Bath Time!

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Panorama - Bath Circus...and not an elephant in sight!

Day 13-15 Today I'm off to Bath, an historical town where England's only source of hot springs are found. The Romans knew a good thing 1900 years ago and turned it into a day spa for the well-to-do. The original foundations can be seen of the baths under the later modifications. Quite an interesting place to visit and in the cold weather, it's very tempting to jump in to warm up. But it was hands off, or out, in this instance. There are new baths built about 100 metres away but it is a bit pricey for a dip when they want to fleece you of 22 quid for 2 hours.

Bath is a tourist town, no mistaking that, and it's extremely pretty. Beautiful gardens and well maintained cobblestone streets and buildings. The Abbey here is where the first King of England was crowned, too. It has grown in popularity because of the hot springs and I've heard that when many people visit England they go to central London and Bath and then leave thinking they've seen England...tick that off the list. But there's much more to this country than what you can find in London and Bath.

The local people are just bursting to chat. Ask them the right question and you'll never get away. The smaller towns and villages are bursting with character and charm. And the full England is different from county to county. Not a very clear picture with only London and Bath on the itinerary.

I've met some very interesting travellers on the road so far. The young Swiss couple who thought they had the room to themselves. They burst into the room in a way that within 2 minutes they would have been bonking had I not been there. Oh well, too bad. ha ha
The ladies from Horsham that shared the Bizaar Bath Walk with me and about 10 others. They were both youth workers and had great lines for any occasion. Had us all in laughter for the evening.
The Danish couple who came over to Wales to view and buy an old classic car. I asked them how many cars they have. The answer to that was 'well other people collect CDs and we collect cars'. This led me to believe that they had hundreds. They store them in a barn.

It was a cold, wet and windy day but I was determined to get out to see some of the sites around the town. There's a walk I can take where I follow plaques placed between the footpath stone slabs. Some have quotes from famous people or a name of a point of interest. So I went on this walk and it was getting very obvious that the weather was not going to last the trip around. So I walked very quickly. Luckily the walk takes me past a travel shop where I buy some wet weather pants...also helps to keep me warm. I was all right after that.

My own private walking tour finished around 6 ish, another 2 hours before the Bizaar Walk. So it was into the pub for a gin and tonic or two (I've developed a taste for these) and a serve of chips. A chat with a couple of local lads and I'm off to meet with the walk group outside. I quickly get into conversation with the Horsham ladies and have a few laughs before the tour starts. There are 12 of us plus 30 British soldiers who are about to be shipped out to Afghanistan. They had already had quite a few pints and it was looking to be a bad tour because they kept interrupting our host mid joke. So with good taste and humour our host suggested that it might be better for them to sit this tour out. They were happy to go. Anyway, after the soldiers left, our host kicked up the humour and magic tricks and the remainder of the walk was fun, funny and unique. And it wasn't an historical tour but taking the mickey out of some of the buildings and events around the Abbey area. The english have such great humour. They are good at laughing at themselves and others. Mostly the French and Germans.

After the tour a few of us go back in to the pub, The Huntsman, for another drink and a meal. A perfect end to a great day despite the weather.

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Photos

Sally Lunn's house
The oldest house in Bath. Sally Lunn is famous for her bread recipes which were found in a secret cupboard above the fireplace. The recipe is used today and is wonderful with tomato and basil soup.

A character actor, the lady's maid
Telling us bits of Roman appropriate gossip of her lady, the toilette, and society.

Yes, I look tired today.
The remainder of the day was for resting and planning next days events.

My head in the stocks before the guillotine trick
On the Bizaar Bath Walk

Me, Angela and Alex
Stubborn ladies who put up with the cold and rain to enjoy the Bizaar Walk. We had a few drinks and a meal at the Huntsman pub afterwards. Great ladies!