A day in Bath

---

Today we had planned to visit the Roman Baths, have a swim in the spa, and then go to lunch at the Priory Hotel. After lunch we were hoping to visit the Assembly rooms and do some shopping. After breakfast we set off to arrive at the Roman Baths before it opened at 9am. The line was not too long when we arrived, and soon we had paid and picked up our audio guide. You can go at your own pace, and the audio guide provides lots of information. As you travel through the different parts of the Baths, there are also videos and other information displays. The Baths were discovered and opened up archeologically . They are quite big. Some areas have been renovated and others have just been uncovered for us to see what they looked like. The museum is very interesting, and shows just how clever the Romans were as they built different buildings. From the Roman baths we went to the Thermae Spa to have a swim in the new Baths, using the same -but filtered- waters. The water is about 35 degrees and very pleasant. We queued to gain admittance, then changed into our bathers, had a shower and then hit the water. We went first to the Minerva pool, which had water circulating around the outside of the pool and a spa in the middle. Once we had acclimatised to the water, we went up to the top of the building and spent time in the pool overloooking Bath. An hour in the water was plenty for us, so we changed and went back to the hotel to get ready to go to lunch. Lunch at the Priory hotel had been recommended to us, so we dressed in better clothes and set off to walk to lunch. Unfortunately we got lost a couple of times- the last thanks to the gps, who didn't seem to know exactly whereabouts in Weston road that the hotel was situated. We finally got to the hotel a little late and had a lovely lunch. ( see photos for a look at our desserts). Lunch took a while, but there was still time to visit the Assembly Rooms- the place where many of the dances and entertainments took place in the Victorian era. Unfortunately, like yesterday, the rooms were closed for a private function, so we couldn't see the rooms themselves. The photos of them were amazing. We went back into the town and did a bit of shopping. Although we really weren't very hungry, we did book dinner at Ponte Vecchio- a nearby Italian restaurant. It was a good meal. ( two good meals today!) with some lovely pasta and tiramisu to finish the day.

---