Cheerios From Merry England

Cheerios from Merry England

Last summer we enjoyed our stay in St. Ives, Cornwall so much that we vowed to return again this year.  How to visit Italy and then end up in Cornwall?  Not exactly a hop, skip and a jump away from each other!  We bridged the gap by flying from Rome directly to Bristol and Bath on our way to Cornwall, the English sea coast.

Arriving in Bristol in the evening, although it stays light until 10 at night, we set out across the canal, behind our lovely hotel, with a/c!, to seek a veggie restaurant we had researched on Happy Cow.  Happy Cow is THE resource for international and national vegan and vegetarian establishments.  We found, The Watershed, a combination indie movie theater and restaurant a few steps away.  We were so psyched to eat nachos drenched in hearty veggie chili, sweet butternut squash, delicate falafel, and a wonderfully creamy yellow pea soup.  Can you tell I was yearning for anything NOT pasta?

Everything was delicious and we considered watching a movie, but instead opted for an after dinner stroll.  People were everywhere.  There were future brides wearing fuzzy bunny ears carousing one last time with their girlfriends and men sporting Afros and 80s garb, hanging with their mates spilling from the pubs.  Music was streaming through the cool night air and the crowds were singing along with uninhibited enthusiasm and a freedom I rarely witness in the States.  Then it was off to sleep so we could rise again for an early train to see the Roman Baths.

The train to Bath carried us there in a brief fifteen minutes.  We opted for an overview of the upper town on the Hop On Hop Off Bus.  They have these tours all over the world and the beauty of it is that you can disembark to visit a site and then just hop on again when the next bus comes by.  Additionally, there is a wonderful live guide who filled us in on history, real estate prices and topography of the area.  

Back in the lower town we walked along the universally cream colored buildings where Jane Austen made her home many years ago.  We were on our way to find Acorn Vegetarian, a new restaurant in the center of town.  Our meal was exquisite!  White Onion Tarte served with greens and carrots on a cider cream sauce was delectable.  My spiced pea soup with orange coconut cream was warming and flavorful.  Included in my three course lunch was a Nut Roast with fresh spring greens, rosemary potato galette, parsnip purée and cider braised red cabbage.  The final course was a Chocolate Pot with raspberry sorbet and candied pistachios.  This was the most beautiful and delicious meal of the trip, hands down.  I got some good ideas I am looking forward to trying for the Healthy Chef business.

All tanked up, we headed over to the Roman Baths.  The Romans built these baths in 60-70 A.D. after they spied steam coming up through the ground.  A hot spring comes under the town and provides healing warm waters.   Many visitors felt that the waters had a curative power and came here to heal themselves.  We walked along the same stones those early conquerors did as we discovered the main bath house and the smaller baths nearby.  An informative audio tour explains the history of the Baths. How wonderful that these historic sites have been preserved for us to enjoy!  The far reaching borders of the Roman Empire were quite extensive and seem to exceed those I learned about England in my British Imperialism class back at Washington University in St. Louis.  

Returning to the hotel, we packed up for tomorrow's four hour train journey back to beautiful Cornwall.