Last weekend, my girlfriends from high school and I went on our first annual reunion weekend. Since leaving high school it has become harder and harder to organise a get together with all 10 of us, so we have decided that we will dedicate at least one full weekend every year to meet up and go somewhere new. This year we chose Bath, England and spent a whirlwind 48 hours in this beautiful little city.
Bath is a place where quintessential British stereotypes come true. There is a pub on every corner, a meandering river with punting in the summer, endless options for afternoon tea and a museum dedicated to Jane Austen.
As a big group on a budget, we didn’t manage to sample all that this quaint little city has to offer (a trip to Britain’s only natural thermal spring spa would have gone down a treat) – but we did our best!
Evening 1
The first evening we arrived was spent catching up around the large kitchen table of our cosy airbnb on Monmouth Street. With wine, pasta and the most ridiculous party games (charades anyone?), it was the perfect start to the weekend and long overdue. We worked out that the last time we were all together as a group was over 2 years ago!
Day 1
The next day after a late brunch in the flat we headed out to explore Bath. Our wonderful tour guide Hannah (the most organised person I have ever met and the ideal travel companion) led us around all the main tourist spots.
We started at the Circus, a famous circle of Georgian era houses designed by architect, John Wood, the Elder, but completed by his son, John Wood, the Younger. It is said that John Wood, the Elder was convinced that Bath had been the centre of Druid activity in Britain and so he mimicked the dimensions of Stonehenge in his design. I loved spotting the interesting wee emblems such as acorns or serpents that lined the stonework on the front of the houses. Apparently, if you stand in the very centre of the Circus, there is a spot where everything you say will echo around the buildings. We didn’t find it.
We then wandered on to the famous Royal Crescent, another example of beautiful architecture designed by John Wood, the Younger, and then through the tranquil and well-kept botanical gardens.
After a late lunch of mezze platters at Comptoir Libanaise (its really hard to find a cute independent cafe capable of sitting 10 hungry women on such short notice), we meandered back through the Guildhall market. This covered market has been trading on this site for over 800 years and is the oldest shopping venue in the city. Today it is filled with a mishmash of haberdashery, hardware, deli foods, and books. There is a little cafe and a very retro diner if you are looking for a bite to eat in an old-school setting.
Just outside the market lies the Pulteney bridge, an iconic Bath site and famously the setting for Javert’s suicide in the 2012 film version of Les Misérables. A few of us then squeezed in a quick visit to the abbey in all its stained glass glory before heading back to the apartment to recuperate before the evening.
Evening 2
Unfortunately due to a booking mix-up, the restaurant we had hoped to eat at didn’t have a table for us. Cue a frantic half an hour of ringing round every restaurant we could find to request a table for 10, last minute on a Saturday night. No surprises that we didn’t have any success there! Deliveroo saved the day and after filling our bellies with vegan chicken burgers, wagamama and burritos we headed out to a nearby bar, Sub13, where we had booked a table for drinks. As Scots unused to England’s more relaxed drinking laws, we made full use of happy hour and a 2 for 1 cocktail deal. Much hilarity (and a full blown karaoke session around the infamous kitchen table when we got back to the flat) ensued.
Day 2
The next morning we enjoyed a very hungover brunch at a cafe called Sweet Little Thing. The place was decorated with a cute but very overindulgent explosion of pastels and flowers, which was a little overwhelming for us in our fragile state. I had a very disappointing acai bowl and envied my friend’s choices of chocolate pancakes or garlic mushrooms on toast which looked far more appealing.
After that we split up to watch the rugby, or visit the Roman baths or, in my case, make a solo trip to the Jane Austen museum. As the only literary geek in the group, I found that my enthusiasm to find out more about the life of one of the greatest female British authors was not shared. Off I went, alone, to one of the strangest wee museums I have ever stepped foot in.
An adult entry ticket was £12, paid for in the tiny gift shop upon entry, I was then instructed to take a seat in the parlour upstairs and wait for my tour guide. It turns out that tours are every 20 minutes and I had just missed the last one, so I had rather a long wait watching the bizarre promotional film of “Jane” exploring modern day Bath.
Then after an introduction to the family tree by an enthusiastic Mr Willoughby of Sense and Sensibility fame (the staff all act as characters from one of her novels), we were free to wander the small exhibition at our leisure. There are very limited artefacts there, likely due to the fact that Jane was not actually famous until after her death as she had published under a pseudonym to avoid the poor reputation that came with being a woman writer at the time. The only reason we know Austen and all of her works is because of her brother’s efforts to posthumously publish Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, including a biographical note that credited her as the author and listed her other works.
The exhibition at the Jane Austen Centre largely consists of facts about her life, a video giving further information about what her life might have been like and gimmicks such as the option to dress up in Regency costume or write with a quill and ink. There is also a wax figure claiming to be the closest likeness to the author we can hope to achieve. I made a swift exit as Mr Willougby joked that she was ‘definitely his type’ and resisted buying a themed tote bag in the gift shop.
We finished the weekend with a much needed pizza and a long bus journey to the airport for a very delayed flight home.
In all it was a strange, fun and totally perfect place to spend our first girls weekend away. I can’t wait for next year!