Dude My Pants Are Too Big!

No, seriously. I think I've lost a few more pounds already. I have two pair of jeans with me; one were a little big when I left to begin with, but they come with a belt so it's good. The other ones, the ones I've been wearing yesterday and today, were fine when I left. They were actually just about perfect. Today, I don't even know how many times I had to pull them up. I mean that's good, seeing as how I've been on this weight loss kick and everything, but damn is it annoying!

Yesterday I didn't do much. I got up at around 730, showered, ate, and then packed everything up and checked out of my room. I took the Tube as close to the bus station as I could get, bought a ticket for Bath (which was like thirty dollars, gross) and waited around. The bus left at 11:15, and I was at Bath by around 3. I got directions from some guy at the bus station, and backpacked to the Hostel. This one is really sweet; it's pretty big and the rooms are decently nice. There's two problems. Well one and a half. The half problem is that the showers/bathrooms are coed (weirdest thing ever) and I haven't decided whether or not that's actually a problem. This morning after my shower two women walked in and it was awkward as hell. Whatever. The other problem is that it's up this hill and OH MY GOD IS IT STEEP. lol. Yesterday when I got to Bath, I actually had to hike up it twice because I took a wrong turn (oops). It's more of a ridge than a hill, going up a good 5-600 feet in a half mile or so... it's really steep. But, I got a good workout, and was very pleased by the fact that doing some real backpacking isn't nearly as hard as it was the last time I went. I was very glad I'd been dieting and exercising. Still, I was a big ball of sweat by the time I got up to the hostel to book a bed for two nights with the cute receptionist. Damn. Then I ate a little bit (reese's and peanuts... literally) and read for awhile and went to bed.

Today was fun. I got up at 730, ate breakfast (it's better here than it was at the last one), showered, and set off into Bath. Bath has the feel of a small town that found itself with a couple of big tourist attractions and so crammed a whole bunch of stores and restaurants in the middle, with nothing but suburbia on the outside. I went down and checked out all the sights: the Royal Crescent, which is a really posh section of housing in a big semi-circle, then Bath Abbey, which was like Westminster Abbey but smaller and picture taking was allowed, and then finally the Roman Baths. Those were SO COOL. I'm of course a History buff, and Roman History is my favorite, so this was pure pleasure for me. The ruins were pretty extensive, and they had all kinds of models and pictures and movies about what it would've looked like two thousand years ago. There was an audio tour guide, like at Westminster Abbey, and it was pretty good. There were drainage systems from the pools that are still working after 2000 years. So that was fun.

This morning, I had booked a half day tour to go see Stonehenge. I had just enough time after the ruins to grab a sandwich thing before my tour bus got there. It was cool, just a really big van (it sat like 16 people I think) and a driver/tour guide. He talked about some stuff in Bath, then about some of the stuff we drove through, then about Stonehenge. Stonehenge was pretty cool; the rocks are really big. There was another audio tour guide (they seem to like those a lot here) and it took a little under an hour. Unfortunately, you can't actually go in Stonehenge, except at the Winter and Summer Solstices (because the site is aligned astronomically and so it's cool then and the tour guide said there were some 30,000 people there last June). You get pretty close, but not in. Oh well.

Afterward, we stopped at a quaint little village for about a half hour where this pub had been open since the 18th century and they had shot some footage from Harry Potter. When I got back to Bath, I promptly went to the store to buy food for tonight and for the next two nights, all for 8 £s. Soup and pretzels for the next two nights, and for tonight I splurged and bought some frozen pizza. It was gooooood. While I was eating it, I met this girl named Amaia, from Spain. She educated me on the recent history of Spain... lol. She also just brought me some chestnuts she was cooking and is kinda cute. So I'll probably go back to talk to her again.

I've decided that instead of going to Scotland, I'm just going to the Lake District. It's supposed to be really pretty country for hiking, and Scotland is just too far away. Next time. So tomorrow I'll catch a train, head up North to a city/town called Ambleside, where there is of course a hosel. I'm going to try to leave early so I get there before the rain hits, probably stay indoors tomorrow night, and then Sunday go hiking all day in the hills up there. Monday afternoon I'll go back to London, maybe hit another museum up there, and then I think stay up all night or sleep in the train station so that I make sure I don't miss my train. I'll be able to handle that because I've been getting 10 hours plus every night, and am feeling great. I had a pretty gross cold thing at the beginning of the week (every time I talked I sounded like I was dying) but it's pretty much gone now. I think I'll blog again Monday night - nothing's going to happen tomorrow and if I hike as much as I'm planning on Sunday then I'll be too tired to type for very long.

And.... Drew, don't worry I will of course hit some pubs in Belgium, it's the only reason I'm going there (I'm so serious right now). Rusty - I'm not going to scotland. Sorry buddy. And yes, I'll get you your damn Absinthe. Grandma - I drink now. Get over it. Mom - thanks for the update, I'll take care of it. Vanessa (and Ricky, I assume?) - thanks for stopping in! And Red Guy - who the hell are you??!!

See you Monday night!!

-Swag