Day 2: To Jane Austen Country and Beyond

RANDOMOSITIES

Mark's comment on our drive to Bath, "This pretty much looks like Wisconsin so far."

I seriously want to live here.

No, really. I want to live here.

Why is it so hard to understand someone who speaks my own language? Yeah, British accents are cute, but when they talk fast, it might as well be Swahili.

Does every little town have to be so picturesque? 

Sweet mercy! Why are sheep on a hillside so freaking amazing?

Note to self: start using the words smashing and brilliant.

TIMELINE

9:30 a.m. Dragged ourselves out of bed but I'm not really sure we are awake.

11:30 a.m. After driving around to find a SIM card for the phone, and stopping at a baijllion (3) places to find one, we came up empty handed. Grabbed a sausage/egg sandwich and hit the road for Bath.

2:00 p.m. Arrive in Bath and happen to find the last parking spot right in front of the Royal Theater.

2:30 p.m. Tour the Bath Royal Theatre...LOVED it!

4-6 p.m. Walk around Bath. Have coffee at a quaint little shop. Try to get the ATM to give us money. Finally find a SIM card that will work.

7:00 p.m.  Arrive in Radstock at the Radstock Inn. Eat dinner and walk around the town afterwards.

THOUGHTS

What surprised me most about Bath was how loud it is. Cars. People. Street musicians. Crazy.

Learned a TON of facts about Georgian/Regency era theater, things like:

- The audience didn't actually pay attention to the plays. They were there to shmooz with everyone else.

- Red and green were the 2 staple colors all theaters of the time were decorated in.

- In order to perform Shakespeare, the theater had to apply for a permit and once received, was allowed to use the word Royal in the name. . . hence The Bath Royal Theater.

- Jane Austen loved mimes, but not mimes as we necessarily think of them, all in black and white and trapped in a box. Early comedies were performed by mimes. The one she would've seen was dressed like a Harlequin clown.

- In order to reserve a box, one had to go to the "box office," which is where the term came from.

Plays were only rehearsed about 2 days before the showing, were not very professional, and often lasted for hours and hours on end (think like 6-midnight).

Oh yeah, one other thing. If you'd like to see more pix, check me out on Instagram (Michelle Griep) and I'll post some on Facebook.