📚spontaneous bookish trips to Southampton & Bath, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@chrisswirl]

Next time you're in Southampton I recommend: - October Books in Portswood (if you like books, it's such a good independent bookshop) - a walk through Southampton Common (it's bigger than Hyde Park and has a beautiful Victorian cemetery) - Drinks at Bedford Place (e.g. The Cricketers, Smugglers, Black Phoenix, Smugglers) perhaps a pie from Piecaramba or a breakfast at Retro Cafe - A visit to our free art galleries (Central Gallery is my favourite) - Coffee at Mettricks, Nest, Muse, God's House Tower, or Cafe Thrive - Drinks at Dancing Man Brewery, in a medieval wool storage house - Walking to the top of the tower at God's House Tower for a good sense of the old town - A walk around / drinks at Ocean Village,and if you have time over the Itchen Bridge (great views) to Woolston, where you can go on a walk along the beach to Netley Abbey or Royal Victoria Country Park (trains are available to get back to the centre) - Dinner at one of our great Indian restaurants, a bistro such as Tim's Bistro, or maybe MasterChef winner Shelina's restaurant Lakaz Maman - Seeing a music performance at one of our great venues such as The Joiners, or a theatrical performance e.g. at The Mayflowe Theatre (strunning and big - even at London scale - art deco theatre)

[@clowderlibrary]

Thank you so much for these suggestions!!!! This will be super handy when I plan another trip to Southampton!!

[@f3aok]

Been binge watching your vids. Really enjoying your travels rd England learning about our history.

[@rarbuthnotc]

Southampton is a very 'historical' City. Roman Clausentum, Saxon town (near the ferry port), Norman city - the walls and the Bargate are from that era - Tudor stuff (including the genuine Tudor House museum). Also, believe it or not, it was a spa town during the Regency period (early 1800s). Much of the port is on reclaimed land. Prior to 1860 the water came up to the city walls - so no room for Ikea then! The Mayflower actually left from here (but had to put in to Plymouth before leaving again for america) and all the great liners came and went out of Southampton. Much of the city was destroyed in a couple of nights by the luftwaffe, which is a shame of course. Not the Norman walls though!

[@clowderlibrary]

Thank you so much for the background information! I’ve had so much fun visiting places and learning about them and from the comments everyone like you have been leaving me. Much appreciated!

[@comicsvstheworld]

Thursday Murder Club is very British in its humour, and it's a nice light, easy read. You'd fly through it. I might live in England, but I've not been to any of these places you're visiting, so this is fun for me!

[@clowderlibrary]

You should take a trip down here!

[@simonturner138]

I really enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club too. Very easy reading and I believe there is a second book out now.

[@francolive5718]

Know these 2 places. Born in Bath and my friend supports Southampton Fc (soccer to you Americans). Always love seeing American tourists appreciate our country. I think it’s because a lot of you are of European descent so there is always that connection and the influence the UK historically had on America in the formation of your country.

[@clowderlibrary]

America is so young compared to Europe 👶so it’s wild for us to see places that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years!

[@miranda4903]

Rebecca is my favourite classic. To Kill a Mockingbird a close second. The Fowey Arts and Literature Festival is always great to go to. The du Maurier Festival Society have guided walks to all of the places and locations in her novels. Well worth it.

[@clowderlibrary]

I’ve been wanting to read Rebecca. I’ve seen the film but the book has been on my reading list for years. I’ve gotten a few people saying that Rebecca is their favorite so I think I need to push it higher on my reading list!

[@austin12ascot]

Have you read "Notes from a small island" by Bill Bryson? I believe he says that his favourite place in England is Salisbury Cathedral Close.

[@clowderlibrary]

I have not but I’ll look into that book. I’m on the hunt for books about Salisbury and the surrounding area so this book sounds exactly like something that might fulfill that!

[@adventussaxonum448]

Speaking as a native of the Hampshire /Wiltshire /Dorset border, Bryson is obviously a man of taste.

[@charlestaylor9424]

Bill Bryson is excellent, he is a long time expat from the USA and all of his books on travel and British society are excellent and well observed. One thing I'm sure you'll love when you get to Edinburgh is the Writer's Museum.

