Bath

Hello!
Today, Brooke and I went to Bath.
I got a nutella and banana and a little extra sugar crepe on the way to the train station. I tried eating it while walking, but I got chocolate all over my face. As soon as I sat down in the train station, I just went Fantastic Mr. Fox all over that thing. So delicious! I got chocolate all over my hands and face and thoroughly enjoyed licking it all off. Sorry, Mom.
The first thing in Bath that we did was the Georgian House. All of the guides were so nice. There was a different guide in each room that knew thousands of facts and details about upper class life in the 1770s. Apparently, families would just take 6 month vacations in Bath and leave all of their children who weren't at a marriageable age with the servants at home. In the kitchen, they would have a turnspit dog that ran in a hamster wheel above the fire to turn the spit to cook meat. They were a bit like wiener dogs, but they are extinct now. I wonder why... They had hot coals at the back of their feet in the wheel at first to train them.
The servants weren't allowed to make the tea because it was so expensive and the lady of the house wouldn't trust them. However, they could take the tea leaves after they were used and either drink them themselves or sell them to a used tea leaf dealer who would disguise them as new tea leaves. Thank God for food standards. Or not God. But I thank whomever who did that.
The guide in the lady's bedroom told us that she met her husband in the Assembly Rooms. (Notice that? Lady's room? Husbands and wives in the upper class didn't sleep together. They just had 16 kids magically.) She thought he was an absolute bore when she first met him. Since it was in the 60s, he had longer hair than she did, and frankly she was a bit disgusted. But somehow they got married and they have been happily together for 40 years. Brooke and I whisper-screamed in the stairs afterwards, "Mr. Darcy!"
In Jane Austen times, girls used the muslin dresses to their advantage. They would wet the material slightly before they went out dancing on the floor in order to show off their figures. Remember, knickers or any sort of underwear were considered improper at this time. Who ever thought that we dress racily today? Those girls were skanks. There was also an entire language with fans.
Some of my favorites:

Touching tip with finger - I wish to speak to you
Open wide - Wait for me
Presenting a number of sticks fan part open - At what hour?
Drawing through the hand - I hate you

These girls had an entire semaphore thing going on. It's almost as good as ants flirting with their antennae.

Next, we went to the fashion museum. And we tried on corsets and hoop skirts. No wonder they had such good posture. Corsets had whale bone in them.
Outside of the Assembly Rooms was a wedding with firemen. They had such a good time taking pictures on top of the firetruck. The bride's name was Arwen. Brooke and I had a small LoTR freak out. Dr. Hanks calls her Eowyn.

Next, Jane Austen exhibit thing. After the tour guide gave his schpeel, a 8 year old boy went right up to him and asked him how he knew all that stuff. We all laughed and the tour guide responded that he had studied a lot. Outside, a man dressed to the T in period introduced himself to me as Mr. Bingley and asked if my name was Jane. When I responded no, he said it was a pity that he could not marry me. He had the biggest smile on his ruddy face. Now I know what ruddy means. He was just the perfect gentleman and so believable as his character. Good job, Mr. Bingley.

My favorite part of today was having afternoon tea in the Pump Room over the Roman Baths. It was super high class and fancy. We got the Traditional High Tea. It was a lot of food, but we were determined to finish it. So, so delicious. We drank 4 pots of tea. There was a piano trio playing the entire time directly in front of us. They were actually good! They played Bach stuff and the general stuff that takes up time but not chops, but it was still extremely lovely and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. The violinist had three rings on two fingers on her left hand. I never understood rings, especially while playing violin. But she still had perfectly good technique!

We then went to the Bath Abbey and participated in the Evensong service. There was a choir wearing blue robes from some church out of town. There were about 6 kids in front that got a bit antsy. They all exited in military fashion, doing a little twirl at the turn. The kids had a lot of fun with that. A little old lady stayed until everyone left so she could begin a slow mosey out of the sanctuary, not in military style.

Next, the Roman Baths. I love the mix of eras. The springs have been a worship spot for 7000 years (give or take a few millennia), the bath part was Roman, the columns and most of the structure was from the 1700s, and most of the museum was fairly recent. Some of it had just been excavated in the 70s.
Romans would write curses on pewter and throw them into the baths. Most of them were just complaints about how they had lost a robe at the baths.
We then headed home. We met some Texans in the train station who had apparently seen us wandering around Bath because of my distinctive pink peonies. They said they were going to a nice Italian restaurant. We saw where they went, but we went to a pizza place across the street in order to appear less stalkerish. The pizza was lovely and I tried a third a glass of white wine with it. I made lots and lots of faces. I should not drink wine at all in public places where it would be offensive to make faces. Don't worry, parents, I still have not had a full drink since I've been here. I just have never had wine with a meal before, and I can't legally have that experience in Texas yet. If you read this and think it's detrimental to my possible future success at getting a job, tell me and I'll take it down, but it looks pretty harmless to me right now.
Brooke and I left the peonies outside Maddee's door and a postcard sending our regards.
I am happy with today's proceedings. Bath isn't nearly as touristy as I thought it would be. Or maybe Brooke is just an amazing tour guide. Everything was just perfect.