The Culpers: Beautiful Bath!

WARNING...massive blog ahead! I have to apologize for all of you AJ-blogging fans...he was going to take the reins and add commentary to our adventure to Bath...but I spoiled the fun when I told him we should include 20+ pictures. So...you're left with another blog from Andrea!

AJ and I ventured to the beautiful little Roman-inspired town of Bath on Saturday. We are so excited to show this town to all who may wander our way! (We were thinking of you Pitzer's!) It's just a 11-minute train ride there! Amazing! We found a Borders bookstore in the Bristol city-center after church one weekend and found a great book of 30 area hikes around our city. One of the trips was a 8.5 mile trek around Bath and the surrounding countryside. We were inspired to give it a try. We hope you enjoy our photo journal of our day!

Here we are in Bath! Brrrr...it was super cold! We could see our breath for hours!

AJ standing next to one of the ancient wooden locks along the man-made canal...stretching from Bristol to London. This amazing engineering feat enabled industry to grow in the late 1700's.

Common features of the canal include canal boats. We were told that a sort of "indigenous" folk live on these boats, which range from old-timer "RV" type, well-to-do models, to run-down boats just keeping afloat.

Houses line part of the canal, giving it a little feel of Venice!

Another pretty shot of the home on the canal outside of Bath.

A saying we've been living by! ("Pudding" is equivalent to dessert!)

Here's Dave...a friendly retiree who moved to a river life with his wife..."now that the kids are out of the house!". He gave us a great history about the "River Folk" and learned that 18 kids were born on the boats in the area in the past couple of years! Wow!

A pretty shot of the embankment behind Dave's docked canal boat.

Here's a photo of the countryside along the canal path, just a couple of miles beyond Bath.

One of the villages the trail led us to was Bathampton Spa. Here's a shot of one of the local gathering spots!

At one point we spotted a little kitty on the trail. AJ stooped down to pet him, and he immediately made himself at home! He eventually crawled on AJ's neck and perched on his shoulder. Looks like he needed some love! (A man on a bicycle came by and said that one of the canal folks had lost their cat...and this little guy matched the description...phew!)

Eventually, the hiking route took us off the canal path and into a little village along the bank called Cleverton. Some of the buildings were constructed in the 15th century. Unbelievable!

AJ and I ascended a relatively large hill along the way and came upon a random American Museum. We didn't feel the need to check it out...maybe next time!

As the day progressed, we realized our hike took us to many random encounters! Just when we thought we were in the middle of the countryside, we came upon a bobsled training center. A couple steps later we found ourselves at the edge of the University of Bath property. I still think it was random! Ha.Ha.

At lunchtime, I made AJ stop for a pose!

Towards the end of the hike, we stumbled upon the "Sham Castle", which is just a small castle-like structure that a gentleman built to enhance the view of Bath from his cottage up the hill in 1792. Interesting!

Descending into Bath once again!

This was a hilarious attempt at getting a self-portrait of ourselves with Bath being the backdrop. Instead, we've made ourselves look like goomba's!

Once back in the city, the trek led us along the River Avon, where a boat trip came and docked. You can't tell in the picture...but the driver looked just like Steve Faulkner!!! To our Faulkner friends...we miss you guys!

A couple steps further we came across Bath's local rugby team stadium...sort of like the Packers or the Broncos are to us back home. It was a beautiful field!

With just 45 minutes before our train departure, AJ and I ran through the center of Bath to catch a glimpse of the area. Here's a photo of the The Abbey. It was beautiful! The day was so perfect...and it was so nice to see the sun!