[@clowderlibrary]

@@charlestaylor9424 I CANT WAIT TO GO TO EDINBURGH

[@charlestaylor9424]

@@clowderlibrary I'd advise avoiding it in August it will be packed for the festival's.

[@serirayna2789]

Hi Abby, Really enjoying the trips you're taking and also when you explore the Salisbury neighbourhood. I love the earlier farm visit and this video especially to Bath! How exciting! I love shopping at Marks & Spencers! ...hehe In Singapore, we pretty much got expose to things British early on. As teens we must pick up Shakespeare for exams (not much fun then) but now I love the English cities, writers, music (maybe just the boy bands, haha) and films. Will you be having tea with scones and clotted cream for your upcoming vlog?

[@clowderlibrary]

I have such a huge English bucket list! Scones and clotted cream are most definitely on the list of things I need to do while I’m here!

[@choncord]

@@clowderlibrary the absolute best place in UK for scones and clotted cream is in Devon and Cornwall. Also the Eden Project in Cornwall is really worth a visit and it's beaches.

[@clowderlibrary]

@@choncord ✍️ noted!

[@studiosphoto]

I had a coworker that grew up in Mexico and he told me once that cabbage was traditional in Mexican food vs. the lettuce (we were at a Mexican restaurant when he said this). It may be a regional thing of course, but I do think about his comment everytime I put lettuce in my Mexican dishes ;)

[@clowderlibrary]

Maybe it is a regional thing!

[@nebulacoffee]

KZbin suggested your channel to me today and I'm loving seeing new views of towns that I go to all the time! I'm from Canada originally but have lived in Southampton area for 9 years now but seeing you experience things for the first time takes me back to exploring when I'd just moved into my first little apartment in the city centre. I still find the old city walls especially enchanting! Where did you get the sushi and was it as delicious as it looks??

[@clowderlibrary]

9 years?! What has been your favorite part about living in England?? The sushi place is Sakura-the staff is so friendly and the sushi was good 😊 I’d recommend it!

[@nebulacoffee]

@@clowderlibrary I became a dual citizen recently but it's felt like home pretty much from the start! My favourite part is definitely how we're on the doorstep of so many beautiful historic places. I love the stately homes, castles, pretty towns, countryside and gardens and being close to the sea! Also the moderate climate is a plus. I do not miss snow even a little bit!

[@clowderlibrary]

@@nebulacoffee I’ve only been here a month and I don’t really miss much from the US 😅-other than friends/family --I feel a lot happier being here and as a history fan and an avid tv watcher of UK based shows being here has been an absolute dream!

[@nebulacoffee]

@@clowderlibrary Yes I totally feel the same. Most Brits don't understand it but my list of why it's better here is soooo long! My degree is in English Lit/European history so it was a dream location for me too! 💗

[@paulausten5786]

I can totally agree with UK Mexican food, as a Brit living in Texas, it just not the same planet. Maybe you could take a trip to my home town of Brighton. Plenty of history, book shops & the added bonus of the seafront. Or take in Chichester.Great vid as usual Anne.

[@clowderlibrary]

I have plans to go to Brighton! I miss the sea. Eat all the Mexican you can while you’re in Texas!!

[@paulausten5786]

@@clowderlibrary just as a word of warning, if you visit Brighton on a nice weekend it’ll be crazy packed. You know us Brits first glimpse of sun it’s shorts, beach & BBQ lol. Check out the Laines & North Laines for really niche shops. Plenty of good food too. Oh & there is a gaming shop called dice saloon that you can play board games too (you can hire them to play in shop). Don’t worry can’t miss Mexican, though we mix it up with BBQ, Italian & Chinese. The only thing I haven’t found is a good Indian 😕

[@davidwheaton9689]

Are you planning to visit Cheddar in somerset, drink some Cider and try the cheese 🧀. All Cider in the UK is hard Cider , unless it's scrumpy jack, which is very hard cider.

[@sterrissar]

I find Bernard Cornwell books give a good insight to Roman and British history.

