Back again

We are safely back at Anne’s, having dropped the car off with some relief. With a car you can get to more places more easily but driving has its challenges. We were glad we rented it though.

The last day in Ironbridge we went to a National Trust house, Attingham Park. It is from the 1700s and the family as usual had their ups and downs through the generations, one bunch buying lots of stuff, the next having to sell it all, the next buying it back again. It was beautiful.

On to our little cottage by Bath. It was a lovely place,  newly built for vacationers, in the country. The owners had our dates mixed up, they thought we were coming the next day but I had an email confirming the dates, and it was ready, so all was good. We spent the first day as a rest day, just drove out to find groceries. The day after we took the park and ride into Bath, but we just wandered around kind of aimlessly. Went to the Jane Austen museum, looked in a few shops. We kind of toyed with going to the baths, but I left my bathing suit in Oxford and we couldn't see a place to buy one, so we went back to our cosy little place. Oh, we did find a wool shop there.

The last day we went to another NT place, Tyntesfield. It was amazing. Four generations of one family lived there from the late 1700s and the National Trust only bought it in 2002 from the last owner’s estate. So all the furniture and decoration belonged to the house. We spent a long time there because we talked to every guide in every room, and since they were almost all eager and knowledgeable, we learned a lot. Then we walked through the absolutely beautiful grounds. It was a really good day.

The drive back was fine. Our GPS lady was very helpful and did not say “recalculating” in that annoyed voice some of them have. When we went wrong she just gently guided us back on track.

Anne's friends Lana and Paul from Edmonton are coming over for supper tonight.

Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes! We might go see a bonfire.