Bath...like a sheep with a lisp

First weekend in England had ups and (a) down, but I got alot accomplished! Weekend 1: 6/11-6/13
On Saturday morning roomie Lindsey and I went to explore Camden Market (which I found out in class today that it is the most popular tourist place in all of London...boggles my mind. Yes, even compared to all the cool places like Big Ben, Tower of London, and British Museum). Anyways, we wanted to explore and doing some shopping. There are multiple alleys and blocks that are FILLED with shopping. Souveniers, shoes, clothing, food, tattoo/piercings are just a few things that lined the streets. We got there early in the morning right when shops were opening and I'm glad we did. The first alley we stopped by was a block away from the actual "Camden Market" sign. Camden shopping you can find some really good deals, persistent flatterers, and weird punk style everywhere (on people and for sale) First thing I needed to buy was a watch. Luckily the first place we stopped had a large array of watches. I bought a necklace watch. No worries, it's nothing like Flava-Flav...much smaller more pretty, classy, and sophisicated. It's on a long gold chain so I just wear it everywhere but under my clothing. I am a big fan of it. The cover on it pops open like a man's pocket watch. Good investment. As I moved on through different areas I soon figured out the lingo of market shopping.
1) If you look and dont touch, vendors dont bother you. If I came within a centimeter of touching a dress to get a feel of the fabric or something, an alarm goes off in the vendors head followed by directly in my face questions. "Do you like? Very pretty? Would you like to try on? Did you know it comes in other colors?" etc etc. It's kinda scary.
2) Apparently my lack of buying on inpulse is interpreted in the market as me bartering with them. I tend to think about my possible purchases (less than Lizzie, but still :P) and my himming-and-hawing attitude is translated in my bartering technique. Not the case...I'm really just not sure. They followed me calling out prices that were lower and lower in hopes of making a sale. "this is the best price just for you...my first customer of the day"
3) If you try to bargin, some vendors will not want to make a deal. Found that out the hard way. The dress I debated over and brought up multiple times during the day after passing it up the first time I ended up going back for. The reason I passed it up was because the woman did not even care that I was trying to bargin....15 pounds is 15 pounds. Take it or leave it. Worth it. I really LOVED it.
Ups of this day: weather was lovely, alot of vendors were playing beyonce, and bought 3 dresses and my watch.
Down: my allergies caught up with me and kicked me in the rear, hard core.
When we got back from the market aroun 130 I slept for 2 hours because that is how hard they kicked me. Now I am fully medicated and feeling great.
Saturday evening was the futbol match between England and US. Went to watch it at the pub and met my first British friend. The game was a fun atmosphere to experience. He could not understand why futbol (soccer) was not that big in the states. He only asked this because I could not name one player on our team, and he could name at least four...and he was cheering for England. Simple, "because WE play real football." Game ended up tied and was fun to watch.

Sunday a group of us went to Bath Spa. Our professor informed us that the proper way to say is like a sheep with a lisp. We left the Paddington station at 8 and got to Bath Spa at 930. I fell asleep on the train, I have a habit of doing that. We had a nice full day there. Bath is a lovely town that is a larger city, but nothing compared to London. When we first arrived we just wandered the streets that were pretty much empty on a Sunday morning. We reached a little square-ish area with little bistros, shops, the Roman Baths, and Bath Abbey. At that time in the morning it was practically deserted as the sun rose higher in the blue sky. (oh yes, the sun does exist here too...when it feels like showing up) We got some coffee and pastries and made plans for the day. As we sat there the church bells started to ring. Something I never appreciated or heard much or back home...but these went on for a while. It really finished the setting of the town. All through this pretty architecture, setting, and natural sounds...what pops into my head? Beauty and the Beast. Dang Disney invading my special moments in Bath. "little town, full of little people" Needless to say that song was in my head for the rest of the day....and the sad part was I wasn't even in France. So when I got to the part in my head when they yell "Bon jour!" it didn't feel right.
The Roman baths were awesome. The museum had alot of information and history presented in a very cool way. The water of the bath was a lovely seafoam green...it reminded me of the color of pistachio pudding almost. Interesting/funny stories of my people watching that bath.
1) There are signs talking about how the water is not treated so its probably not safe to touch, let alone drink. However we saw a lady not only put her hand in the water, but then lick her hand afterward. The odd part after that was that she looked around all paniced as if she was worried that someone saw her. If you are ashamed....ya shouldn't have done it, because its plain gross.
2) A lady was up on the edge of the bath and accidently threw her sweater not next to the bath, but in the bath. Yummy. To have to carry that around for the rest of the day must have smelled great. ooooh my sassy side is coming off in my writing.
After visiting the baths, we visited a park that was on the River Avon. When the Celtic people told the English what the name of the river was....they thought they were asking for what it was. Silly English thought it was the name of the river, so it's really River River (Avon is the Celtic word for river). From there we explored Bath Abbey. It was beautiful. Walking around these large abbeys it really puts into perspective how much the architect must have really loved Christ, had a strong faith, and wanted to make some beautiful for all worshipers (or visitors) to enjoy. While walking, every floor tile was a tomb marker. The ceiling was sculpted stone and in complete gothic style. The stained glass windows were breathtaking. As I wandered, they began to play the organ and it really was the cherry on top to frame up the scene. We wrapped up our day in Bath by taking a siteseeing tour (where I got smacked in the back of the head by a branch) dinner, and ice cream.
On the way home I slept. When I did wake up the stranger I was sitting next to I wanted to smack. She was on her phone about the jewelry she bought. "This bracelet I couldn't say no to. It was only 195 pounds" I was shocked and started to do the math in my head for american dollars. Then, "I don't really wear rings that often but it was priced right at 65 pounds." Still to me, alot of money. Later in the conversation "I'm traveling abroad soon, and I'm alittle worried about the money" I wanted to smack a silly girl. Seriously! You are worried about money for your trip but you can drop around 250 pounds on jewelry? I don't like spending money on food but here I am....call me frugal, not cheap.
Up of Sunday: Bath overall was goregous
Down of Sunday: Dropped my camera about three feet--in its case--and now its broken. boo. Figuring out something to fix the problem.

Gotta take the good with the bad, that goes when at home or abroad.

Well, I start my internship tomorrow. So wish me luck!
Cheers! Heidi