Off again

Next Saturday I'm off on holiday again, this time for a week in Somerset with W. We've rented a cottage in Rodden, near Frome. It's attached to a moated manor house, looks lovely, and because it's out of season then it's just within our budget :o) I've been to Somerset before, but not this part of it, and I'm really looking forward to exploring the area. We have a whole host of things planned, and I'm not entirely sure how we're going to fit it all into a week, but I'm sure we will. Here's a quick run down of some of the places we're planning on going to, some of which are already booked:

Longleat. I wasn't originally planning on taking the car here, because of the risk of it being wrecked by the monkeys. Instead we were going to arrive by public transport so that we could take the safari bus, but it seems that the poor monkeys have some kind of infection that they're not supposed to be able to get as their an isolated community, so the monkey section is closed. I think it's less likely that a lion or giraffe is going to come and sit on the car and pull it apart.

Cheddar Gorge. Apparently I went here as a very young child, but I don't remember it at all and I've wanted to go for years. It's actually part of my reason for suggesting to W that we go to Somerset.

Wookey Hole. I'm not entirely sure what to expect at Wookey Hole. I think it's something like Cheddar Gorge, but a bit kind of theme parky. We'll see. There's some kind of myth about witches and they have people dressed up as witches. They recently employed someone as a new witch, who is allegedly being paid £50 000 a year!!!!!!

Wells Cathedral. I've heard wonderful things about Wells Cathedral and wanted to see its wonders for myself for quite sometime, so I'm looking forward to this. It might be a bit of way to drive there from Frome - I'm not very sure - but it doesn't matter.

Stourhead. This is a National Trust property that is said to have beautiful gardens. I guess whether or not we get there depends somewhat on the weather, but it'd be nice to go if we can, and it's one of the places that's suggested on the cottage website.

Bath and the Thermae Spa. I went to Bath in 2006 and loved it - it's beautiful and full of history. The Roman Baths are fantastic and the abbey is lovely. The thermae spa is right next to both of these and you can bath in the naturally hot spring water on the roof top with the abbey towering above you on one side, the stone-carved Roman soldiers at the Roman baths on another, and views of the rolling countryside of the Chew Valley on another. There's a lot to see and do in Bath if you want to, and during the time that we're in the region Bath also have the Children's Literature Festival running, which is just perfect timing for my new course so we'll probably take a look at that.

Stonehenge. This is another place I went to in 2006, but definitely worth a second visit. It was smaller than I'd expected, but had such an enigmatic atmosphere. It was fascinating and I'm looking forward to going again. I didn't explore any of the surrounding country and the other stone circles in the area so maybe W and I will while we're there ... if it's not too cold and wet (I'm desperately hoping for good weather while we're away).

It's going to be quite a packed week, and if we're going to get it all done then we'll have to do more than one thing some days. I hope we have some time to relax and enjoy the cottage too amongst all the activity and don't come back exhausted and in need of a holiday ;o) It should be great fun though and I'm really looking forward to it. We go on Saturday. It's quite a drive from here and I'm expecting it to take at least 6 hours, but I've put W onto my car insurance for the week so that we can share the driving if need be. Having said that, I do enjoy driving.

Right then, I'd better sign off for now and make my way to the gym for some more training for my gym marathon at the end of next month. The training's going pretty well, but I'm definitely having to pace myself so that I don't get too exhausted or push myself too far too quickly and end up in hospital. That would be counterproductive, wouldn't it?