Hi everyone!
This morning I said 'bye to Rachel, Vicki and Gerald and headed out for the day. Everyone here is so lovely and chatty, I hadn't even walked 20m before I ran into a parking inspector who beamed at me and exclaimed what a beautiful day it was (it's sunny again today!). I agreed with him and then he proceeded to ask me if I was an Aussie, and we had a good 5 minute chat!! (Mum I can just tell you're laughing now!)
I walked the 5 minutes down the road to the Jane Austen Centre. As most of you hopefully know, Jane Austen was a famous author from the late 18/early 19the century who wrote such works as 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Sense and Sensibility'. She visited Bath in the late 1700s and then lived here from 1801-1805. The museum was really great and begin with a talk from a lady in regency costume. Then we got to walk through the exhibition watching a short film about Bath's involvement in Jane's life and even got to play dress ups! Some Asian girls were playing dress ups so I decided why not! Felt a bit of an idiot travelling alone, but they asked me to get in a photo with them so I wouldn't be by myself! The dresses from that time are not the most flattering, so don't laugh at how stupid I look haha! The guy helping with the costumes was really kind too, had a good chat with him. This is the thing about travelling alone - you talk to so many people you otherwise wouldn't!
I learned a lot about Jane's life. She was born in Steventon, but lived in Bath from 1801 to 1805 when her father died. After this she moved to Chawton with her mother and sister. She died in 1817 in Winchester. She was most famous after she died unfortunately, as her brother published some of her most famous works after she had passed. The last few years of her life were her most creative, with 'Sense and Sensibility' being published in 1811, 'Pride and Prejudice' in 1813, 'Mansfield Park' in 1814, 'Emma' in 1815 and then posthumously in 1818 'Northanger Abbey' (which is set in Bath and I think I will now read!) and 'Persuasion'. She never married, same as her sister, but had six brothers and 33 nieces and nephews between her brothers - that's a lot of birthday presents to buy!!!
I tried my hand at writing using a quill at the end of the exhibition and then headed upstairs to the Regency Tearooms - famous here in Bath. I had the ladies' afternoon tea. It was incredible. I had some lovely sandwiches, some tea and a scone with the most amazing clotted cream and jam. My mouth is watering thinking about it again! Again I sat by myself, but there was a painting of Mr Darcy behind me, so I took a photo of me with it. I guess technically I was on a date with Mr Darcy?!? A girl can dream!! Haha.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around in the sunshine. Dad had sent me some photos of his and Mum's trip to Bath in 1990 overnight, so I had a bit of fun recreating them and trying to perfectly find the spot dad took them in. I've edited them so the 1990 version is on top and the 2015 one on the bottom - let me know how you think I went!
After I publish this I'm walking back down the hill to the bus station and getting my three hour bus back to Victoria Coach Station. From here I'm going back to Emily in Sutton and me, her and Louise are having a bit of a girly sleepover tonight!!
Bath - I will be back! It may be this trip, it may be further in the future. But at some point, I will be back!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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