Bath has a fascinating history connected to the Roman Empire, perhaps best represented by the Roman Baths themselves.  So the main highlight of Bath World Heritage Day was to demonstrate what this history would have looked like in context.

At the Royal Crescent, replica Roman military camps had been set up.  And where military supplies are, troops can’t be far behind…

Beyond were said Roman troops, who proceeded to demonstrate various aspects of their history, first showing off their uniforms and weapons before beginning some exercises.  One of the first was a series of javelin throws.

Several military formations were demonstrated, including the famously effective tortoise.

Then various long-range weapons were used, including bows, catapults, and ballistas.

The event ended by the dispersal of the troops, allowing us viewers to see them and their uniforms up close.

It was a fun opportunity to step back in time and learn more about the unique history of Bath in a visual fashion.

Becca, Maddie, and myself banded together for a day trip, initially planning for an exploration of Glastonbury, which Maddie had visited before on a study trip.  After consulting with Andrew, our wonderful internship advisor, we decided to also stop by Wells.  Day passes in hand, we boarded our bus in a similar fashion to our spring break bus tour.

After arriving in Wells, we briefly perused a local outdoor Saturday market before heading to the Bishop’s Palace.  Bounded by a wall and moat, the place was oddly similar to a castle.  From there we made our way to Wells cathedral, decorated with numerous carvings of religious figures.

We’ve visited many churches during our time in England, and have begun to notice all sorts of common design patterns.  But this cathedral was truly unique in its architecture, which featured incredible scissor arches.  While beautiful, the structure is very practical, as apparently it was created to prevent the building from sinking into the ground.

After viewing a clock that featured jousting, we walked up some wonky stairs (worn by untold numbers of footsteps) to an echoey meeting chamber.

We ended our cathedral exploration with a trip to the library, where an older gentleman excitedly showed us some of the features of the collection, including a section of chained books that resembled the Forbidden Section of Hogwarts.

As we left we stopped by the market to grab some snackage.  I picked up a Dorset Lardy Cake, which is every bit as unhealthy and delicious as you might imagine.  From there we made our way to the city of Glastonbury.  Our first matter of business was to make our way to Glastonbury Tor, a huge hill with a tower associated with King Arthur’s legend.  Unfortunately we got a bit lost, as Google maps apparently took us to a tor street rather than the actual tor.  Thus we got to see a hidden side of Glastonbury, which includes an industrial portion of town, and yaks.

After our warm up, we oriented ourselves properly to head to the Tor, which included a brief stop by a candlelit reservoir, apparently some form of spiritual gathering place.  After seeing some more livestock in the form of sheep (and lambs!) we eventually reached the hill and began our ascent.

The view was incredible, and we took a moment to simply sit at the top and admire our surroundings.

We then visited the Chalice Well, connected to all sorts of mythology.  This was a recurring theme of our visit to Glastonbury, as we saw so many sights connected to spirituality.  At some points walking around the town I felt like I had stepped back into the 70’s.  It was a whole different cultural experience.

We ended our stay by grabbing a pint of local cider by the 15th century George and Pilgrim pub, which Maddie visited on her study trip.  In fact, one gentleman recognized her!

We then began our bus ride back, having had another great day of exploring with the original spring break team.

I took a Friday in April to finally explore London.  Nearly three months in England had passed, and I had only ever used London as a transient place to get back and forth from Bath.  I began my exploration by making a loop to cover the major iconic landmarks, starting with a walk down the Mall to view Buckingham palace.

I then took in the scenery around St. James’ Park, which was inhabited by all sorts of aquatic birds.

This then led me to Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben.  Ish.  Big Ben is sadly unrecognizable, being absolutely smothered in scaffolding.  But the other iconic buildings have amazing exteriors.

After a walk along the River Thames, hopped on over to the British Museum, which was filled with all sorts of historic artifacts.  The Egyptian exhibit with its mummies was of course a major highlight.  I hadn’t realized how much Greek influence impacted the art of sarcophagus decorating post-Alexander.  I was also able to see artifacts like the Rosetta stone, and carvings for Sargon (They Might Be Giants and The Mesopotamians anyone?).  Depictions of ancient lion hunting were also fascinating.  The museum is huge, and you could probably spend days thoroughly perusing all the place has to offer, but I think I successfully hit the major highlights.

I then visited a little historic church of St. Bartholomew the Great’s.  This was one of the most surprisingly nice additions to my day.  After all the running around it was nice to take a breather on a bench and have a bite to eat in the wake of a nearly 900 year old religious site.

I then visited the Museum of London.  This featured smaller exhibits that were more personal to the city itself.  Bits of medieval clothing, a fascinating look at the terror of the Black Plague, and some recreations of Victorian era streets were some of the highlights.

After stopping by St. Paul’s Cathedral, I ended my trip with a visit to Hyde Park, the largest Royal Park in London.  Unfortunately I made the rookie mistake of visiting on 4/20, and as such, rather than being a peaceful contemplative stroll, I was often surrounded by crowds of young people.  But the surrounding scenery was beautiful.

I had taken full advantage of the day travelcard I had purchased, which let me bop around using the London metro system as much as I wanted, maximizing my efficiency.  Interestingly, I don’t think the British really know how to handle heat.  The temperature was a perfectly balmy 75 degrees (Fahrenheit) but reminders were posted all over the metro reminding travelers to drink water and seek help if they feel sick.  Londoners can deal with rain, but apparently not the sun…

But overall, it was a fairly lovely day to take the time to properly explore the capital city of England.