Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Bath, England

Lots happened today. I replaced my lost umbrella. You can get really good umbrellas here, as it rains a lot. I had lost the one I bought on the first day somewhere.

Then I bought a phone. To make calls and text here, you need a different SIM. I can use my US carrier T-Mobile, but its way expensive. So, Before I left, I bought a SIM for the UK online. For $50, I got 12G of data, 300 minutes of talk and 3000 texts that lasts a month. But, it requires an unlocked phone. I had previously tested my phone with a SIM in the US and it worked, so I assumed my phone was unlocked. But, the SIMs I get here say it isn't. So, I bought a cheap smart phone and the SIM worked.

During all that, I took a picture of another church in town – St. Michaels Without. Without what, they didn't say. It's a Church of England church:



That done, I went on a sightseeing hike. The waitress where I ate last night told me about a park with panoramic views of the town. So, that was my goal. It wasn't far, but seemed straight up. The veiw was as promised:



Then it was back to the hotel to wait for the car people to pick me up. He showed up a little late, but just a bit. I got the car and decided to practice driving on the left side of the road. Instead of driving in Bath with it's crowded twisty streets, I went to Wells – another cathedral town about 15 miles away. I'm glad I did. The drive was good, except for traffic in unexpected places. Lots of little villages and the practice was useful. I was much more comfortable driving when I got back than when I started.

Oh,yes – the cathedral is magnificent. They started building it around 1200 and sort of finished around 1500. It's huge:



And spectacular inside:


Needless to say, they take their churches seriously here.

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