July 1, 2011 London to Bath

Transatlantic flights are never easy. There should be an etiquette training session that you have take before getting on the flight. The two people in front of us needed that training- no jumping on the seats, punching each other, flicking the lights on and off - no it is not good...people get upset and flight attendants get upset when they are called numerous times by mistake...UGHHHHHHH.
Enough of that...

After landing in Heathrow we queued up for the border entry line which took about an hour. At least we didn't have to wait for our luggage :) We bought Heathrow Express tickets online but honestly they were selling them at every turn so it really wasn't necessary. It was easy moving with our luggage onto the Heathrow Express which took us from Heathrow to Paddington station in about 20 minutes! By the way, there is no need to buy a first class ticket on this train as it comes is comes so frequently and is such a quick transfer.

From Paddington, we headed over to the train ticket office (on the same level) where we purchased 2 return tickets to Bath leaving at 10:00 am. Watching the board, you need to look for the last stop on your train route (ours was Paignton) to determine which platform you need to hurry over to. It shows up about 10 minutes before the train leaves the station.

The train ride was about 1.5 hours and we hailed a taxi to our B&B. Bath is so picturesque. Every corner you turn there is a pretty setting. We walked to the middle of town (about 10 minutes) after meeting Simone who gave us a key and some friendly tips. This is when you desperately try to stay awake so you can adapt to your new time zone. There was one point when Dan was taking pictures of the incredible stained glass windows in the Bath Abbey.  All I wanted to do was lay down on a bench and sleep...

Fish and chips at a local pub accompanied by a Bellringer beer for me and a Hobgoblin lager for Dan!

Finally we crawled into our cozy bed...so excited for tomorrow and my class with Richard Bertinet. I feel like it is my first day of school!
We will catch you later
Penny and Dan