Brad's England Journal- March 26th Entry

Wednesday, March 26, 1997

The tour of Bath went fairly well today. We bought a ticket to see the Roman Baths and the Costume Museum at a discount combined price at the Hostel before we went out this morning. Our first order of business when we got into town was to find breakfast, which we did at small bakery which served fairly bland (but also cheap) rolls. There is no Cathedral in Bath, since the church seat for the area is in Bristol about 20 miles north-west of Bath. That being said, however, the Bath Abbey which is there instead is at least as impressive as the Cathedral in Bristol. We toured the Abbey first after breakfast, and then headed over to the Roman Baths which are right next to the Abbey.
Overhead View with Abbey at the Left in the Middle, and Baths at Bottom Right
The Inside of the Bath's when Drained.  Notice Lead Lining at Bottom

The Roman Baths at Bath
The Baths were very impressive to see, with construction that has lasted since the Romans first came in the 1st century AD. During the Victorian Era, the ruins of the buildings were cleared away so that the underlying structure of the Baths could be seen again, and since then much of the complex has been reconstructed. One interesting thing to see was the actual spring where the boiling hot water escapes from the earth. The water exiting the spring is rain water from 10,000 years ago which has filtered down through the rock to the magma where it is expelled back up to the surface. The complex was set up as a walk with many exhibits and displays, accompanied by an audio guide which explained what you were looking at. I was the last of the four of us to make it through the tour since I listened to all of the audio guide, while the others stuck to the more interesting bits.
Inside Bath Abbey
Jeff, Carrie and Alex at the Roman Baths
Alex on the Bus Tour as we go through the Royal Circus
Bridge with Buildings on It

Pictures from Around Bath
After the tour we went to Pizza Hut for their all you can eat lunch buffet (except Carrie who went and grabbed a sandwich instead). By the time lunch ended, it was drizzling, and after some discussion we decided to take the Guide Friday tour bus around the city so we could see some of the more removed items of interest. The tour was hop-on, hop-off, and passed by the Costume Museum which we already had tickets to, so it seemed like a good idea.

There was some debate as to whether we should go to the Costume Museum or not. Carrie was interested in seeing it, and Jeff and I were fairly neutral, while Alex was completely disinterested. In the end we decided to go since we had already paid for the tickets. It was another audio guide thing, and by this time even I was getting tired of the "press 33 to hear about the type of paint used on the ceiling of this room." Alex hardly listened to his guide at all, and I skipped most of the stuff on mine. In addition to the Costume Museum we got to see the meeting halls up stairs which were a popular social venue in the 1800s. The Costume Museum was okay (I enjoyed seeing some of the gowns which were 400 years old!), but overall not terribly exciting. There were a couple of gowns worn by famous people, including one worn by Queen Victoria which demonstrated just how round she was at the end of her life.

Overview of Bath with UFO in Middle
Me in Front of the Hostel, which was an Old Georgian Mansion

Miscellaneous Bath Photos
After the costume museum we got back on the bus and continued our tour around Bath. We got to see the Royal Crescent (at left), which is one of the most famous housing complexes in Britain. Built in the early 1800s by John Wood the Younger, it is a half circle of houses all in a common motif which faces down into the valley in which Bath lies. The tour also took us up into the hills on the opposite side of Bath, where we could see the city in its whole (see photo at right). Almost all of the buildings are built from Bath stone, which is local to the area and has a unique tannish color. The view of the city was spectacular, and we could see the Royal Crescent and several later crescents on the hills opposite.

Tonight we went out to a pub, The Forum and Firkin, which is one of the Firkin chain of pubs. Jeff was disappointed that the pub was so well lit. He had hoped for something a little more dingy and smoke filled! We ate there anyway, and the food was not bad-- nourishing but pretty bland. We checked out Monopoly from behind the bar, and all played a game. It was interesting since all of the properties have British instead of American names, like St. Pancras station for one of the railroads. As Monopoly tends to do, the game dragged on a bit, and Jeff folded and gave all of his property to me, and Carrie withdrew and gave everything she had to Alex. The two of us, both perhaps too competitive, carried on playing, putting up Hotels, and letting the momentum change from one to another as we had to pay 2000 pound rental fees. Eventually it became clear that Jeff and Carrie were both bored of the whole thing, so I withdrew allowing Alex to win. He was sorely disappointed that he hadn't had the pleasure of crushing me completely, but I guess he will have to deal with it.