Eight Days...

(Okay, first I would like to apologize for everyone receiving this post via email unfinished twice! For some reason, while I was typing the post up, Blogger decided to randomly post it without me actually pressing the button!)

So the countdown for the days left in Bath has finally entered the single digits. I'm not sure how exactly I feel about this. It might be because I am currently on loads of cold medication... but at some moments this past weeks I'm been dying get back home to the States, while others, I've been depressed that I'm going to have to  leave this beautiful city.

These past two weeks have been spent isolated in my room finishing up final papers, my education portfolio, and sleeping off this cold. And today, I had my last class, handed in my last assignment, and I am officially done! Hold on, I think I'm forgetting something.... what is it..... oh, yeah.... finals. Bloody hell.

However, between my workload, a couple noteworthy events have occurred. First, the lovely Andrew Butterworth, who is my Education Placement Tutor, (and yes, his last name is like the syrup Butterworth), took the Education class out for a pub crawl, where we ended up at the St. James Pub for a pub quiz. I had an excellent time, though it was a little weird that my tutor was buying my drinks and that it was okay (and legal) to be drinking with him and his wife. The first pub we stopped at was The Coeur De Lion, which is known as the smallest pub in Bath. While we were enjoying a nice pint, some individuals walked in to perform a Mummers' Play. Mummers' Plays are seasonal folk plays performed by a group of actors known as mummers. In mummers’ plays, the main event is the killing and restoring to life of one of the characters. The mummers go from house to house or pub to pub performing and then collecting money for a charity. This play was highly entertaining, but no very well performed at all. The next pub we went to was The Old Green Tree, one of the oldest pubs in Bath. And guess who followed us there? The Mummers! Except the pub owner threw them out, not wanting them to perform in their small pub. Finally, we arrived at our final destination, St. James Pub, were we participated in the pub quiz. Though, we did not win, we also did not come in last thanks to Andrew Butterworth and his wife. Overall it was a great night.

The River Avon

That Saturday, Erin and I decided to take a train over to Bradford-on-Avon.  Bradford-on-Avon is a small town along the River Avon with many buildings dating back to the 17th century. Our first stop in Bradford was the Christmas market, which was sadly much smaller than the Bath Christmas market. However, we also walked throughout the village stopping in various shops, occasionally buying things. J As it started to rain, we stopped to get tea at the Bridge Tea Room, a Victorian style tea place. I ordered a scone, which came out warm and was absolutely delicious!

Bridge Tea Room

The Saxon Church: not much is known about this church. It is believed that the church was built sometime between the early 8th century and mid 11th.