. Then sadly it was time to say goodbye for now, until next time. Thanks to Beth and Dan for a very enjoyable weekend.

Castle Combe Village

As mentioned in a previous post, the nearby village of Castle Combe fancies itself as the prettiest village in England. So we decided to pay it a proper visit and see whether they can back up their lofty claim...

And after a gruelling examination of the village and its surrounds, we're pleased to confirm that this is one seriously cute village. And if you get bored, how about a round at the golf course - here's the clubhouse - which doubles as a hotel:



Even their friendly doorman (we called him Jeeves) is immaculately-dressed!

Rugby Rugby Rugby! Oi Oi Oi!

Hey everyone, and welcome to March in Bath! Daffodils are popping up everywhere, the days are getting longer and snow is just a distant memory! Apologies for the excessive inter-blog interval, we've both had our heads down getting stuck into work. Both still really enjoying it though!

The other weekend Bec scored us tickets to see Bath Rugby take on the Saracens of London. Now neither of us have a great deal of love, understanding or even vaguest interest in this sport, but as rugby (union) is the winter sport in Bath, and they play at one of the most picturesque grounds in the country, we thought we should give it a go.

Sadly, upon arriving at The Rec with thousands of other Bath fans, we realised neither of us actually knew the first thing about rugby union, other than Johnny's usual bulldust and bluff. So we can't really report on the standard of the game, other than it started out very well for Bath, who got up to 13-0 at one stage thanks to some penalty kicks and then a converted try. Then the rain started coming down pretty heavily and this (in our opinion) pretty ugly game got a whole lot uglier.
It's sometimes difficult to tell with Union, where kicking the ball out on the full is regarded as a clever thing to do, but even our untrained eyes could see that the drop the ball, slip over and fumble wildly strategies were perhaps being overused somewhat. Saracens mounted a huge comeback, using apparently-advanced rugby techniques such as run fast and change direction which confused the Bath players enough to level the score at 13 apiece.

Saracens then moved into the lead at 13-20 with just ten minutes to go. The tension in the air was as thick as the players' ears! Could Bath manage to identify each other when everything was covered with mud? Would someone's collar-bone finally give out in one of those crunching scrums? And where was that ball thing again?


Luckily Bath managed to remember which way to go and ran in a try with just a handful of minutes left, converting to make it 20-all. And there it finished. Our first (and we suspect last) Rugby Union game. Where were the great chants and huge atmosphere of the FA Cup soccer? Where was the skill and athleticism of an AFL match? Oh well, we did have a nice view... ;-)