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The flight wasn’t too crowded.  Gage and I had a window and an aisle seat with no one sitting between us.  Still a long, grueling flight.  I didn’t tell you all before we left, but the University here hasn’t wired the money for my services yet, so  we were told not to get on the flight until payment had been made.  I responded that we would get on the flight, but would renegotiate my teaching schedule when I arrived.  (I’ve been through this Chinese standoff before…) 

I was up at 2:30 a.m. Chinese time–no idea what time in the U.S.  Just waiting for the world to wake up so we can find bottled water to brush our teeth.  We are housed on the top floor of the guesthouse, which is the high-rent district.  I’ve never made it above the 5th floor in the past. We have internet service, a little fridge, a big TV (Chinese programming), a hairdryer, and very minimal water pressure, but the water’s warm.  Things are great!

Spent last night and today in Bath.   We’re staying in the Oldefield Guest House, which is charming, albeit up a steep hill from the town.  We’ve run the gamut of lodgings, from our truck stop in Cambridge to our old, distinguished hotel in Oxford with creaking floors and mazes for halls, to our present accommodation, which has no lift or AC, but a great breakfast with cloth tablecloths and napkins.

Today we saw the Jane Austen center, the Roman Baths, the Fashion Museum (it was attached to the ballroom where Jane danced),  the Bath Abbey, and the oldest house in Bath, which is Sally Lunn’s house and current site of Sally Lunn’s Buns.  We lunched there and really enjoyed it.  When we got tired, we sat in lawn chairs in the Peace Garden along the river and dozed in the sunshine.  Found  a store of my favorite chain in the UK and managed to do some shopping.

There’s a City Pride Campaign where everyone decorates lions, as we did buffaloes for the Olympics.  So everywhere we went we saw lions creatively costumed; i.e., a Wimbledon lion, a lion covered with Scrabble tiles, an Elvis (the King) lion, and a soccer lion where a placard had been placed that said, “I’m not responsible for the result–please don’t blame me.” signed by the artist.

Weather was overcast and cooler than it’s been….perfect!  My graphic for today would probably have been of the Elvis lion.