A walk through Bath..,
Monday morning after three hours of sleep I got up and headed towards Paddington Station. I had a 10am train to Bath to catch and I was very excited. As the train pulled into familiar stations, Reading, Swindon and Chippenham, I was reminded of the countless times I’d taken this route going from TASIS to home in North Wraxell in my sophomore year of high school. Once in Bath I was picked up by my Mother’s close friend and whisked off to her house in Norton St. Philips. Her home is what one would picture an old English home to be- cute and quirky. We then put on our wellies to walk her adorable black lab, Woody. Walking through narrow windy back roads and through fields spotted with cowpats we talked of differences in culture, of life’s joys and its sorrows. While my hostess had to return to work I spent a few hours wondering the streets of Bath. This was the most fun I have had in weeks. It was an unusual experience as well. I felt like a guest in a city that I had once walked daily and knew intimately. I was like the tourists that flood the city every year. I waked every street looking up and down each building while taking hundreds of pictures. Memories came flooding back as I walked through the shops I had once frequented regularly.
Tuesday was again spent walking through the city. We started with brunch at a very cute café my mother and her friend had regularly met at for tea before picking up the kids. Conversation flowed easily as if her friendship with my mother was transferred by association to me. After a few hours of walking through Bath I bought some Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream in the Abby square across the Pump Room, and sat down outside to enjoy the street performer, write some postcards and watch the tourists go by. I found myself surrounded by a mixture of locals, and Japanese and American tourists. The American accent once again stands out as awkward and obviously out of place to me.
When it came time for me to take the train back to London I thought of how I would really like to live in Bath once again some day.
Monday morning after three hours of sleep I got up and headed towards Paddington Station. I had a 10am train to Bath to catch and I was very excited. As the train pulled into familiar stations, Reading, Swindon and Chippenham, I was reminded of the countless times I’d taken this route going from TASIS to home in North Wraxell in my sophomore year of high school. Once in Bath I was picked up by my Mother’s close friend and whisked off to her house in Norton St. Philips. Her home is what one would picture an old English home to be- cute and quirky. We then put on our wellies to walk her adorable black lab, Woody. Walking through narrow windy back roads and through fields spotted with cowpats we talked of differences in culture, of life’s joys and its sorrows. While my hostess had to return to work I spent a few hours wondering the streets of Bath. This was the most fun I have had in weeks. It was an unusual experience as well. I felt like a guest in a city that I had once walked daily and knew intimately. I was like the tourists that flood the city every year. I waked every street looking up and down each building while taking hundreds of pictures. Memories came flooding back as I walked through the shops I had once frequented regularly.
Tuesday was again spent walking through the city. We started with brunch at a very cute café my mother and her friend had regularly met at for tea before picking up the kids. Conversation flowed easily as if her friendship with my mother was transferred by association to me. After a few hours of walking through Bath I bought some Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream in the Abby square across the Pump Room, and sat down outside to enjoy the street performer, write some postcards and watch the tourists go by. I found myself surrounded by a mixture of locals, and Japanese and American tourists. The American accent once again stands out as awkward and obviously out of place to me.
When it came time for me to take the train back to London I thought of how I would really like to live in Bath once again some day.
posted by Starrchild at 8:44 AM
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