Chasing Jane, Chapter Two: I Arrive In Bath
It's 6:20 am on a Friday morning. The first Friday since I started working that I don't have to go into work. It's Good Friday and I have the day off.
Any sane person would still be abed, enjoying the opportunity to sleep in. Many's the time I've been accuse of being less than perfectly sane. So it is with great alacrity that I hop out of bed as my alarm starts chirping at me. 6:20 am. It's time to begin my Adventure in Bath!
I leave the house at about 7:15 and catch the bus to the train station in West Drayton. The online journey planner told me the bus would take 20 minutes to reach West Drayton. It takes 5.
Thrilled with the quickness with which I have reached the train station, I nevertheless find myself waiting until 8:06 to catch the train. No real time saved. No matter, I perch on the nearest bench and read a novel whilst waiting for the train. It's early yet and still chilly, but the sun is bright in the sky and the day promises to be gorgeous and warm.
The train journey takes nearly two hours, but it's a beautiful journey through the English countryside of rolling green hills dotted with cute little farmhouses. I have plenty of time to read and ruminate as the train is nearly empty and quite peaceful for most of the journey. It's only near journey's end that the train suddenly, and unfortunately, becomes heavily populated with what the British call "chavs". Better known to us Americans as "White Trailer Trash". Granted, I have no idea if they live in trailers, and not all were white, but you get the idea.
But all that is put aside as I get off the train at Bath with a few other fellow travels. Thankfully, the chavs are going on further down the line. Only such peaceful travellers as the middle-aged crossword lady get off the train at Bath with me.
I practically dance through town, following the signs to the visitor's centre, such is my excitement. The day is yet young and there is so much to see!
The Visitor's Centre lies within the shadow of Bath Abbey. I immediately purchase a map to minimize my chances of getting lost and head directly for the Jane Austen Centre. Through the Abbey Square I go, map clutched in hand, past the guy playing guitar and singing for the few tourists out and about. Bath is quiet this early in the day, and naively, I believe it will stay that way....
Any sane person would still be abed, enjoying the opportunity to sleep in. Many's the time I've been accuse of being less than perfectly sane. So it is with great alacrity that I hop out of bed as my alarm starts chirping at me. 6:20 am. It's time to begin my Adventure in Bath!
I leave the house at about 7:15 and catch the bus to the train station in West Drayton. The online journey planner told me the bus would take 20 minutes to reach West Drayton. It takes 5.
Thrilled with the quickness with which I have reached the train station, I nevertheless find myself waiting until 8:06 to catch the train. No real time saved. No matter, I perch on the nearest bench and read a novel whilst waiting for the train. It's early yet and still chilly, but the sun is bright in the sky and the day promises to be gorgeous and warm.
The train journey takes nearly two hours, but it's a beautiful journey through the English countryside of rolling green hills dotted with cute little farmhouses. I have plenty of time to read and ruminate as the train is nearly empty and quite peaceful for most of the journey. It's only near journey's end that the train suddenly, and unfortunately, becomes heavily populated with what the British call "chavs". Better known to us Americans as "White Trailer Trash". Granted, I have no idea if they live in trailers, and not all were white, but you get the idea.
But all that is put aside as I get off the train at Bath with a few other fellow travels. Thankfully, the chavs are going on further down the line. Only such peaceful travellers as the middle-aged crossword lady get off the train at Bath with me.
I practically dance through town, following the signs to the visitor's centre, such is my excitement. The day is yet young and there is so much to see!
The Visitor's Centre lies within the shadow of Bath Abbey. I immediately purchase a map to minimize my chances of getting lost and head directly for the Jane Austen Centre. Through the Abbey Square I go, map clutched in hand, past the guy playing guitar and singing for the few tourists out and about. Bath is quiet this early in the day, and naively, I believe it will stay that way....
posted by SheaLuna | 12:34 PM
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