Bad joke? Sorry, sorry, I crack myself up way more than I should.
For the "cultural trip" (really, I think our program directors think we watch too much bad TV and are trying to help us compensate by taking us to plays and UNESCO sites and philharmonic orchestras and whatnot. I get it, guys, I'm sorry for being me), they took us to Bath, England. Scrub a dub dub, let's get in the tub.
It's a quaint town about two hours away from Oxford, famous for the Roman Baths (the swimming pools and jacuzzis of yesteryear) and because it's the hometown of writers like Jane Austen.
Not going to lie, I was exhausted after the day and totally zonked out on the bus ride home, because we did a lot of walking. Against the wind. It was like the forces conspired to make me get a work out in, because obviously I don't make that happen on my own time.
Basically, we explored the Roman Baths, which was actually a really interesting tour. If you ever find yourself touring the Baths, I highly recommend dialing in the numbers for the kids' tour for the audio guide. SO much more exciting than the one for adults, but what else is new? Afterwards, we hunted down some food (those pies were unexpectedly out. of. this. world. delicious.), strolled around a market in the center of town, tried to visit the Jane Austen Centre only to find it closed, and then met up with the rest of the group for a walking tour of the town.
Unsurprisingly, I got lost along with four other people, and we kind of walked around blindly until we ran into our group again, so I can't tell you what else they showed us - something about a Queen and a Square? Together, we took in the Royal Circle and the Royal Crescent, peeked into a few gardens from the olden days, ducked into a fudge factory to hide out from the rain, and then hopped onto the bus home.
The verdict: Bath is a lovely, historical town that's a great place for a day visit. It's very much like other touristy, English towns - it's a lot like Oxford, but with famous baths instead of a famous university. Take your pick!
