In Which I Take a Bath (Sort of)

     So as much as I feel like we have been having adventures these past few weeks, I feel that we went into super adventure mode today. Going on hikes, walking through the rain, storing all of our things in backpacks, exploring the countryside, eating in pubs and staying in hostels. It was another crazy/busy day and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Though the hostel we are staying at right now doesn’t have any Wifi, I had to write this in Word so that I would not forget a thing by tomorrow night.
     This morning it was amazing not having to share one bathroom with seven other guys. Instead I shared with Paul, and that is fine. Our hotel then provided a great breakfast. (Though we still haven’t had a true British breakfast with baked beans). Plus I got some hot chocolate. They also had blocks of sugar sitting in a little bowl in the middle of the table, so I plopped those in my drink! It was great. We all loaded on the bus to go to Stonehenge!
      Stonehenge. Was. Awesome. As we drove down the road all of our faces were pressed against the window as we gawked at the standing stones. I was surprised by how big it was, and how close it was to the road. We all hopped off the bus and went through a tunnel that went under the highway and the popped out on the other side where we could take as many photos as we wanted. They had a path that ran around the outside of the stones, which was a little bummer because I wanted to approach the stones. Fortunately we could still get pretty close. It was another one of those moments that I just had to sit and marvel at the fact that I was really there. It was just as cool as I thought it would be, which was great. I tried to cast a few spells, but they didn’t seem to be working. Must be because I am adventuring myself out.
      We loaded up the bus again and began another long drive to go to Bath. Once again, we had our faces pressed against the window. (Once again, google pictures). Bath is a beautiful city named after the famous Roman baths in the middle of the city. I am frequently amazed at all of the history that we are seeing here from so many different times. Seeing the churches made by the old religions, the Roman ruins, the mysterious Stone Henge, the mines used years ago and museums of World War II. There is so much to be seen! We gawked at Bath and it was also very interesting because there was also a graduation ceremony going on. So we had a bunch of Europeans walking around in wizarding robes. Ask me if I thought about Hogwarts. Ask me. (The answer is yes. Yes I did). We made our way over and walked through the Roman Baths. They had a great museum set up and it was so cool to go out and see the actual waters. They also provided electronic guides that you carry around your neck and then if you want to certain exhibits have codes that you type in to listen to commentary. It was very interesting! At the very end they also had a place to toss in coins to make a wish. The Romans believed that wishes or curses thrown into the water went to the goddess Minerva and she would grant them. So yeah, Minerva is going to grant my wish. It’s awesome. They also had a fountain that you could take a drink out of. They told us not to touch the waters in the actual pool because it was unfiltered and dirty. This water, however, was not. They also claim that drinking the water will cure you. The water was hot and gross. It caught me off guard and so when I took a sip I spat it back out. The old man behind me gave me a crusty. Then I laughed and ran away.
      We explored Bath a little more, getting food and watching street performers. We made our way up to the Royal Crescent, which was amazing. They also had a Jane Austen museum/shop that some of the girls stopped by for a little while. I wish that we had more time to spend in Bath, because I feel that there was so much that I wanted to do but was unable to. Someday I may have to return with my family or something. ;)
      Our travels for the day concluded when we took a two hour bus ride over to Cornwall at the west coast. We purchased two different hostels and so the group had to separate to go to them. My group then went on an AMAZING hike/walk along the coast to get to our hostel. (The coach took all our luggage there separately, which is great because it would have been impossible to lug all of that across the path). It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. The water was so blue and the grass so green. I seriously wanted to sit down and just start spewing literature or something. We went by an old castle during part of the hike that they actually believe may have been Arthur’s. The hike lasted about three hours and was great. It rained for a bit, we encountered cows, drank water from rivers, some girls stepped in poop (it’s hard to watch where you are stepping when you are busy staring at EVERYTHING ELSE), others slid down muddy hills and we all just had a great time. It felt like the very definition of an adventure in Europe. And then Frank (English Professor) did something that sealed the deal. He said we needed some soundtrack music and then turned on some of the music from Lost on his iPhone. Yeah, I started freaking out right there. I just wanted to sit down and stay there for a verrrrrryyyyyy long time.
      Our little outing ended when we arrived in the small town of Boscastle where BYU rented us out an adorable little hostel. We were all starving to we ran over to a local pub to get some delicious food. I don’t know what it is about these pubs, but their food has been amazing so far. Also, their workers are great. Hooray for pub people! We all returned to the hostel with happy and tired faces. We are muddy, some of us have scratches, others smell like poo, but it was all so amazing. I think we will all sleep well tonight.

      (Found some Wifi in this other hotel, but it's very slow.  Pictures are....not cooperating.  Maybe later)