Sept 16 - Bath

Our day started with a fantactic breakfast at the Vobster Inn in keeping with the British tradition of a hearty breakfast to kick off the day. We wasted no time at all and drove into Bath as we were hoping to avoid crowds at the Roman Baths a very popular tourist site in the modern city of Bath.

Paul has completely mastered the art of driving on the left and our satellite navigation system is getting us around with efficiency.

We were able to get into the baths with ease and we had the luxury of time to thoroughly explore. There were spots that were crowded due to the confined quarters but overall there were light crowds.

The baths are amazing. They were built by the Romans 2000 years ago on the site of a naturally occurring hot spring. It was used as a hot spa for bathing and treatments and also a religious site dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva.

Originally it had a large vaulted roof and so it was very like the public pools of today. We learned that the water is green because it is now exposed to sunlight and hence algae grows.

We wandered through the ruins of the religious parts of the complex and learned about the religious practices. The complex came to life with the use of projectors that show how things would have looked during the Roman's era.

One of the interesting practices was that of curses. These were written on led tablets for wrongs which had been committed and these the thrown into the spring for the goddess's intervention.

Another interesting find...the jems which were found in the spring...either lost by their owners or thrown into the waters as an offering.

We followed up our visit with a walking tour through the city. This took us to the Avon River where we saw more beautiful idyllic scenery.

We took a break and found a very cool cafe in a shop on a bridge across the River...

And then we visited the Victoria Art Gallery...

And the assembly rooms which were once used for social gatherings.

We finished up the walking tour at the circus and the Royal Crescent, townhouses which have been constructed in a circle.

The day was coming to a close and so we decided to head back to our hotel. On the way we stopped at The George Inn which purports to be the oldest pub in England and we explored a bit after our meal. We discovered a church from the 14th century and wandered around the grounds while the sun set.