Bath

Waking up this morning it was about 9am so I guess it was a little bit of a better sleep in than yesterday when we had to leave Lyon, France There wasn’t much noise in the house so I didn’t think anyone else was up and I was super excited to be able to have a proper shower and wash my hair. I went back into the room and checked social media before getting a message from Ollie saying we could leave for Bath at 1030am and it was 10am now. I shook Lewis awake and made him get in the shower also. We realised we had stuff for breakfast but not the full packages ie cereal with no milk, jam with no bread haha! Being used to having supermarkets close by we figured we should just run down to the nearest one but unfortunately with it being a rather small town it was where we were last night and a good 20 minutes walk away. We sent Ollie a quick message, threw our jackets on and went for a light jog into town with our grocery bag. We picked up what we needed and Ollie called us saying he would come pick us up and we would head to Bath shortly as it is quite a drive and we would have brunch there. We grabbed more snack-like things we could eat in the car like smoothies and bread rolls so we could handle the drive of 1 hour 40 minutes before brunch. Lew also found some xmas gingerbread trees that he decided would be for his breakfast and also a treat for Zan and Ollie. These however took us quite a bit of time to put into the silly self checkout machine and we were concerned poor Ollie was waiting for us a long time. We found Ollie in the carpark and raced back to the house grabbing some stuff for the day and headed off on our road trip. The drive did seem to take a long time despite there not being any traffic on the motorways but it was an exciting Sunday drive and a lovely sunny day also and to top it off I wasn't having to drive or navigate. Arriving into the outskirts of Bath the traffic started to build up which Ollie said was due to the rugby. With Lew in the front navigating the boys decided we would try some of the small back roads to avoid the traffic. They reminded me a little of the small French back roads and the Prius did a good job at roaring around the right streets (can a Prius even do that?!). Lew found a route we could walk down into town so we parked up in the residential area. It was a short wander down to a super awesome cafe called Hunter & Sons. It reminded me of the kind of hip places we have in Auckland but obviously had a bit more of an English spin on it. Everyone ordered a full English breakfast but I got a green tea with the almond milk porridge with plums instead as I have been craving porridge for a while now! All up it cost is £20.70 ($40.14 NZD) which wasn’t that cheap but I guess we combined breakfast and lunch together so we were saving money right? The food was indeed top notch and Lew tried black pudding for the first time. Although Ollie lied to him about what it actually was 😂. I did say it was on a similar level to foie gras so I think he probably caught my jist without knowing that he was eating a blood sausage.

Once we had finished brunch the plan was to just aimlessly walk the city and see what was happening. It was rather busy which Ollie said was just other tourists but Zan was certainly right when she said the town was adorable labelling it her most favourite city in the UK! We found a few shops we visited including a yoga store, xmas store and some of my favourite stores which are the ones with wee trinkets and homeware. One of Ollie’s friends had opened a shop up here recently called Abbot Lyon which was a pop up pilot store so we went to visit this. The watches and jewellery were to die for and quite similar to the beautiful watch that I already have from Nixon. I was very impressed and certainly wouldn’t say no if I could get a good deal on them! I decided to take a business card instead and look into purchasing one when my current watch gets old. Ollie wanted us to take a walk around the Avon River which gave us a beautiful view over the city and Pulteney Bridge. Something both Lew and I learnt is that there are canal and river networks that connect all of the cities in the UK and when we were walking around the river we came across a lock which allows the boats to climb up hills. I had only heard about this being used in the panama canal but didn't realise it was so used within the UK also. They aren't automatic either the boat owners have to climb out and manually open and close the locks themselves which have large handles on the ground. There has been talk of draining all of these and creating a bike path instead allowing people to bike between cities since the infrastructure is all there. There are a lot of people who grew up on the river and are not so happy about this potential plan. We took some photos and then walked up into the bridge which seemed more like a normal street than a bridge since there were shops along it. We though it was similar to Florences famous bridge Ponte Vecchio and there was even a restaurant we walked past called that. The sun was setting despite it being only 3.45pm and Lew was rather chilly as he brought both his vests but was still in his t-shirt so his arms were exposed! Ollie and Zan decided we would go to a cool bar for a drink called Hall & Woodhouse and neither Lew and I were complaining since we were both cold. We were hoping for something warm to drink but they had run out of mulled wine and cider AND hot chocolate! The options wern't great and I didn’t really need more liquid since I was already struggling to not pee every 10 minutes after the 3 cups of green tea I drunk this morning. Lew said that if there wasn’t any other options he would share a cup with me though. Ollie insisted on paying for us again and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He also brought two teas instead of letting us share one. How are we ever going to be able to repay these people for their generosity! It was pleasant as we curled up on a deep comfortable couch sipping something hot. I supplemented Lews tea with a double chocolate cookie. The poor thing really wasn’t interested in drinking beer after last night but he’s going to have to get used to it since the locals would have started at midday if they could have. Ollie still had a couple of things to show us before we walked back to the car and we also had to get back to Thame to his parents house for dinner.

