From Bath to Chepstow to Begin Our Welsh Ramblings
One of my key sites to see in Wales was Tintern Abbey, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye. It was constructed in the 1200s by the Cistercian Order, who decreed that their monasteries be built away from cities and villages; it fell into ruin when King Henry VIII dissolved all Catholic monasteries in the country and seized their wealth.
However, the abbey experienced a rebirth as England grew fascinated with the "sublime" and "picturesque" and also were forced into domestic tourism when the Napoleonic wars and the French Revolution barred them from Europe. A popular engraving and a reverend's account of traveling the River Wye drew attention to the ruins, followed by J.M.W. Turner's famed watercolors of the site and then William Wordsworth's poem, "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" (which I studied in undergrad and of course is why I know about Tintern Abbey).
To be somewhere so beautiful and so historic, and that plays such an important role in Romantic literature, was really a dream come true for me. I always appreciate travel and new experiences, but this trip was layered with so much extra meaning given its connection to one of my life's passions.
Peeking through the hedges across from Tintern Abbey
We also took time that day to walk around the nearest town to our hotel, Chepstow--I was sad to not see the view from the castle over the river, but most tourist attractions close at 5 pm and of course Tintern was the priority.
We had a nice walk around the castle walls, and Elowen took a little tumble.
Our hotel was the St. Pierre Country Club, located on a golf course--our room was in a little village of houses off from the lobby. Cottage rooms also circled the front courtyard and they looked lovely as well.
We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Chepstow called Panevino, after we tried to eat at a pub that didn't serve food other than chips and snacks; though it was also a bit of a sketchy place, given that there was a sign on the door saying security arrives at 9 pm and they don't allow drugs. (Chepstow itself seemed a little rougher...not unsafe, but definitely not a sanitized tourist down so much as a down-at-heel village were people actually live and work).
We also stopped into a fancy little restaurant called Henry's for cocktails and snacks beforehand.
Our suite at the hotel, where Elowen got her very own room.
The view from our room.
And ending this post where the day began--we drove from Bath to Chepstow, about an hour's drive. So while my next post(s) will cover Bath, the below is my last morning there--Taylor was having stomach problems, so I got up and rambled about on my own. I went to Topping's bookstore, where one day I'd love to have a cup of tea and browse.
The Pump Room, a grand restaurant...it's adjacent to the Roman Baths and is named because of water that is pumped from the baths into its fountain. The water is said to be medicinal, but it tastes awful--don't do it. Both Dickens and Austen visited the Pump Room, and it features in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Its also famed for its music--the restaurant has had music since its opening in 1706 and has the longest established resident ensemble in Europe.
I also visited Mr. B's Emporium of Reading Delights, and its name was a perfect fit. Cozy little rooms of books across two floors, and it also features a "reading spa"--where you provide books/genres you like and one of their booksellers puts together a list of other books that are a good fit for you, and then presents the list upstairs with tea. It's booked well in advance, and if I ever return to Bath I'd very much like to do it! I loitered and listened for a bit to one patron's session and ended up getting a book they recommended to her.
My other stop of the morning was another must--Sally Lunn's Bath Buns. Their bun is yeast dough made with cream and eggs, like a brioche though I thought a little less sweet--you can get it with savory or sweet topics. I chose just butter and jam because I wanted the taste of the bread to shine through, though I ultimately regretted not getting a Welsh rarebit (it's a special type of cheese on the bread--I thought it would be everywhere in Wales but I didn't see it one place!).
The lower level of the restaurant dates to the reconstruction of the nearby abbey after a fire in 1137, and the masonry oven there dates from that time; Sally Lunn was a French Huguenot who fled to London, settled in Bath, and invented her bun to try to recreate the brioche she missed from her homeland. Both Jane Austen and Dickens wrote about Lunn buns, making them a well-storied bread.
And finally, I ducked into Charlotte Brunswick chocolates, a shop inspired by an 18th century chocolatier. Unfortunately I couldn't pick individual chocolates and they were quite expensive, so I just got a small box of the greatest hits...but would like to go back and try the chocolates inspired by the Bath buns themselves. One day! It smelled like heaven in there.
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