Well, wouldn’t you know it, the fact that we didn’t try and contact any couchsurfers till three days before our trip meant that none of them could take us in! With this knowledge, we still set out bravely early on Saturday morning to conquer the noble city of Bath. Our party consisted of us three girls, Aaron, Mandy and Josh. After a transfer in London, we hit Bath at about 1 in the afternoon. We checked the tourist center to first see if they could find us any available lodging. None. But they told us to check out a few hostels, so we vowed to do so.

So we checked out Bath Abbey. I’m not Cathedral Snob, but compared to the other ones I’ve seen, it was kind of lame. Plus, there were these huge plasma TV screens everywhere? After that we watched a street performer do his thing by the line to get into the Roman baths. The AUTHENTIC Roman Baths. The reason for coming to Bath. Which we did not see because it was 14 pounds to view them. Which comes out to $28. We’re cheapskates, what can I say.

So after the rather entertaining street performer was done, we set out for the Jane Austen center, which was kind of a waste of time. You have to pay for that nonsense, too. So we took a look in the giftshop and that was about it. Then we checked out the recommended hostels. Nothing. So we decided that we’d try to get on the 6:30 bus back to London, and then back to Cambridge, even though that’s not what our tickets for. We girls had done it before, so we figured it was possible to do it again.

So we went back into the center of Bath, stood in front of the wall that surrounded the Roman baths and came up with elaborate plans to pass our cameras up to the people inside, or pole vault over or whatever. But we did nothing of the sort. We decided to go to a tea room instead. So we did that, and similar to our experience in Ely, it was delicious.

After that, we went to the “Royal Crescent” to see some of their impressive architecture and then went on a walk through the botanical gardens. The area of England where Bath is happens to be very very hilly, and Bath is on one of those hills, overlooking little towns on other hills, so it was very beautiful to get a nice view of the neighboring towns. Then we decided we should head back to the bus station to catch our 6:30, first stopping at a pub so Josh and Aaron could get a little something to tide them over.

So we get to the bus station, hoping there won’t be many people there and we’ll be able to get on no problem. Well, problem: there were like, 40 people in line. Our hearts sank as one. Yet Mandy still mustered up some courage and asked the bus driver if there would be room for us. Our hearts sank even further as we watched him shake his head. That head shake meant we were stuck in Bath till at least 3:20 am, when the next bus would come around, with no lodging.

So we walked around town some more, looking up clubs that would be open late, and pubs and other things. We eventually settled on Pizza Hut because that’s what we all wanted. So we sat in there for about two hours, till about 10, and ate to our hearts content. Afterwards we decided that we’d go check out the YMCA and see if we could stay on the couches in their lobby for awhile. Well, we waltzed right in and camped out for about five hours. I fell asleep for a good portion of “The Highlanders” but woke up for the Jonathon Ross show, and that was pretty funny, I’ll admit.

So we left the Y at 3 and headed to the bus station to check out this bus. Well, the bus comes around, Josh asks this time, and we get another head shake. Oh no. Oh no oh no. The next bus is coming around at 4:45 am, so we must try that one. So we walk around Bath some more, observe lots of drunken college-aged students stumbling around, considered camping out in front of McDonalds, and ultimately sat in the front of the Roman Baths building, which was emitting some nice warm air from its vents.

We go back to the bus station at 4:45 and ask the bus driver if we can get on this bus. It is nowhere near full. It shouldn’t be a problem. Except the guy said no. He said since we had funfare tickets, we couldn’t do that. It wasn’t allowed. Etc. So I jump in at this point and ask if the bus will be full. Of course it won’t be. So I say we’ve been out all night, we have no lodging, we need to take this bus. Jenna then asks what the fare is. At this point, the guy says “I don’t believe you, but I’ll take you.” I almost started crying, I was so happy.

So we got some z’s on the bus, then got to London. Kind of nervous with the transfer, ended up changing out tickets for 9 pounds, which sucks. Sat in the bus station for another hour and a half, and ended up getting back to Westfield about noon. I have never been so happy to see Westfield in my entire life. I LOVE Westfield. So so so much.

Now for an explanation of the title of this little entry. As you know, we were trying to get a couch-surfer host for the past couple days but failed. One of our potential hosts emailed Courtney back and said her house was going to be full that night because she was having a party. But she invited us to the party, as a matter of fact. She said it was a “wild, wild weat” theme. We figured she must have meant to say “wild, wild west,” but mis-typed. Well, we weren’t really up for a party with a ton of strangers, but it was nice of her to offer.

So we’re outside of a restaurant in Bath, trying to figure out what we’re going to do for the next 6 hours till the 3:20 bus. All of a sudden we hear a ruckus coming from across the street, and we see a group of loud women with boots, pink sparkly cowboy hats, and plastic shotguns. What could this be but the the wild, wild weat party? So we laughed at that, and commented on how ironic and unlikely that was, etc, etc.

Well, we’re coming out of the Y, in a slightly different part of town, at 3 in the morning. We turn the corner, and who do we see traipsing around the streets of Bath? The wild, wild weat party, drunk to oblivion and happily shooting their plastic pistols over their heads. I almost died I was so happy about that. Hilarious.

And I guess that’s really all I have to say about Bath. Pictures when they’re uploaded.

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