We walked a short distance to a place called the circle which was a big circle of beautiful houses with some trees in the middle. It really could have been Paris if the houses had flowers off their balcony. The next place was called the crescent which was similar but obviously not a full circle like the last one. We had gazed in the window of a realestate agent to see how much it would cost us and this started the conversation of housing in the UK vs NZ. We were fascinated that majority of the houses are leaseholds when they purchase them here with a lease of about 120 years. They are owned by wealthy family’s so technically you never own the place yourself but you also do because the lease is so long. Lew did a great Job of explaining the housing crisis in NZ which was difficult because so many UK citizens never expect to own their own house freehold and it sounded stupid that we do back home. But it’s just how it is back home and it’s almost considered a failure if you don’t. Plus the UK is connected by so much public transport so it’s easier for people to live in cheaper neighbourhoods but still be able to get into the city where they work. This conversation continued as we began the journey back to Thame. Zan slept in the back of the car whilst I caught up writing the blog for the day. After all the cups of tea I was really struggling and had to sit in the back with my legs crossed and we looked for a petrol station with a toilet. The first BP we tried didn’t have one but I had already scoped out a bush as I went back to the car to tell the gang my plan. Ollie said don’t worry we will find another station and up fill up there much to my reassurance that I didn’t mind peeing in a bush. We continued on and I got more and more desperate. Thankfully there was another one about 30 minutes away we stopped at and I almost cried with relief when they had a bathroom! The rest of the journey back was easy and we arrived back at 6.50pm picking up Blake and going straight to Ollie’s parents place - Nicky & Brent’s for dinner. They were so welcoming and on arrival we were each handed a glass of champagne or red wine as we stood around the kitchen bench eating potatoes chips and getting to know each other. Brent was so funny with a big hearty laugh and a sense of humour that reminded me of my grandad. Nicky was very sweet also and they both were interested in what brought us all the way over to the UK. Brent used to be a police officer and had obviously brought patients into ED before so we had a mutual understanding of my job. We laughed over a few stories of things we had seen in the past both inappropriate and grusome. Ollie had prepared some beef bourgenon which smelled Devine and Nicky was in the process of frying up some brussel sprouts on their cooker called an Aga which is an old fashioned stove and cooktop that used to run off coal but had been reburbished to run off oil. Brent showed both Lew and I the mechanics of it and how the refurbishment allows them to remotely turn it off over night and whenever they want to stop it constantly using oil. The element on the top has a hot and a medium side and allowed you to put your ceramic bowls straight onto it. Brent also said you could throw a steak straight onto it to and it makes a great hiss and a roar but unfortunately makes a bit of a mess. They have this adorable wee dog that’s about 11 years old called Floosy and she was curled up in front of the fire, she reminded me a little of Murphy and loved a good belly scratch. It wasn’t long before dinner was served and Ollie has made sure some dairy free mashed potato was set aside for me. We all took seats at the table - Nicky, Brent, Ollie, Zan, Lewis and I and dug into the meal. It was such a good way to cook brussel sprouts and much better than just boiling them like I usually do. Nicky asked us about our travels and we showed her where we had been on then map. Brent was just funny in general and towards the end of dinner we talked about the year the gypsys came to town in Thame. The funniest thing was that I had grown up watching "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" and now we were in the country where you can actually see these people! Ollie’s said we drove past a few gatherings of them today on our way into Bath. Once dinner had been cleared Nicky brought our the Brioshe dessert and an apple for me. We were supposed to try and pick up something dairy free for me today but I convinced Ollie that an apple would be completely fine. We felt so spoilt to be welcomed into such a wonderful family and wished we were living closer to them, it had been awhile since we had a homecooked meal after all. Post dinner Zan had the idea that we got the fire going in the living room and watched an episode of The Blue Planet in which the second series has just come out after 10 years. I loved it as it reminded me of something we used to do on a Sunday night when I was younger but it was usually Top Gear instead. Before the show started Lew had got talking with Brent about engineering jobs and showed him some of the things he had created including the wake device he created last summer. We ended up watching the summer edit and discovering that Brent is an avid wakesurfer and skier also and they are part of a lake club with a Mastercraft. He still uses an old ski and despite trying new versions he still goes back to his original handed down to him by his father. He also had an Alpha Romeo hidden in the garage from around the 1920’s. It was rather chilly outside and we didn’t want to miss too much of the Blue Planet. With cups of tea in hand we all snuggled into the duck feather sofas to watch the show. Once it had finished it was about 11pm and Ollie dealt with the fire and also rearranged then couches before we left. Did you know you have to plump them up after every time you use them? They look sooo inviting but the upkeep sounds a little tedious. We drove back to the house and Lew and I showered and headed to bed. I don’t think anyone else showers morning and night here 😂 they probably think Lew and I are absolute clean freaks but nothing beats putting your pjs on once you have got clean and warm! Tomorrow everyone else has to go to work but we will likely catch the bus into Oxford to check it out.