* for some reason Nnylanna stopped writing her travel notes in Cardiff, Wales. So, this final entry is ALL PIBERG ^^
15October2011
Day
This is the final day of our tour and so we're headed back to where we started... London, England. We are scheduled for 3 stops before we reach our final destination and the 1st one is the most exciting for me...
1st Stop: ...the city of BATH in Somerset, England! The city was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987*that says a lot about the city right?*
if you're a Jane Austen fangirl*like moi*, you would know that in her novels she often writes very fondly of Bath. I'm guessing that Bath must have been a "happening" city perhaps like a playground for the rich during Jane's time. It's like a spa resort town all thanks to the Roman Baths. Before i take you there, i thought it's better to write about my Bath experience in chronological order...
We got off our coach right next to the Bath Abbey...
... we entered an impressive-looking square or should i say, church courtyard*i'm not really sure about this* right in front of the main entrance to the Abbey. I have actually seen this place in a BBC TV production of Jane Austen's novel entitled, Persuasion. The place takes you back by a few hundred years and to me, nothing is more exciting than that! Here's Nnylanna's pictures of the courtyard...
my video of the pictures above...
...here's the facade of Bath Abbey. i must say that the pics doesn't do this church any justice. it looks reeeally old and has a lot of character ...
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| i was very impressed with the carved wooden door of Bath Abbey ^^ |
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| angels climbing the ladder... cute ^.^ |
...one has to enter this particular building to get into the Roman Baths and is also adjacent to the museum where ancient Roman artifacts were on display. But before we went inside this building to see the Roman Baths...
...we checked out Bath Abbey first. Beautiful stained glass windows, spooky ancient tombs, memorial markers, and even the fan vault ceiling.
my video from inside the abbey...
Soo, Nnylanna and I entered the Abbey together and soon after we each went our separate ways to take our own photos/videos. I found myself in the souvenir shop of the Abbey where the exit was located of course^^ thinking that Nnylanna and Soo must be there. Unfortunately, they were not there...
...Did they went ahead to the Baths without me? i was thinking... No... my sister wouldn't do that. No way is she gonna leave me here. But, where the h*ll are they? i went back inside the abbey and a quick inspection of the room gave me a negative result until... i heard voices and laughter near the altar. i found Soo and Nnylanna goofing around with Joy and Josie, pretending to be in deep prayer^^...
...What am i suppose to do but join the fun^^
Now it's time to see what the fuss is all about... The Roman Baths...
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| the ticket |
Just like in all the other stops on this tour, we were always told the time and the place where we would meet up and so the Jane Austen fangirls*me and my sister* made sure that we would reserve a couple of minutes to see The Jane Austen Center which is not included in the tour. Problem is, we have no idea of it's exact location *Orz* but wait, it turns out it's a mere walking distance from the Baths! woohoo, happy, happy, happy ^^
And now, here is The Great Roman Baths...
... well basically, it's an ancient public swimming pool... or spa ^^
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| Soo & Piberg among the statues on the terrace^^ |
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| Piberg & Nnylanna |
Nnylanna told Soo and I to go down the main "pool" so she can take a picture of us from above the terrace. we almost got lost trying to find our way to the bath 'coz we have to pass by the museum of Roman artifacts*Orz* all that for the 2 pictures below *Orz again!*
here are Nnylanna's photos of the Roman artifacts from the museum...
more pics from The Great Roman Baths of Somerset, England^^
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| found these ladies from the __th(?) century^^ |
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| copying their pose^^ |
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| checking the water temperature... warm^^ |
here's my vid of The Great Roman Baths...
the lady who sold us the tickets for the Roman Baths gave us directions on how to get to The Jane Austen Center. Poor Soo who doesn't even know who Jane Austen is, let alone read any of her works tagged along with us, perhaps curious why we were so excited at the thought of setting foot on a center that pays homage to the English author. At the entrance of the center, stood a statue of Jane and my first thought was, i wanted to give her a bear hug, AND, i gotta have a picture of me and Jane together! bwahahaha... i dont even know if the statue looks anything like the real Jane... haha. UNFORTUNATELY, there was this English guy who i assume works at the center*why else would he be wearing a costume ... unless he's a nutcase^^* who insisted on joining Jane and i in our picture! hello, i don't remember asking you to join us Mister^^
what's wrong with this guy, i couldn't get rid of him!
good thing he left when it was my sister and Soo's turn to pose with Jane...*Orz* i should have tried again before leaving the center but we were sooo pressed for time, the 3 of us were practically running back to our coach 'coz it's pretty embarrassing if the whole tour group is already there waiting and you're the only one missing.
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| giftshop *credit to the janeaustencenter |
G'bye Jane ^^ if one day Nnylanna and i find ourselves in the UK again maybe we can go for a Jane Austen Tour? ^^ anyway, can't go without saying g'bye to the lovely Mr. Darcy*woooooot*... give my regards to Lizzie^^
Before saying goodbye to the city of Bath in Somerset, England... let me leave you some of the beautiful images of the city that english novelist Jane Austen so loved...
