Bath and books and things

Bath was lovely, as usual. Why didn't I study abroad there instead of Exeter? Okay, so it might not be so nice on a rainy day (yesterday and the day trip in December were both gorgeous, warm, sunny days), but. Still.

I took lots more pictures, which I shall post soon. I got to wear another corset at the Museum of Costume, and I saw the Jane Austen Centre (which might have been more fun if I'd read anything Austen besides Pride and Prejudice and that less than four years ago). I was especially impressed with the Royal Victoria Park, which was green and leafy and dotted with Romanesque sculpture. Why doesn't Exeter have any nice parks like that? There are the gardens down by the castle, but they're tiny in comparison to this. There were even some Botanic Gardens, although they weren't nearly as nice as the ones in Belfast (partially because it's currently the limbo between the tulips and the roses at the moment, as far as I can tell). They also have a nice walk along the River Avon. And the Bath Abbey is simply gorgeous; it might be the prettiest church I've seen in this country, if not this year. The ceiling has some incredible carving in it that must be seen to be believed.

I did some shopping, too, mostly looking for a birthday present for a Certain Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless, but ended up getting gifts for myself. Bath has a Christmas store, which I was drawn to like iron filings to a magnet. I ended up with a purple and green jester ornament and a beautiful one of a girl in Edwardian dress doing some kind of cross between a spiral and an arabesque. I wandered into some charity shops and ended up with yet more books, although at least these two paperbacks were only 50p each. (For the curious, they're The Railway Children, which I'd heard of but never run into in the US, at least not when I was still reading children's books with any regularity, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I've never read before.) Hey, I need some books for June...

Spekaing of books, note to self: see if neato used bookstore in Topsham or guy who sets up used book stall in Cornwall House every month will buy books for cash. I have almost 40 that I have to get rid of, because I'm going to have to mail packages of stuff home as it is, and getting even a little money for them would be lovely.

Oh, and there was a dollhouse store on the Pulteny Bridge (a bridge with shops on it--how awesome is that?). I drooled at all the tiny tea sets and food and furniture of all sorts. One day, when I'm filthy rich, I'm going to have one of those doll mansions that were on display and decorate each room perfectly in line with various periods of history and architectural styles--an Edwardian nursery, a Georgian dining room, a High Victorian parlour, etc. etc.

Three things

1. Exmouth and Bath photos are up at the usual spot.

2. Next week, it's going to break the 60F mark for the first time since I got here in September. Woo-hoo! *is ready for endless 50s to end already*

3. I discovered yesterday that Woolworth's sells Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Eeeeeeee!!!

June plans

*sticks out tongue at EasyJet* Phooey. I had a schedule all planned out for June, and it depended on being able to fly from Bristol to Inverness, like EasyJet said they could. Of course, I go to make sure of that, and the flights don't start until July. ARGH! So I either need to spend £ 30 more on a single train trip to London and fly out of there, or rearrange my whole schedule to accomodate flying from Exeter to either Edinburgh or Glasgow, then taking a train. Bah.

Spekaing of the Highlands, some questions for people who've been there. Okay, so I've heard good things about the Isle of Skye. Are they true? How difficult is it to get there via public transportation if I base myself in Inverness for a couple of days? Would some kind of tour be a better option? Also, as far as prettiness goes, would Loch Ness or Loch Lomond be the better option? Should I do both, even though I have, like, five days, two of which will be taken up with getting to and from Scotland?

Any info about the Lake District that anyone can provide would be nice, too.

*looks at 2500 words of memoir* And to think I'd meant to have all 5000 written by tonight. *sigh* Although I was working on other stuff today; I'm writing a paper on You've Got Mail and its reworking of the story in The Shop Around the Corner, so of course I had to watch YGM today, regardless of the fact that I've memorized large parts of that movie... ;)