After carefully checking with Peter, we were able to invite Ria for breakfast this morning. We had a nice farewell, it was wonderful seeing her and so kind of her to schlep from Utrecht to Bath to see us.
Pat has had some bad luck here. Her hot water stopped working, and the safe in her room jammed, so Peter moved her to another room. Luckily he had a key for the safe.
On the walls of the B&B are many paintings in black, white and gray of Marilyn Monroe-type women. Weird. Pat asked Lydia, the helper, about them and she said “Peter’s partner painted the pictures.” Pat wanted to ask if he had pickled peppers, too.
So after some fits and starts we walked to town.
Tim had told us about his favorite cheese shop in Bath, Paxton and Whitfield, when we were telling him about our disappointment with the cheddar on sale in Cheddar. We passed his choice and immediately walked in. It was small and delightful, with a sweet young man who kept choosing cheeses for us to try. I ended up buying a small piece of a wonderful aged cheddar. Pat wants to go back tomorrow to get some of the gifts they stock.
We went back to a tiny shop owned by an architect/artist and got some wonderful prints of Bath. They will make very nice memories for us.
I asked where I could go have a coffee and he sent me to a shop called the Abbey Deli, such an ordinary name for the place which was used as the store of the modiste in Bridgerton. Lots of people were taking photos of it. I ordered a cappuccino to drink outside under an umbrella. Pat left to make some phone calls. I was reading on my Kindle watching some pigeons settle down to a nice snack on a table where the previous customers had left remnants of their cream tea. Eeeeeuw.
I wandered over to Marks and Spencer and unbelievably found a plain black cardigan to replace the one I left in the rental car we dropped off at the airport. £23, a bargain!
Bumped into Pat in the furniture department, she was finishing her work sitting on a convenient sofa. I sat on another one and read until she was ready to leave.
We walked over to the Pultney Bridge and did some window shopping, then Pat did some real shopping and got lucky finding a wonderful long winter coat on sale. It’s very British, it has straps to keep the coat secure over your jodhpurs when out riding your horse. As one does.
Instead of lunch (and dinner) we opted for afternoon tea at Browns, a restaurant recommended as one of the top ten places serving tea in Bath. We gave it a 6 out of 10 because the champagne was good. We decided to make a reservation at a fancy place, Pat went to book it online and was asked for her title. There was no drop-down menu, so she typed in Dutchess.
It was time to head over for our timed entry to visit the Roman Baths. You get an audio guide that takes you through the baths, showing the amazing history of the place, how the warm spring water comes up through the ground and how the Romans channeled it to create hot baths, warm baths, and a large swimming pool that they covered with a roof. That kept the algae growth down and kept the pool clear. Now, with no roof, the sun promotes algae growth and the water is a murky green.
After 2 1/2 hours, we dragged ourselves back to Marlborough House. Where Pat had no working A/C. Peter finally figured out that the handyman had flipped the switch off when he replaced the filter earlier.
Time to put my feet up.
I can’t seem to get any WiFi service so I couldn’t add any more links.
Love,
Lynn
Lady of a Certain Age 
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