June 17th
2009
Bath
England
Wednesday morning my German friend and I awoke to Fruit Loop declaring us soooooo STINKY he had to take us to get a BATH! We loaded into the car and set off just about 30 minutes down the road to the only remaining WORKING Roman Baths left in England. Guess what? They are in the city called BATH, go figure?! lol We parked the car in the lot a bit out of town and grabbed a double decker bus into town where we were quickly led to the baths and dramatically DUMPED IN!!!!
Ok I am just kidding, they don't let you get into the Roman Baths to actually bath, but I wish we could have tried. I did touch the water (even though they don't allow you too) along with tons of other tourist so don't worry I won't get arrested, YET! But I do think I saw a glimpse of that immigration officer!
Bath is actually a wonderful city that I look forward to exploring many more times in the future. Being so close to us we can zoom down anytime to look at a museum or shop. They also have a bike trail that is relatively flat (on an old railroad track they have paved over) that we plan on cycling in the next few months. When we arrived in the city center we proceeded to walk up the street to see the Circus and the Royal Crescent. Bath was a very popular place for wealthy people to come to enjoy the spa in the 18th century. They would buy homes in the Circus and Crescent and then ride around in their carriages to show off who was the best looking and gossip about who wasn't! Sounds alot like teenagers cruising when I was a teen! Oh on the way to these enormous apartment complexes I saw the Jane Austen Museum and from then on all I said all day was..."Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy!" Fruit Loop and my German gal-friend had NO desire to visit so I stuck my lip out and pouted for a bit. hehehehe! Don't worry I will be back as soon as I have a free day by myself to check it out.
After the "posh" (means very nice/expensive looking) apartments we rambled on to the Assembly Rooms were they held elaborate balls to show off even more! I took this opportunity to dance with my man in the ballroom and pretend I was dancing in the 18th century during a coming out ball for one of Jane Austen's characters. (see photo) Next we ate little snacks in the market and YUMMY! I had the best bacon/cheese pastry!!! And the chocolate one....mmmmmmm!!!!! Rats, didn't find any diet coke with ice though!
I could go on forever with all of the sites we saw including the cathedral and actual baths, but I bet you would get VERY bored. BUT if you are actually interested in learning about the places I am visiting I am adding a new feature to each entry. At the bottom I am going to start giving you links to do some EXPLORING for yourself!!!!! Please comment on what you find out. :-)
It was a nice relaxing day with just a spot of typical English rain. YES MY FIRST ENGLISH RAIN! I guess Fruit Loop was able to get me to take that bath after all anyway in the city famous for its BATHS!
LINKS
Official Tourist Site for BATH
General Information on Jane Austen
The Roman Baths in Bath
