Once in London - to be specific Stansted airport (Ryanair, as a totally illegitimate airline does not actually fly into the city) we went through customs/passport check and took the bus into London. We took a cab to our hostel and after being slightly weirded/grossed out at the tininess of our shared room fell asleep.
The next day we (Sara, Emily, and Emily's friend Katie) took the train to Bath. Without going into too much detail Bath is super duper old (think Roman times) and was a Roman settlement - the Romans stayed due to the thermal springs they found. So there is naturally a Roman bath in the center of Bath.
Some Bath highlights:
- walking around: we saw a rugby game across the river, the Pulteney bridge (which along with the Ponte Veccio is the only bridge in Europe to have stores on it)
- Bath Abbey: we spent so much time here - as in almost the majority of our time in Bath. Saturday night we saw a concert there and Sara fell in love. Sort of. She took a fancy to the violin soloist (violinist) who played some very nice classical piece - The Lark Ascending (maybe). His name was Harry. His figures into our story later. I loved the Abbey because of the stained glass - some of my favorite stained glass. I really loved the bright colors (bold reds and blues). Also the church had grave markers all of the place - on the floors, on the walls. The ones on the floors were flat and had the epitaphs carved in them but most very pretty worn. The ones on the wall were very elaborate marble pieces. Most had scrolls or flounces - so they looked like fabric. I snuck in on an impromptu tour that a Steward (think Church docent) was giving a visitor. He pointed out some irregularities - like a grave marker that said immoral instead of immortal, and some graffiti carved in the wall. I loved it! Then on Sunday we went to morning and night services. I really enjoyed the morning service, very anglican - which is what I grew up with. The liturgy, the robed clergy, the organ - it was all wonderful. After each service we went to the transept to get tea and cookies and each time we met some Bath inhabitants.
- the costume museum: This was Sara's favorite by far (except the concert). She loved the costumes and the chronological progression of the clothing throughout the 1800s. She was inspired multiple times. I really like trying on the corset. It probably wasn't nearly as tight as it was supposed to be - but it helped me have good posture.
- the Roman Baths: These were the reason for the town's formation - the Romans wanted thermal water to relax in. But actually it was a sacred site for them, complete with a temple to Minerva. The baths were quite extensive - complete with several rooms (a frigiderium, a tepiderium, a hot thermal bath, a sauna, rooms for massage...). We listened to the audio guides (because they were free!!!!) and boy were they EXTENSIVE. They were explanations for practically everything - it was almost too much. Towards the end I started skipping some. But there was one explanation which was particularly funny. Apparently Romans would write curses on scraps of lead and through them into the spring. The curses were actually accounts of theft - meaning that some Roman wrote about what was stolen from them, who they thought did it, and how they wanted Minerva (the goddess) to punish them. On particularly funny one read: "Docimedis has lost two gloves. He asks that the person who has stolen them should lose his minds and his eyes in the temple where she (Minerva) appoints". Harsh. I really enjoyed the baths - tons and tons of history!!!!
- the ultimate boat times: While walking around Bath we saw lots of canals. After a bit we saw a family in a very thin boat (canal sized, think gondola width). The kids and the wife hopped out to fix the locks. The Bath canal system is comprised of locks which allow the boat to compensate for the fluctuating (hilly) terrain. I can't properly explain how a lock system works so look at this article. But suffice it to say that this family showed us the most intense boat times - ever.
- thai food: Our first night we ate thai food. Katie, Sara, and I had pad thai and Emily had some semi-spicy thing that she didn't really enjoy - but ate like the trooper she is. It was delicious - and long over due. I am so glad we got thai food - I had been missing pad thai.
All in all Bath was excellent. It is a beautiful city - and all very walkable. The Abbey is absolutely gorgeous (I would love to visit it again some day). Also our hostel was really great - it had free food, free wi-fi, and free breakfast (all major pluses in my book). It was lovely beginning to our fall break tour of England. Also one of the great things about England is tea time (I will discuss this in future posts) but suffice it to say that it allowed us (Katie, Emily, Sara, and I) to relax after walking all day, have a delicious snack, and talk for a few hours - so we got to know each other even better. I am a huge fan of the European style meal (snack) in which you sit and talk and eat and enjoy for a few hours and you are not constantly rushed (like at Duke or in America) to go do tons of work after. You really enjoy your meal and your time.
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| Pulteney Bridge & Avon River |
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| stained glass at Bath Abbey |
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| Bath Abbey ceiling |
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| grave marker in Bath Abbey |
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| The corset #bestpostureever |
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| Sara and Maggie at the Roman bath |
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| Lock - ultimate boat times |
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| like a boss |
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