This week’s trip diary feature will be about the most amazing journey I’ve ever been on – and you’ll soon find out why I’m not shying away from using such big words. Not only have I had a great time with some amazing people that have thus become my best friends, but I also enjoyed a much needed break from the stress of everyday life, and my worries around university and work. Last but not least, it was all just a beautiful surprise, and now you’re going to read all about it.
On the 25th of March, I and my friends from work went on a road trip down south, roughly 170 miles away, to explore the town of Bath and spend an afternoon on the sea shore, at Durdle Door. After leaving early in the morning and spending several hours walking around Bath, we left just in time to spend late afternoon and see the sunset on the southern shore of Dorset. As you probably guessed already, we spent a lot of time just on the way to these locations: roughly around seven hours, and I’d say that was possibly the best bit of the entire journey. Although I’m really not good with travelling by car, I had so much fun talking to my friends, playing games and singing, and these time-filling activities helped us get to know each other better, and eventually bond.
We kicked off our visit in Bath with a short session of landscape photography in Alexandra Park, located uphill from the town itself and a perfect point for getting a bird’s eye view of Bath. I wouldn’t be able to think of a better way of starting our exploration of the city. The panoramic views thoroughly captured the essence of the place itself – old, impeccably conserved, sprinkled with a bit of new, artistic, clustered yet anything but claustrophobic, and just visually cohesive all over. Having been used to living in towns forever scattered with working sites and modern, industrial buildings replacing epoch architecture, Bath was like a breath of fresh air and a gentle cleansing of the eyes. The image is still new and crisp in my mind, it’s almost like I’ve never left. And although my friends are gifted photographers, I don’t think any photograph can do it justice.
We moved on to take a walk through the Bath city centre, fairly vast and closed to vehicle access. The streets were narrow and oddly paved, opening up to small squares loaded up with open-air shops, boutiques of intimidating elegance and small cafés. There were plenty of tourists hungry for seeing more, just like us, and plenty of locals going about their day but again, I didn’t feel as though the place was cramped or uncomfortable. At all times, Bath looked as though taken out of a storybook: a town of the past home to the people of today, serene and delicately put together, clean and welcoming. I was fascinated by the beautiful architecture and slightly intimidated by the people, which I would describe as the visual representation of having your shit together. The language may be crude, but there’s no other way for me to put it. Perfect families dressed in stunning clothes and accompanied by the cutest, primmest dogs, compatibly looking couples that might as well walk down the runway, old people laughing about, seemingly having the time of their life. It sounds childish, I know, but it’s literally what it looked like to me.
(source: personal archive)
(photo credit: Alex Andriuc)
Since we had a limited number of hours to spend in Bath, our sightseeing spree only included a couple of churches (the Bath Abbey and St John the Evangelist’s Church), seeing the Pulteney Bridge and exploring the old city centre. Having not seen a lot of churches in England, it was very interesting for me to discover the representation of Christianity in a spiritual environment different from the one I was raised in. There was a lot of passion put into and a lot of obvious care taken of these places of worship, and the atmosphere was peaceful and familiar. The bridge offered a brilliant view of River Avon, and so much energy to an otherwise quiet, tranquil place. I may also not know a lot about architecture, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the classic, graceful appearance of the town and from noticing its peculiarity compared to other places I’ve seen in England, few as they are. We could’ve spent so much more time in there, but for a day’s trip with another place to get to, we’ve done quite a bit. As we walked around, I observed there were so many other places that had to be explored at some point.
The Bath Abbey
(source: personal archive)
Needless to stress any further, Bath was such a beautiful town to see, and one I consider going back to for a visit at some point. And if I’m ever blessed enough to afford it and if I ever do get my shit together, why not, maybe I would also like to live there? A girl can dream.
The second destination of our trip was kept a secret until we actually got there, and I think this just made the surprise even better. After crossing a remote field and zigzagging down the rocky path, we got to Durdle Door, which is a natural limestone cutting through the Jurassic Coast in southern Dorset. A small, untainted beach sheltered by steep hills and stroked by the waters of St Oswald’s Bay, part of the Lulworth Estate and open to the public. Last but not least, definitely one of the most exquisite places I’ve ever had the luck to see.
(source: personal archive)
(photo credit: Julie Tannous)
Although I’m fairly confident in my writing abilities, I won’t even try to put into words the happiness and awe that being at Durdle Door had made me feel. The hours spent there were filled with wonder at the natural beauty in front of our eyes, the calming solitude of the place, the safety that was part of it – safety from the stress and anxiety of life in general, the worries I had around uni, work and myself which I was, for once, far away from. How elated I was to finally be at the sea again, which I’ve always loved but had no chance to see during the past three years. How bright the colours and how clear the sounds were, and how much sense it made that I was there, with my friends and with genuine happiness in my heart. Just writing about it makes me feel so giddy and smile like a fool, but maybe the best way to put it is to paraphrase what one of my friends said to us, as we were watching the breathtaking view: “I don’t think we can go back to work tomorrow as though things are still the same, because they’re not.”
We spent several hours there, just admiring the landscape, taking plenty of pictures and hanging out. After a short, yet challenging hike up the hill, we watched the sun go down at sea and took a few more pictures there. It was almost completely dark by the time we got back to the car, and honestly, I can’t blame us for lingering around: simply put, we didn’t want to leave and go back to our ‘normal’ lives again. Unfortunately, they were calling for us quite insistently, and we had uni and work the next day so little could be done about it. We jumped back in the car, resumed our chats, games and singing, and a few naps were secretly had on the way back home. When we did get back home, it was late, we were exhausted, but we were also happy and high on a different kind of feeling. It really was the best day we could’ve had together.
(photo credit: Julie Tannous)
(photo credit: Alex Andriuc)
I’d dare go to the extent of saying that going to Bath and Durdle Door with my friends was life-changing. I was never the one to have a steady, tightly knit together group of friends, and I’m also not good at remembering and celebrating good and happy moments. I really like being on my own and I am more prone to hold on to negative emotions rather than positive ones, but on that day, I was a completely different person and even more astonishing than that, I liked that person more. I liked talking to people, getting to know them better, fooling around and joking and seeing new places with them. I liked having fun and not thinking much about the aftermath. I liked taking a break from the worries, the anxiety, the constant planning in advance and pacing. But this wasn’t just about me: I had the chance to bond with amazing, smart, gorgeous people with whom I passionately wish the friendships will be for life. I am so bad at saying ‘thank you’ and showing gratitude, and I’m always afraid of it not coming off as genuinely as I actually feel it, but because I’m more confident when I write than when I say things to somebody’s face, I will say it again here: thank you, thank you, thank you for that day, for those that followed and for those upcoming. I wish I were as cool as you guys.
In case you’re curious enough to check Bath and Durdle Door for yourselves, I will leave some information links down below: they are places definitely worth seeing! Posts for Trip Diary are still coming but because I haven’t been to a great load of places this year, I was thinking you might like to read some posts on the concerts that I’ve been to? Please let me know! Also, if you have any suggestions for places worth seeing in England, or maybe even abroad, feel free to leave them in the comments! And of course, happy travelling!
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Information links:
Photo credit:
Alex Andriuc (where mentioned)
Julie Tannous (where mentioned)
Personal archive