The UK trip - Bath and Oxford

I just love trains. They are one of those things that I am absolutely enamoured of without any rhyme or reason. It's not that I know much about the technical and engineering aspects of trains or the running of different train networks around the world. I do not know much about the history of trains. And don't really feel too enthused to put in too much of an effort to learn more either. But always feel happy about travelling by rail. And whenever I hear any positive news about railways, especially Indian railways, I am thrilled. And of course, go over the moon, whenever I hear something good about the local trains in Bombay :)

Hence I really looked forward to this trip by train through Europe. I like trains so much that I rarely used buses in London. When I got into Köln (Cologne), I took the U-bahn (a tram system which feels very much like a metro) to my house. And of course, rode on various trains during my trip to the UK outside London.

Train on the Kyle of Lochalsh station platform, Scotland

Which brings me to my main topic for today. Alas, I have become very lazy since coming to Köln, and have not kept up with updating this blog. And now it's too late to give a very detailed description :( Hence a short account follows. Don't plan on doing anything outside home today. Will try to upload some photos into this blog soon. And splitting this entry into three for easier reading.

On Sunday, October 1, I left for Bath from London's Paddington Station.This is a picturesque little town an hour and a quarter from London by train. There are some nice buildings and views of the surrounding hills there. It was raining intermittently all that day, and my appreciation of the town's beauty was proportional to the intensity of the sunshine. But the highlight of my visit, and the main tourist attraction of the place, is the Roman Bath site. Two thousand years ago the Romans had bulit a temple complex and bath here, on the site of a natural hot spring. There is now a nice exhibit displaying the site and explaining its significance to the Romans. The Brits have really developed their tourist sites well. The museums and monuments are excellently configured and the audio guides, guided tours and information leaflets are really informative. Of course, they charge a hefty sum for those excellent facilities :)

Roman Bath


Pulteney Weir, Bath

Was in Bath only for a few hours, and went ot Oxford in the evening. This was to be the pattern of my journey - go to a place in the evening/at night, sleep over in a hostel, see the place the next day and go off to the next destination that evening.

Went to two colleges in Oxford - Christchurch and Merton. Christchurch is the largest of the Oxford colleges and has educated more future British PMs than the rest of the OxBridge colleges combined. The college has beautiful, large grounds, a cathedral and a dining hall (Great Hall) which is used as Hogwart's dining hall in the movies. The college was also home to Lewis Caroll, and some of the artefacts connected with him and Alice in Wonderland are placed in the Great Hall too. Nice place :)

Rugby Field in Christchurch College

Also went to Merton college - where Tolkien taught and lived for many years while writing The Lord of the Rings. Not much to see there though - much of the college is closed to visitors.

Punting on the Isis

The best part of my Oxford trip, and possibly that of the UK trip, was punting on the river Isis. The Thames is called Isis in Oxford. I have not skills in poling a punt, of course, but gave a try anyway. And really enjoyed struggling with the pole. After about 45 minutes, had to call the service operator to ask him to send someone to 'rescue' me, as I was too tired to be able to pole the boat against the river current.

Then, it was off to Stratford, another hour and a bit away.