[@clowderlibrary]

✍️taking note of this

[@blueillyriablue6913]

I'm enjoying your tour of England's graphic novels and figurine collections. How was the pizza?

[@clowderlibrary]

The pizza was excellent!

[@charlestaylor3027]

Have you discovered BBC Radio 4 Extra yet? Books, quizzes, games and drama.

[@clowderlibrary]

Not yet 👀

[@glastonbury4304]

wow 34 more subscribers since I was last here early this morning 👍😉🥂

[@clowderlibrary]

🤗

[@tanyaansley8606]

Hello From GA. Abbie! It is 6:23 here and having my coffee and treating myself-before work- to your lovely vlog!

[@clowderlibrary]

Have a lovely day at work!

[@carlybishop6160]

Can't believe you went to Southampton and didn't go to the Titanic Museum. The new one is really good and really hands on. As the Titanic left from Southampton and so many of the staff on the ship were from Southampton, it plays a big part in the City's history. Also, the Tudor House which you were outside has a nice museum, along with the Medieval House which isn't too far away.

[@clowderlibrary]

It was spontaneous so literally zero planning went into going to Southampton 😅-I’ll check out the titanic museum next time!

[@neilboulton9813]

@clowder library - I would say for classic English literature Wuthering Heights and Rebecca are hard to beat. In terms of American literature I love To Kill a Mockingbird. For Thomas Hardy I would recommend Far From The Maddening Crowd and the relatively recent film with Carey Mulligan is not bad. You can also visit the beautiful cottage Hardy was born in along with visitor centre in Higher Bockhampton Dorset. It is not too far from where you are.

[@clowderlibrary]

Rebecca is on my list of things to read. I’ve tried reading Wuthering Heights and I was having a hard time getting into it but I’m very much a mood reader so I probably just wasn’t in the mood for it at the time. I’ve got far from the maddening crowd on hand and I’m excited to give it a go

[@neilboulton9813]

@clowder library - you must read Notes From a Small Island and the follow-up The Road to Little Dribbling if you want a witty Americans take on the British and the British way of life from his time spent living in Yorkshire. I believe Bill Bryson has moved back now and he has written on his travels around small town America The Lost Continent. I hope you are enjoying the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations?

[@clowderlibrary]

Thank you for the book suggestion! I am enjoying the Jubilee celebration! I’m so glad I get to be in England for it 😊

[@sorscha1308]

Far from the madding crowd, i would say, is the best Hardy book to pick and probably the least depressing. So if you find that hard going, do not attempt Tess or Jude. Save yourself. I've read the first couple of chapters of War & Peace. Best cure for insomnia ever. I don't know what it is about Russian books, maybe something gets REALLY lost in translation, because they're always a slog but this one takes the prize. Stardust is wonderful, a very old favourite of mine that i've leant and lost many times over. Thursday Murder Club is a lovely middle class murder yarn, in the Agatha Christie or Midsummer Murders mold, that delivers what it sets out to but if you don't like Richard Osman you won't like it. It is entirely written in his voice and you feel like he's literally sat there reading it to you.

[@clowderlibrary]

I’m halfway through Anna Karenina so I get what you’re saying about the slog. Ive heard Russian books are so long (and filled with some pointless chapters) because authors got paid per word so they really wanted to milk that. I love Agatha Christie! I will admit I’ve only read 2 of her books but I do have a life goal to read all her books.

[@sorscha1308]

@@clowderlibrary Oh that makes sense. I can't stand Dickens either, probably for the same reason. I had to take a little reading holiday in the middle of The Old Curiosity Shop and read Bravo Two Zero as a bit of light relief (which if you've ever read that book, is kind of hilarious). Never bothered with Dickens again. I managed to get through Crime and Punishment but Tolstoy is on another level. I'll keep the book though, just in case i ever get another bout of insomnia.