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| The Royal Crescent *credit to the owners of the 3 pics above* |
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For our next stop we drove through this wide open space of lush fields that seems to go on and on and on...
2nd Stop: the STONEHENGE in Wiltshire, England.
To people who doesn't care much, or at all, about heritage sites, this would probably look like just a pile of large stones arranged in a circular pattern. But by gosh, just think about it... this was constructed roughly 2000-3000 years Before Christ was born! if you're not impressed by that fact alone, then, i feel sorry for you. wahahaha... sorry, the drama queen is overly passionate about her heritage sites^^
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| the stones are actually more impressive in real life than on the pics. they were huge and with the wide open space for a backdrop, it stood out even more |
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| the place where i bought my panini for lunch. to it's left is the entrance to the souvenir shop... that's where my sister went while i was waiting for my sandwich ^^ *credit to the owner of the pic* |
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| where you buy the tickets *credit to the owner of the pic* |
We were given limited time on this stop and that includes having our lunch in the area, so, as much as we want to go inside and have a closer look... we just can't :( if it's any consolation to us, even if we did go inside, i don't think tourists are allowed to go near and touch the stones.
i would much rather not show you the pictures below 'coz i personally thought that we look quite pathetic having our picture taken from outside the fence... but what can i do, it's the only certification/authentication shot that we were really there. here they are and please don't feel too sorry for us... hahaha ^^
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| it may look like it but NO, i am NOT crying in this picture... wahahahahaaa... no really, it's the sun, it was too bright it was hurting my eyes... hahaha, nobody is asking , SO, why am i explaining again? that's what you may call as being "defensivemuch" ^^ |
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3rd Stop: SALISBURY CATHEDRAL in Salisbury, England.
Even before we entered the center of the cathedral city of Salisbury, i could already see from afar a building that looks sooo grand and majestic. it's cone shaped tower, technically called a spire, is the tallest in England so is it any wonder why it immediately grabbed my attention. we didn't have pics from when i first had a glimpse of the cathedral but i found some from the net that captured my sentiments at that time.
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| *credit to the owner/s of these 2 photos above |
When we got off the coach, it was a choice between going to the local market for lunch and shopping, OR, going to the Salisbury Cathedral via the Cathedral Close.
I think i must first educate you about the term "cathedral close". it refers to the buildings near and around a cathedral, all of which are connected to or owned by the cathedral and the diocese where it belongs. like a school, the bishop's residence, the homes of people who work for the cathedral, cathedral offices, etc. when we first saw the sign above*the picture above*, we thought it meant the cathedral is currently closed... waaahahaha... im sorry, where i'm from, when it says "close" it means nothing else but "the opposite of open"!!! hehehe... i wonder though if it came from the word "enCLOSEd"... as in, the buildings that surround the cathedral like a fence?
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| one of the entrance to the cathedral close |
As i was saying, it was a choice between shopping or cathedral and what do you know, surprise~surprise, Nnylanna wanted to go check out the local market! Ahhh, and i so wanted to go see the cathedral but she tried brainwashing me into thinking that all these cathedrals are practically the same and that we're not missing anything special. But i know better, i saw that spire and it's nothing like i've ever seen before. still, i could sense that she really wanted to go to the market so... but, my luck changed and she didn't find anything interesting in the market... woohoo... i then dragged her to the cathedral and met Joy and Josie who are also going to the same place. great!
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| this structure is the only interesting thing we found good enough to take a photo of near the market^^ |
And there it is... more beautiful than i had imagined it to be. York Cathedral is definitely bigger than this but it looks cramped where it is located so again, the wide open space that surrounds Salisbury Cathedral helps one to appreciate this building without any distractions from other buildings or establishments connected or near it. check out this picture that i found in the web*we didn't have a picture as nice as this so... zoom~zoom~zoom in for a better view peeps ^^ *
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| see, i' m not exaggerating when i said it is beautiful... honestly, i was blown away*credit to the owner of this pic* |
Now get a closer look at the pictures Nnylanna took. I' m sorry to intrude on some of the pictures 'coz i was all over the place totally checking it out, taking mental notes of it's awesome details.
