Bath continued

So, I shall pick up where I left off yesterday.

I left the Internet Cafe and headed to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy. Something I find very intriguing about England is that there are tiny museums everywhere. Often very few people visit them, but because of a loyal group of enthusiasts the museums continue to remain open. The Herschel Museum is like this.

Herschel was a musician and composer who was enthralled with stargazing, but unhappy with the quality of telescopes available, so decided to build his own. Using his new telescope he went on to discover Uranus (doubling the size of the known Solar System), several of its moons, and several of the moons of Saturn. From this point he became a celebrity and many wealthy people commissioned him to build bigger and better telescopes for them.

It was an interesting little museum.

I headed back to the hostel to have a bit of a rest before I headed out for dinner. I got back to find that there were more people in the room! One was a woman in her mid 60s from Auckland, New Zealand. She was very friendly and we ended up having dinner together which was nice. Turns out that she is in a pacing syndicate in New Zealand and just last week one of her horses won a 2 year olds race worth $200,000. She was very excited. I mentioned that Dad was in a pacing syndicate as well and she wondered if you'd heard of a trainer called John Small, who is training their horses and is originally from Perth?

Last night the hostel didn't seem so bad because there were more people around. Even so, it was still pretty quiet, but it was nice having someone to talk to.

Other than the hostel, I had a wonderful time in Bath. It's such a pretty little place, full of character.

Today my train didn't leave until 12:40, so I had some time to fill in. I spent quite a bit of time at the post office getting stuff boxed up so I could send it home. Then I called Mum and we chatted for a while and I sat in a coffee shop and watched the world go by.

I went back to the hostel and picked up my luggage and headed for the train station.

The trip from Bath to Oxford by train was only 1hr and 15 mins. It was over before it had really begun. The countryside was beautiful, but these trains travel so fast you only get an impression of green and yellow and not much else.

The hostel in Oxford seems quite nice and professional. I'm in a 6 bed dorm with its own bathroom - luxury! The hostel isn't in the centre of town, but it's only about 5-10 mins out. I've spent this afternoon getting washing done and checking emails and stuff. I have two full days in Oxford so I will be getting out bright and early tomorrow morning.

My next stop was due to be Cambridge, but I may not be able to go there. The bus from Oxford to Cambridge is cheap and quick, but there is no accommodation in Cambridge. There is only one hostel and it is completely booked for several weeks. There are some b&b's, but they're expensive and none have accommodation at such short notice. I may have to try and call the hostel tomorrow and see if they've had any cancellations, otherwise I think I will be heading straight on to York. I will be back in England again in August, so I can always do Cambridge then.

Anyway, I'm about to attempt to put some of my photos up (not too many, I promise). We'll see how it goes. If you don't see anything, I haven't been successful and will try again another time.