[@clowderlibrary]

@@sorscha1308 I’ve found my enjoyment of Tolstoy depends on the translation. Some translations are definitely easier to comprehend than others. The only Dickens I’ve read is Great Expectations and I hated it lol

[@sorscha1308]

@@clowderlibrary yes, i agree with that, translators make a huge difference. I found The Iliad a horrendous slog (not sure who translated my copy) but The Odyssey was much more fun. That copy was translated by T.E. Lawrence. Maybe he just had more of a feel for a ripping good yarn. 🤷‍♀️

[@adventussaxonum448]

1:03 That's the Bargate, a mediaeval entrance to the walled city. It's the setting for the famous execution of the Earl of Cambridge, Lord Scrope and Sir Thomas Grey. They were found guilty of plotting against Henry V before he left Southampton with his army, to start his Agincourt Campaign, 1415.

[@clowderlibrary]

Thank you so much for the information!!

[@thegroovetube3247]

'A Pair of Blue Eyes' and 'The Trumpet Major'. I read both of these Hardy novels a fair while ago and I'm sure at least one of them was very, very good. I hope that's helpful ... ... ...😐

[@clowderlibrary]

😐

[@phillipamchugh7455]

Hay on Wye the town of books. Best place for books and culture.

[@clowderlibrary]

I want to go there soooo bad!

[@stephentaylor1476]

If it's books you want head off to Hay on Wye.

[@tonyrantnrave6854]

Question when you read an English book with English spellings does it throw you or what?

[@clowderlibrary]

Not really but I’m sure my mind is butchering the accents 😅

[@raiskis1]

Wow. No Roman baths for you!

[@clowderlibrary]

The line was long! But I’ll be back to visit them!

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

Madame Bovary 👍🏻

[@clowderlibrary]

It’s a good read???!

[@neilfennell1691]

Hello Abby, i have Thursday Murder Club and its sequel awaiting to be read. The author, Richard Osman is a British TV personality, he is the guy sat behind the desk on the TV show "Pointless". The stone work as you put it, in Southampton, is the remnants of the old city walls.

[@ednaplate]

Richard Osman’s older brother is the bass player in Suede, a fairly successful British rock band

[@glastonbury4304]

do you watch "between the covers" , it's on BBC2 now reviewing books....

[@clowderlibrary]

👀 tell me more….

[@glastonbury4304]

@@clowderlibrary you will catch up on all the episodes there 👍🥂

[@glastonbury4304]

​@@clowderlibrary .. apologies, it's between the covers...doh!!!..did you find it? 🙃🙂...why I said sheets I'll never know, of course it's covers!! 🤦😂🤣

[@terencewilliams789]

Right ...you will not able to get authentic Mexican food in the UK. The only restaurant of acclaim is in Birmingham it's run by a Mexican family. However switch to Indian or Thai and be amazed. X

[@clowderlibrary]

So sad about no Mexican food🥲🫠 but I do like Thai!

[@charlestaylor3027]

You are able to get it - a small chain of restaurants called Wahaca - it is Mexican though not Tex-Mex. There is a branch in Edinburgh. Several in London.

[@clowderlibrary]

@@charlestaylor3027 👀 I’m listening…is it like Chipotle?? Because Chipotle is like the Subway of Mexican food which is not ideal

[@vijay-c]

@@charlestaylor3027 There's a Wahaca just around the corner from where they had Pizza.

[@keithlillis7962]

Southampton church looks like bomb damage from WW2 - could possibly be?

[@monikakamila]

Hi

[@clowderlibrary]

🤗

[@panchomcsporran2083]

Don't fold the corner of the pages on your books, it's vandalism.

[@clowderlibrary]

It’s my book and I can do what I want ✌️

[@panchomcsporran2083]

@@clowderlibrary philistine!

[@53albat]

OMG! You turn corners over. sigh.

[@clowderlibrary]

I don’t most of the time! I lost my bookmark 🥲

[@53albat]

@@clowderlibrary I use my knowledge of the book. If I happen to re-read a few pages it helps to get back into it. It breaks my heart to see a turned corner, it reminds me of our disposable society. I want my grandkids to read my books.

[@clowderlibrary]

@@53albat to me turned pages show a book has been loved. Someone marked something they loved about the book and the next person who reads it can see what stuck out to the person who read the book before them. But again, I don’t normally fold the corners of my books.

[@christopher9727]

John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.