The Green Rocket is a cute cafe & restaurant in the centre of Bath. By their menu & the meals we saw being enjoyed by others, there’s plant-based food made in-house with seasonal produce from local independent businesses.
They serve breakfast, coffee & lunch.
I happened upon the Green Rocket while photographing the Bath Abbey & the Parade Gardens, so had a really delicious iced Americano with a splash of oat milk on the go, but there is indoor & outdoor seating.
Good, friendly, quick service.
You’ve not had tea until you’ve had an afternoon Cream Tea. Now, you could have High Tea but really a simple Cream Tea will do. We found ourselves in Bradford-on-Avon, England.
The difference? High Tea consists of both savoury finger sandwiches & sweet pastries with your tea, delivered on a tall tiered platter – you can even have Prosecco or Champagne! Cream Tea is either savoury or fruit scones with your pot of tea.
We enjoyed a wonderful tea at The Bridge Tea Rooms in Bradford on Avon. They’re double winners for UK’s Top Tea Rooms & we could see why. The staff dress in costume & the decor is so interesting with antiques & family photos.
When we ordered we received two scones, Devonshire Cream, strawberry jam & a pot of tea made using the freshest loose leaf tea. Everything here is made using only the best local, organic ingredients, and you can certainly taste it. Wonderful!
The Abbey Church of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, most commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England. It’s also a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, England.
This 14th Century fortified mansion, 9 miles from the City of Bath, stands in the incredible valley of the river Frome, England. There is an audio tour that tells of the 300 year occupation of the Hungerford family, sometimes intriguing but also gruesome…
See the chapel with rare medieval paintings, family tombs, displays in the Priest’s house, and a crypt with the best collection of human shaped lead coffins in Britain.
South Coast of England.
About a 2 hour drive from where we’re staying in Trowbridge in Bradford on Avon, is this fantastic velvet sand beach, called Branksome Chine in County Dorset. We were lucky enough to hit a beautiful day with a temperature of 27 degrees & the perfect breeze. When you dipped a toe in, the water was cold for the first moments & then felt so refreshing!
We had hoped to do a little body surfing but the usual 3 foot waves were more like 1 foot, so just had some fun swimming & splashing. If you wander down the boardwalk a ways there is a little hut that had delicious traditional (& not so traditional) Cornish Pasties, fresh sausage rolls, ice cream + hot & cold drinks.
There was another restaurant where you could sit inside or on the patio overlooking the sea to have your fish & chips + across the parking lot, a walk up window with snacks & drinks We noticed on our trek that there were tons of chalets you could rent for the day, with a sink & small fridge, patio set + a few more luxuries to enjoy your day at the beach. Though most beachgoers, like us, decided to bring a small tent/shelter & mats to lay on the sand.
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With less than three hours available between flights from UAE to London and then to Vancouver, we had the opportunity to take in Westminster Bridge, Big Ben (perhaps London’s most famous icon) and the London Eye for a few minutes. Travelling on the tube from Heathrow Airport to Earl’s Court on the Piccadilly Line was very straightforward. From there we hopped onto the District line which took us right to Westminster (all in all about 60 minutes on the underground). Enjoying some temporary blue sky and sunshine, Big Ben stood proud as did the Houses of Parliament. Seeing the London Eye for the first time (up close and personal) was quite amazing.
Note: Big Ben is part of the Palace of Westminster originally started in 1020. The palace was burned down in 1834, so the Gothic architecture you see today is comparatively recent.
The palace houses both of the the UK’s ruling bodies — the Houses of Parliament and the House of Lords.
Hundreds of people eagerly gathered in the area representing dozens of nationalities; even one lonely piper merrily played a Scottish medley on Westminster Bridge. After snapping a few photos we could not resist taking in a quick lunch at the County Hall, the place to enjoy ‘Great British Fish & Chips’.
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Poole
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| One of our five adorable grandsons showing me the beach at Poole, Dorset, England. The Return Ticket gives Poole, Dorset: Three tickets out of five
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