Fun in London

We started our day today by hunting out a couple of fabric stores. We were looking for trims for our top hats, but found lovely Indian shawls instead. On our way, we passed a church with some Storm Troopers outside (we didn't understand, but were amused). We took the tube to get around, and at one point, our carriage was empty except for us and a pigeon.
We hunted out the tea museum I have been wanting to visit for years, but the address was a shop selling toilets. How disappointing!Nearby was Shakespeare's Globe. We saw a huge group of school children about to start a tour, so we moved on.
After walking across the Millenium Bridge, we saw St. Paul's, with the Occupy London campground in front.We went to Fortnum and Mason's to see the window displays, and checked out the little outdoor market at St. James' church. Then we went to Trafalgar Square, where we bought tickets for a holiday concert at St. Martin in the Fields for tomorrow night. After a quick look around Covent Garden, where we had yummy bowls of soup at a little cafe with a lady performing opera outside, we were tired and headed back to our hotel. Even with the tube, our feet hurt! Good thing we're taking the train to Oxford tomorrow.

Portobello Road

This morning we began our day in Bath. We saw a milk float delivering milk bottles- so picturesque, and some lovely wreaths on front doors.
We took a train to London and arrived at Paddington Station. After a short walk, we checked into our new hotel in Kensington Gardens Square. It is lovely, with a very festive lobby.
We had lunch at a classic old pub nearby.We walked down to Portobello Road and poked around the stalls and antique shops. It isn't nearly as crowded as it will be at the weekend. We found a stall with beautiful wool top hats, and amazingly enough, they came in sizes big enough for our heads. So we each bought one and are now planning a Regency hunt or other event where we can wear them.

Tea, Fashion and Fabric in Bath

Sorry for the late posting. Our landlord turned the internet off at 8:00 last night, and I was just loading my pictures.

Today we had tea twice (to make up for missing it yesterday). We went to the Jane Austen Centre and had "tea with Mr. Darcy". Very fun and delicious scones. The tea was very good, and we didn't understand the Italian/French/German people at the next table who ordered nothing but cappucinos. Who goes to the tea room at the Jane Austen Centre and orders cappucino?Then we headed to Milsom Street to do a little shopping. In Jane's era it was the street to shop on in Bath. We found a little fabric store just off Milsom Street and Ann bought some gorgeous navy blue velvet for a spencer. I got some beautiful lace for fichus. They will look lovely with the pink velvet I got for a spencer in Brighton. I alo got some lovely bonnet ribbons and clasps here in Bath.
After tea, we went to the Fashion Museum, which is located inside the Assembly Rooms, where Jane set several scenes in her novels. We saw some incredible clothes from several periods in history. Our favorites were from the Regency, of course! When we drew our little fashion pictures to put on the board, we both did drawings of Regency gowns and bonnets. We had great fun trying on the corsets and crinolines.
Then it was back to our guest house to change into our Regency outfits again for tea at the Pump Room! It was the social center of Regency Bath, and Jane would have visited it herself many times, as well as having characters congregate there in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. We felt splendid having tea under the glittering chandelier and listening to live music. We tried the waters (as one must do when one comes to Bath) and although many people think they are disgusting, we found them to be somewhere between Junction City water and Lithia water in Ashland.
Bath was a beautiful city, and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We can't wait to come back, maybe for the Jane Austen festival one day!

Jane Austen in Bath

Today we had full English breakfasts at our lovely guest house, and drank our tea out of an Alice in Wonderland pot.We took the Jane Austen walking tour of Bath. We were lucky enough to be the only ones there, so we got a private tour. We walked all over Bath and saw lots of Jane Austen sights, from places she lived and visited, to locales she used in her novels, to important sights from Regency Bath. We were even allowed in the Assembly Rooms, were we saw the ballroom and tearoom that Jane would have frequented.Later, we changed into our Regency costumes and visited the Jane Austen Centre. We heard talks and videos about the author, saw period reproductions of Regency rooms, and saw many costumes up close, several from film adaptations of her books. We dawdled over the displays and were too late for tea, so we'll have to go back tomorrow!It was raining on the walk back, and our dresses got six inches deep in rain, I am absolutely certain. But we washed them, and at least it wasn't mud.

Bath Christmas Market

Yesterday we took a train from Brighton to Bath. We saw a fox running across a frosty field from the train window. Beautiful! We had so many bags that we took up the entire luggage rack and still spilled out into the aisle.We arrived in Bath and had tea and did some shopping at the Christmas market.We went to a special shoppers' carol service at the Bath Cathedral. What fun to sing carols in the same church Jane Austen would have visited.We had dinner at Sally Lunn's, the oldest house in Bath, famous for it's buns. Quite delicious.