On Sunday, we travelled from the Cotswolds to Bath (or as others around here pronounce it Bawth). It was a short 90 minute trip. After three days in the Cotswolds, we now have three days in Bath to relax. We just checked into our last B&B (next stop in London we will be a hotel).
Day1. We walked around this pretty city for an hour, and enjoyed time at a sidewalk cafe, then had dinner at an Italian restaurant run by Italians. We then visited the old Roman Baths from 8-10 pm. Like the other two impressive Roman building projects we saw on previous vacations, the Colosseum in Rome and the aqueduct bridge in France, Pont Du Gard, this one, the Roman Baths, is amazing, and it still works! It’s been modified and updated over the years, but one can still see the original bath and water system where the hot water still flows out of the ground, now about 10 meters below the current street level. It was amazing to us that we were walking on a stone floor laid in place earlier than any writing of any fragments of Gospels found to date.
Day 2. We started the day with one of the history walking tours. Daily, four volunteers, usually retired teachers or professionals, each leads 20 people on a walking tour for two and a half hours explaining the rich history of Bath and the three people that did the most to design it in modern times: Post Master and Mayor of Bath Ralph Allen (1694-1764) commissioned John Wood to build his Prior Park estate in 1742. From then on, Bath had become a fashionable town with the elite. Architects John Wood, father and son, remodeled the whole city with a palatial air, a rational street plan, and homogenous classical facades built of creamy gold limestone. Richard ‘Beau’ Nash (1674-1761) was appointed Master of Ceremonies of Bath in 1705. He played an important role in the revitalization of Bath as a spa town, and presided over social life. In the afternoon we took a boat ride on the river, and learned more history of this. Here is a pic of what is called The Circus, so you can see the architecture style.
In the early evening, the bells rang in the Bath Abbey for 30 minutes to celebrate the new baby prince that was born today. It is interesting that the coronation of Edgard, first king of all England, was crowned at Bath Abbey in 973. And we were here when a future king was born of Kate and Prince William.
When the abbey was closed by King Henry the 8th, all metals were removed from the Abbey and it was left in disrepair for 100 years until Queen Elizabeth I supported it to be finished in the late 1500s. Note the ladders with angels on them built into this abbey. Most are climbing up, but one is climbing down per the vision of then bishop, Oliver King. Note: Jesus is at the very top of the arch, and the King of England can be seen in very center, at the bottom of this pic. Google “Bath Abbey” to see its interesting history in Wikipedia.
That evening we also took the comedy tour entitled ‘Bizarre Bath’ and we laughed a lot. The comedian guide picked on Ted early in the tour. It was fun.
All in all, we have enjoyed a relaxing and informative day in Bath, one that we will always treasure.