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Published: September 17th 2017
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Geo: 51.3814, -2.35745
We rode the bus into Bath this morning. It took about an hour. Now we've been out in these small towns for a week so the size and pace of this bustling tourist mecca was a bit much at first. It took us a good 30 minutes to get our bearings, dig out a map and head toward the tourist information center.
Bath is filled with little boutiques, designer shops, cafés, pubs and residences. We had an idea of the things we might want to see but thought we might confer with an expert so as not to leave something out. Bath is steeped in rich history since Roman times and the city has a cosmopolitan feel.
So we visited the Roman Baths first....probably the only "must do" as far as tourist attractions go. The entire reason the city exists is because of the natural 115 degree spring. The audio tour was interesting and luckily, we got in and out before the tour buses dropped off the masses of tourists from Lonon and elsewhere. We also went into the Pump Room (dining room attached to the baths) to have our free glass of Bath water, known to cure what ails you!
(Just think well water....slightly metallic).
We then walked about town, admiring the architecture, visiting shops, looking at door knockers (I found a few I didn't have in my ever growing collection) and trying to decide how to feed our selves. We made a stop at the Fashion Museum because they had a "costuming" exhibition from movies such as The King's Speech, Ben Hur, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator and others.
This brings us to our dilemma.....tea time! There are many places in each English town to get tea in the afternoon. Most places serve a "cream tea" which means tea and scones (and can even include sandwiches, desserts an champagne). So even though Bath contains numerous tea houses, the decision comes down to two.....The Pump Room or Sally Lunn's. One is more upscale, the other is the oldest tea house in town. I ask Mom to choose.
Sally Lunn's win and off we go. The house is from the 1400s and is 4 stories high. We are seated on the top floor and each of us order half a Sally Lunn bunn....Mom with clotted cream and jam, mine with their signature cinnamon butter. What's a Sally Lunn bunn, you ask? Well, we weren't
sure either but something served for 100s of years can't be bad, right? The waitress brings these round pieces of bread....toasted, a little like brioché. Mine is SLATHERED in a cinnamon mixture that essentially makes it taste like a cinnamon roll that hasn't been rolled up yet.
Now while it was delicious, we decided that it wasn't quite what we expect of "tea" in England so we went to walk a little before heading to tea #2 at the Pump Room (we figured we'd skip dinner). So we headed to the river to admire the city gardens.....Bath has beautiful flowers, gardens and parks.
After walking that bun off, we headed to the Pump Room. Now THIS is what the English mean by tea! We ordered the little three tiered tower of scrumptuousness.....sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam....desserts on top. A trio played classical music while we reveled in being honorary Englishwomen!
The only thing I can't quite get used to is that all stores and attractions close at 5 or 6. The only thing open are restaurants and pubs. So back to the B&B to rest up before our big day on Saturday. We are taking a tour of Stonehenge and
Avebury stone circles and some neat little villages!
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Al
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What the heck is clotted cream? I don't like the sound of it!