UK - City of Bath

Bath was founded in 1 AD, and gained UNESCO World Heritage title. It is a small city, best explored by foot; it is filled with history and culture everywhere you turn. Bath is one of England's prettiest, sitting on the banks of the River Avon. The city of Bath is so named because of the spas that were developed around Roman times. 

We stayed at Tyndall Villa Boutique B&B. I highly recommend the place. It was quaint, cosy and clean. 

Must see:

1.Bath Abbey

A Gothic-style building, one of England’s finest medieval churches. It took 120 years to build and it shows in the level of fine details, both inside and out. It reminded me so much of the church in Siena, Italy, a medieval town.. I have shared some pics of the church, both inside and outside, though I could not capture the church in entirety. 

2. Bath house/museum

This bath house is thousands of years old, from anvient Roman time. An audio guide is provided.

3. Pulteney Bridge (pronounced as Putney)

Pulteney Bridge was built in the 1700s, will remind you of Ponte Vecchio of Florence, Italy. Do check out the shops and charming cafés on it, that many don’t realise it’s a bridge. The river runs through a weir next to the bridge, which creates a cascading effect. Apparently, it is romantic when lit up at night. 

We missed seeing it. 

4. The Circus

If you have time, stroll across and you will be able to see the Circus, a historic ring of large townhouses in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, forming a circle with three entrances. Designed by architect John Wood, the Elder, it was built between 1754 and 1769, and is regarded as a pre-eminent example of Georgian architecture. 

UK - Windsor Castle & Bath

We landed in Heathrow airport after 24 hrs of flying, including transit of 3 hrs in Singapore Changi airport. Thanks to Singapore Airlines, we landed in Heathrow surprisingly fresh. We had booked for a car there and took off to Bath from Heathrow. En route to Bath, we saw boards for Windsor Castle and decided to take a detour. We were certainly not disappointed. 

The town of Windsor was quaint. Most of the current town's streets date from the mid to late 19th century. However the main street, Peascod Street is very ancient, predating the castle by many years, and probably of Anglo-Saxon origin.

River Thames runs through the town, offering boating facilities. The river was flocked by swans and ducks. 

Coming to the castle itself, it stood tall and majestic from all angles. It was saud that William, the Conqueror chose the site for Windsor Castle, high above the river Thames.

Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world and has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It was an official residence of Her Majesty, The Queen. It is still very much a working royal palace today. Her Majesty was buried next to her husband Prince Philip here at St George's Chapel. She was buried with only her wedding band and a pair of pearl earrings, despite owning a collection worth millions of pounds - food for thought!! 🤔

St George's Chapel would not be open to public on Sundays; since HM The Queen was recently buried there, the chapel was open for public to pay their respects to her. 

About the castle itself, the current lavish state apartments at Windsor Castle were created in the late 1600s by King Charles II. They contain many outstanding works of art by masters such as Canaletto and Rembrandt. You can view them and enjoy many glittering and wonderful items from the Royal Collection. The castle has over 1,000 rooms, and houses a substantial portion of the Royal Collection, including furniture, paintings, and armour.

Because it is a Royal residence, Windsor Castle is guarded by a detachment of Guards in traditional red tunics and bearskin hats. The Guards are active soldiers temporarily granted the honour of guarding the Monarch. 

How to get there from London? 

Though we drove from London, I later found out that Windsor Castle can be reached from Waterloo station in London.