Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Last bit of Bathy time fun.

 We went to the Jane Austin Centre linky here on Tuesday. I was really looking forward to this, as on every previous visit I'd wanted to go but had J with me and it's not his thing (understandably). I was, I'm sad to say, disappointed. It cost £15, with a £1 guide pamphlet, you were left in a little room to await a talk, which was no more than about 15 minutes, it was informative but done in a flat tone with an odd sing song note. I didn't learn anything new really. The downstairs exhibits were OK but rather small and we really needed to all start going "Bahhhhh" as it felt more like sheep herding than a museum visit. Shop was OK, gave the tearoom a miss though - felt like I'd given them enough ££ by then.
 We wandered up the hill and found The Circus (above and previous photo). It made up for the Jane Austen 'underwhelming' Centre.
 We then continued exploring and finally stumbled upon Royal Crescent - fan-bloomin-tastic. Really just blows you away. I also had a good mooch about some of lovely little shops all around this area - found some lovely earrings - a pair for Mum (little thank you for dog and brat sitting) and a pair of me. Had a minor heart attack at the price of a weeny little bag with Scotties on.......£165.00....the mini change style purse was £45 (both with a 10% discount).
 Took a lovely stroll around Victoria Park and found the monument - the daylight was really getting grey so we couldn't get a clearer shot - this is best of the bunch.
This little street here is where I found the earrings and the bag (which I didn't buy). You see the yellow building? That is where we had lunch and it was totally fab! Here's a a link to their FB page. M had the scallops on kaffa (sp?) lime leaves - which he reckoned was the best scallop dish he'd ever tasted, with a side of bread and olives, I had a fresh tomato and basil sauce over pasta with a fruity glass of Merlot followed by a fresh, strong and piping hot black coffee. It truly was a delicious lunch  and very good value too. The place is small with an intimate feel and the service is very good. When we go back (and we will) we will be going there for lunch and or dinner as their menu just calls for more sampling. It made a great day together even better. I had a nose at what the guy next to us ordered including his polenta cake pudding and it looked awesome.

We headed back to the hotel, after a visit to the Hawkins Bazaar shop to find a gift a for J, and rested our aching feet in the bar.

As a side note, I need to say that the Travelodge (Waterside) at Bath is brill. More hotel than most Travelodge with a lovely lounge area bar and waterside restaurant. The room was spotless, the staff were very helpful and friendly and the buffet brekkie was a winner with us both.

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