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How did you find Bath?
I'm just asking because I've lived there for 10 years of my life and now I live in the countryside just outside of it and I'd like to know what tourists like of it. We get a lot of tourists here, I also find that most residents here take it for granted as we've lived here for many years.
The one thing I really noticed in most restaurants, even McDonald's and Burger King, is that they won't put much ice in your drinks. You get perhaps two or three pieces and that's it.
Most hotels do not have ice-makers, and those that do, give you a small styrofoam cup to put it in. In others, you have to go to the bar and request it.
We finally just automatically ordered extra ice and sometimes had to do that more than once.
One memory I had was ordering a mixed drink at a pub. The bartender put two ice cubes in it. I asked for more. I got another cube. I asked for more and got two cubes. I finally told the bartender, "Hey, we can sit here all day, but I'm going to keep asking for icecubes until you fill it up." He finally did, but didn't seem to appreciate it.
Keep on Asking for More Ice. --RoadDog
I would have liked to spend more time there. Of, course, the baths and cathedral are something to see, but I liked the flowers in the private park down by the river as well.
We stayed at the old Ramada Inn (now Menzies) Waterside Hotel. Loved the view there and the walk along the river back into town, which is not too far. Would have liked to go back that night, but was too bushed. That day we had visited Hampton Court Palace (probably the prettiest gardens I have ever seen),Salisbury Cathedral (still have neck strain) and Stonehenge (one of those must-see places).
I did walk some of it the next morning before the bus left.
You live in a beautiful area.
Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway, but Watch which Side You're On. --RoadDog
Haha, your dis-satisfaction with the ice cube situation makes me laugh for two reasons. Whenever my wife and I have been in the States we've found it peculiar how there's always seemingly a hundred ice machines between the hotel lobby and our room, and we can never imagine why any, let alone many are required (we always eat—and consequently drink—out when we're travelling so we don't tend to drink anything in our rooms).
And as for ice in drinks in bars and restaurants: the attitude here in Britain tends to be exactly the opposite, that every ice cube is taking up room in the glass that could be better filled with whatever liquid we're drinking. Several times I've heard employees in McDonalds get dogs' abuse for putting too much ice in drinks. Whether the cost of freezing ice cubes is less than the cost of the post-mix syrup used in carbonated drinks I've never been sure about but that's the perception: that we're being cheated out of some of the 3 pence worth of syrup by filling the cup with ice in our £1.50 coke. Thus I'd guess half the people I know insist on saying firmly "NO ICE" at bars and fast food counters.
So the barman you had to squeeze each ice cube out of was probably trying to be helpful, not stingy.
It's true that it's normally cold enough in Britain not to really need ultra-cool drinks; I often wonder if it'd be worth opening a pub with draught soup instead of beer here in Glasgow!