Looking for Darcy?

Still looking for your “Mr. Darcy”? Anyone? If so, you can find him in Bath this summer at the Jane Austen Festival! I was vaguely aware that another of Bath’s claims to fame was the famous author, who set both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion here. According to Christina, our proprietress and breakfast cook, the festival is a big deal each September, and her B&B tends to fill up with ladies from all over the world looking to live as Jane did.

“Last year we hosted some ladies from Holland,” said Christina. “Oh, they were beautiful – tall and blonde, about my age (late 30’s) — ‘looking for their Mr. Darcy.’ At first, I thought they might just find him, until they came downstairs later all dressed up in their Georgian costumes. Then I thought, ‘Not gonna happen, ladies. English guys today, they aren’t the Mr. Darcy types.”

Apparently, festival attendees can arrive early and take dance lessons! They can also wear their very own Georgian costumes and parade down the streets of Bath.

After a rather large breakfast and before catching our train to Reading, we two paraded down the streets of Bath.

First, breakfast: As I surmised, we met Christina for the first time in the dining room, whereupon she showed us to a table and invited us to help ourselves to the breakfast buffet. We did.

Then, she brought us a whole French press and handed us menus for the English breakfast portion of our breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sausage and tomato for me; sunny-side-up eggs and bacon for Jim.

Our only other fellow houseguest was a lady from Singapore, so the four of us chatted a bit before we said thankyousoverymuch! and headed out. We strolled to a place called the “Royal Crescent”, private residences built between 1767-1774 by famous architect John Wood. It, as the literature says, is one of the “finest examples of Georgian architecture in the UK.”

By the way! Did you know (I did not) that “Georgian” is the same as “neoclassical” and originates from “the Georges”, as in the four kings: George I, II, III and IV? You’re welcome.

We liked the chimneys and the columns. And the flowers growing against the “Bath stone”:

And now we relax in our flat until it is time to wander to the mall area and find take-out for dinner. Jessica will be home in a few hours, and we will pack for Scotland.