A Day's Worth of BATH

Right, it's quite late for me, but I've GOT to tell you about our day trip to Bath!  I went with Kristen, another student in my program, and we ended up talking the entire train ride there and back (which is saying something, since our ride there was delayed due to back ups).  Let's just say we have quite a bit in common. :-)

Our first order of business upon our arrival was to get to The Jane Austen Centre.  It was really neat, though there is a Jane Austen museum at a house in the country she lived.  The sum of the visit is that Georgian/Regency England was pretty cool, but Jane actually didn't like Bath a whole lot, being the country girl she was.  I wonder how she would feel about the Centre now...

 There were bonnets, fans, and parasols for us to play with.  You better believe we did.  (Keep reading for more dress-up...)

That lady is actually plaster.  Scared the crap out of me.

Ummm... I forget if this is the Royal Crescent or the Circus.  Both are curved rows of buildings built by the same architect around the same period.  They were very posh places to live.

After getting lunch at a cafe, we walked around for a bit, guided by a simple map and street signs.  While tours are great for concisely learning information and history, there really isn't anything better than wandering through the back streets of town.  Who knows, you might even come across several costumed characters on their smoke break (would have been a bit rude & awkward to snap a picture).

The VIEW!

Didn't I promise more dress-up?  I wanted to go see the Fashion Museum in Bath, and buying a combined ticket for that and the Roman Baths was a good deal, so we went for it.  The first exhibition was sport and fashion in honor of the Olympics, but no photography allowed.  Then, after some really old dresses, there was an honest-to-goodness dress-up area.  Hoop skirts, corsets (with snap buckles, not the real thing), a few dresses, hats, coats... Kristen's worked at Renaissance festivals, so she went straight to work on the complete outfit.  I got the hoop skirt on, but the corset was a no-go.  I settled for a bonnet.

Then I proceeded to pick everything up from the floor and put it back where it belonged.  Yes, I am my mother's daughter.

GORGEOUS antique dress.  Their storerooms were so. cool.

The line for the Roman Baths had been so long at lunch time, we decided to come back late afternoon.  It was a grand idea - we just walked right through the doors around 5pm!  As a clarification, you can't actually bathe in the Roman Baths (though it looks like there's a spa down the road).  The complex is part museum, part excavation dig.  There was so much history in this space, it was hard to take in.  We spent a good 2 hours there, and that was with skipping over bits.

You might be able to see how the plaster wall is cut exactly to the stone.  They've actually built this tour center right on top of the ruins, and you walk down into it.  I don't think I've seen anything like it.

Lounging by the baths.  Traditionally, there would have been a roof over the main pool, but the exposure to constant sunlight encourages the growth of algae, making the water green.  It wouldn't normally be this color.

The Roman Baths was a place of relaxation, healing, and worship.  Minerva replaced the local, Celtic healing goddess of the time when the Romans moved in, so there was also a Roman temple on this site.  I'm not sure about the history of the Baths after ancient Rome fell, but we do know that they were in use during Jane Austen's lifetime.  It would have been quite the outing to go to the Baths in Georgian times - and you'd better believe you were fully clothed when you got in.

Check out the steam that hovers over the water.

After a very full day of seeing the sights (and spending a pretty penny), Kristen and I caught a 7:45pm train back to London.  I'm so glad I got to see Bath, what with its ancient and not-so-ancient history.  The day felt so rich with experiences and meaning.  I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting England.