The West Country: Aquae Sulis and Beyond

A word to the wise: don't try driving out of London at rush hour on a Friday evening. We did, and my left ankle is still sore from all the clutching. The A40, M4 and roads in-between were all stop-and-go. A trip of 119 miles from London to Bristol that should have taken a little over two hours took four. But eventually we reached our hotel in Bristol and all was well.

John and I realized that in the months we've been living in London we hadn't really seen much of England outside the big city. So we decided to spend a weekend in the West Country. The gods must have smiled on us because we were very fortunate with the weather: sunny skies and mild temperatures.

Some of the highlights of our weekend in the West Country included:

A visit to the city of Bath, called Aquae Sulis by the Romans, was wonderful. I had not been there in many, many twenty-some years and John had never seen this Georgian city made of pale golden stone. Visiting the old Roman baths is a trip back in time.

Getting to know the city of Bristol a bit. We didn't get to see all the things in Bristol we wanted to do. There was a half marathon going on one day which closed a good deal of the town to us. But we found some good restaurants and visited a 16th-century pub called the King's Head (a very popular pub name).

Driving through the beautiful English countryside to the mystical city of Glastonbury and the city of Wells. We arrived at the Wells Cathedral late in the afternoon and evensong was being sung in the choir. It's a beautiful building. It has unique double pointed inverted arches in the crossing (to help support the tower). I found the effect to be beguiling.

A return visit to Avebury and the ancient sites around this remarkable place. We viewed Silbury Hill, the largest man-made earthen mound in Europe. It's purpose is still a mystery. The stone circle at Avebury is ever fascinating: it's older than Stonehenge and there are many theories about its purpose.

And we planted our feet in a village called Fyfield. Enough said.