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| there's the tower and it's cone-shaped top, the spire. it was too tall, hence, too hard to capture in all it's glory |
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| one of the side entrance... there it is... the spire. mere words cannot begin to describe a structure so beautiful and massive i wanted to get inside and see what's holding all that weight in place. considering that this was all built in the 1200's... can i be any more impressed than i already am? you bet i am! BUT, they were not allowing people inside when we got there 'coz an event just ended and the place was being prepared for the official tours. Unfortunately for us, the official tour of the premises would take hours and we don't have the luxury of time. SO, instead of sulking, i did the grown-up thing and just told myself to be grateful instead... not everybody is given the opportunity to see all this awesomeness up-close ^^ yeah... still happy ^^ |
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| nnylanna had to go several meters just to capture the entire front/facade of the cathedral |
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| stone-carved statues and moldings(US) known as coving in the UK |
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| stone carved |
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that's as far as our camera can zoom in and get a decent enough picture of the spire taken from the front of the cathedral
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my short video of Salisbury Cathedral ^^
After awhile, we checked the time and it's telling us that we must head back to the market to grab something to eat for our long journey back to London or we'll be late for our meet-up time. there was no trace of Joy and Josie so we assumed that they must have gone ahead of us. On our way back to the coach after having sandwiches near the market, we bumped into our 2 Titas who were just getting out of a restaurant. Turns out, it was a chinese resto... aaahhh... sooo jealous... i miss asian food... gimme extra rice please! ^^ They have some bad news though, Tita Dors lost her wallet in Bath. She said, it doesn't have a lot of money in it, but i could tell that she was quite upset. i commiserated with her and said i know how it feels... it's not the cost of the loss but your attachment to a personal effect or in Miss OC's case*me*, the thought that i messed up and lost something is always very upsetting. On the other hand, Nnylanna remembered that when we were on The Roman Bath, there was an announcement, that if someone lost something to go to the admin office. it was a long shot but it was decided that Tita Dors will contact Bath when we get back to London.
Whatever happened to Joy and Josie? They were able to go inside the cathedral using the side entrance while people inside were exiting! F*ck!!! I have never thought of myself as a loser but at that time, i was close to thinking that! Let me tell you why at that point i was tempted to find a brick and gently smash it on my head for not being able to get inside the church ~~ Salisbury Cathedral is special on so many levels... 1st, it has the tallest church spire in the UK and it's ancient wood scaffolding is on public display...
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| *credit to the owner of this pic |
...2nd, aside from having the largest cathedral close, it also has the largest cloister *a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries*...
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| gggaaaddd... just look at how beautiful those halls are *credit to the owners of the pics above* |
...3rd, it contains the worlds oldest working clock...
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| this is a clock? where is the time?... it was made in the year 1386, that's waaay before the Philippines was discovered by Magellan so let's give it a break ok ^^ *credit to the owner of the pic* | |
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...and lastly, it has the best surviving of the 4 original copies of the Magna Carta! The all-important document that all freedom loving people should know about.
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| *credit to the owner of the 2 pics above* |
haay, it's not meant to be, so... moving on...
We had an uneventful trip back to London. As part of the tour package, we stayed at the Novotel for our last night in the UK. The Gang gave Soo a big hug before disembarking from the coach 'coz Soo is leaving London that same night. And we also said our goodbyes to the 2 Titas, Angie and Dors at the lobby of the hotel 'coz they are being picked up by a friend and will be staying with her for a few days. Joy and Josie are also staying at the same hotel with us so we invited them to join us and our cousin Mimi and her flatmate Jacq*they came to help us pack* for dinner at the same Filipino restaurant we went to in Earl's Court.
this is our Novotel London hotel room
Another wonderful experience came to an end. Looking back i realized that indeed traveling is such an enriching exercise.
England, you are everything i thought you would be AND MORE. I'm absolutely smitten i'm telling you^^ . Scotland, you are a very pleasant surprise. i felt sooo blessed to be given the chance to see you. Wales, i only saw a glimpse of you but from the little that i saw, i was charmed and impressed.
As i look back on that trip... almost 2 years ago... Nnylanna and I enjoyed that particular trip to a large extent because of the company we kept on the duration of our tour. SO, there's no way i can wrap-up this blog entry without a shoutout to some people...
...MIMI,
iba ka talaga cuzinhood, maasahan anytime, anywhere with whatever. Thank you Mimosa ^^ Thank you
din Jacq^^
...and to our "Tour Gang"... to all the stories, the laughter, the food, the places...all those that we have experienced together... here's to all that and more... Cheers guys!
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| the all-pinoy gang, our 1st picture together taken at the England-Scotland Border |
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| from L-R: piberg, josie, soo, tita dors, nnylanna, tita angie & joy *picture taken at Edinburgh Castle |
good thing he left when it was my sister and Soo's turn to pose with Jane...*Orz* i should have tried again before leaving the center but we were sooo pressed for time, the 3 of us were practically running back to our coach 'coz it's pretty embarrassing if the whole tour group is already there waiting and you're the only one missing. 
Even before we entered the center of the cathedral city of Salisbury, i could already see from afar a building that looks sooo grand and majestic. it's cone shaped tower, technically called a spire, is the tallest in England so is it any wonder why it immediately grabbed my attention. we didn't have pics from when i first had a glimpse of the cathedral but i found some from the net that captured my sentiments at that time.
...and to our "Tour Gang"... to all the stories, the laughter, the food, the places...all those that we have experienced together... here's to all that and more... Cheers guys!
