Living like Kings

We had only time this morning to do my top few things in Bath. Unfortunately, they weren't open at the crack of dawn, so we dropped in first thing at the Bath Abby to see the inside.  It had a beautiful stained glass window in the front depicting scenes from the life of Christ.

My favorite ornament was a relatively recent addition (2007), two sets of carved wooden angels playing musical instruments. There were 10 different angels, but this cello angel was one of my favorites! I was hoping to no avail that I could pick up a likeness in the gift shop.

From there we went over to the Assembly Rooms, which really took me back in time to a Jane Austen novel. Ed and I took a spin around the Tea Room. Fortunately, we were the only ones there.

No visit to Bath would be complete without a visit to the Pump Room. We enjoyed a spot of tea and a Bath bun, to the music of a fabulous string quartet. It was so lovely and elegant! It made me wish I was born 200 years ago. Then I heard about the sewage running in the streets and I was glad to have been born in the age of hygiene!

We had purchased an English Heritage pass, which included entry to a vast array of historic sites. We took advantage of that to visit two castles this afternoon. The first was a windswept ruin at the top of a hill in Cornwall.

It was called Restormel and in the 13^th century it was whitewashed and plastered.  Now is just exposed stone. It was such a romantic location, and so beautiful in its decayed state.

There were so few visitors that we had fun posing for shots all over the grounds.

The second castle, Pendennis was a mighty fortress of Henry VIII, the only English king Americans really know much about. It also served as a fortress in WWI and WWII. It was just as windswept as Restormel.

It had the advantage of also having great views of the sea from its parapets.

We arrived at our B&B in Marazion before 7. We have a giant room with a view of the sea. We also had scones waiting for us, complete with jam and clotted cream.

We had a relatively easy day of it, only getting in 12,000 steps. It almost felt like vacation. We had a lovely view of St. Michael’s mount as we walked up the street to find a restaurant tonight. We can’t wait to visit it tomorrow, although rumor is we’re going to have rain all day!

To top off a lovely day, we had a beautifully presented meal at Ben’s Cornish Kitchen tonight. Ed had the lamb and really enjoyed it. I hope it wasn’t one of those cute, cuddly ones we saw at Avebury yesterday!