While we all enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city, I'm pretty sure we all really loved the day we spent outside of London. Before we left for our trip we sent e-mails back and forth debating where we should go, and the two towns we settled on were Cambridge or Bath. After receiving some recommendations from friends, we settled on Bath, and we were not disappointed.When I visited England in 2002 I spent the majority of my time in Cornwall with my sister and her family. This was a vastly different experience than the one I was having in London, and I thought it was a great idea for the first-time visitors in our group to get a taste of life outside of the city.
There are two main attractions that dominate the tourists in Bath -- the Abbey (at left) and the Roman hot spring baths (the museum at right). They are located in the same square in the center of town, so it made sense to visit both of these places. The thing I've told ev
eryone who I've talked to about this day trip, I really wasn't sure what to expect out of Bath. I didn't know if we'd get there and wind up twiddling our thumbs all day. But I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of things to do there and couldn't even get to: if I ever get back there I will make the effort to go to the Jane Austen Museum and the Museum of Fashion (or Costume, as they say over there).
eryone who I've talked to about this day trip, I really wasn't sure what to expect out of Bath. I didn't know if we'd get there and wind up twiddling our thumbs all day. But I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of things to do there and couldn't even get to: if I ever get back there I will make the effort to go to the Jane Austen Museum and the Museum of Fashion (or Costume, as they say over there).The Abb
ey was wonderful. As pretty as the architecture was on the outside, the inside totally blew me away. Our churches at home in Podunk, Pennsylvania just can't compare to the majesty and grandiosity of these houses of worship. The ceilings, the floors, the pews and the pulpit were all incredible in their intricacy and workmanship. Something you also don't see in small town American churches 
were the memorial plaques and statues on the floors and walls of the church. Everywhere you looked there were tributes to people, everything from a simply worded slab of stone to an intricate work of art. And each one told a story of a life, some hundreds of years old. This church had the main altar, then some side chapels on each side. To the right of the altar was the Gesthemene Chapel, and I loved the 
altar frontal designed by Jane Lemon. Next to the abbey was the vaults, which had been converted to a museum noting the history of the church. One of the things I couldn't get over in my many experiences in England was just how old everything is. I mean, we're talking 1,000, even 2,000 years old! Where I live it's amazing to have a building still standing from the 1770s, when this region was first populated by settlers. In England that's relatively new stuff.
ey was wonderful. As pretty as the architecture was on the outside, the inside totally blew me away. Our churches at home in Podunk, Pennsylvania just can't compare to the majesty and grandiosity of these houses of worship. The ceilings, the floors, the pews and the pulpit were all incredible in their intricacy and workmanship. Something you also don't see in small town American churches 
were the memorial plaques and statues on the floors and walls of the church. Everywhere you looked there were tributes to people, everything from a simply worded slab of stone to an intricate work of art. And each one told a story of a life, some hundreds of years old. This church had the main altar, then some side chapels on each side. To the right of the altar was the Gesthemene Chapel, and I loved the 
altar frontal designed by Jane Lemon. Next to the abbey was the vaults, which had been converted to a museum noting the history of the church. One of the things I couldn't get over in my many experiences in England was just how old everything is. I mean, we're talking 1,000, even 2,000 years old! Where I live it's amazing to have a building still standing from the 1770s, when this region was first populated by settlers. In England that's relatively new stuff.To really bring thi
s home, just go across the square to the Roman baths. In the Victorian era the ruins of these baths and temple were discovered, and the museum built up around them to preserve and protect them. Not only are you amazed at the age of this find, but also the 2,000 year old technology that still works! Can you imagine our current plumbing and heating systems still working in 4008? We're lucky if we can get a toaster to last five years! The natural hot springs these baths take advantage of maintain a constant temperature of around 80 degrees F, and if you look at the picture closely you can see the steam rising off the water. All kinds of artifacts were discovered around these baths: remnants of a temple dedicated to Minerva; intricate tile work; offerings and curses given to the gods to thank them for their gifts or to seek punishment for those who did them wrong; stone grave markers and coffins; little trinkets, hair implements and other tools the Romans used. It was a great experience, and the hand-held audio tour gadget they give you does an excellent job of explaining everything at your own pace.
s home, just go across the square to the Roman baths. In the Victorian era the ruins of these baths and temple were discovered, and the museum built up around them to preserve and protect them. Not only are you amazed at the age of this find, but also the 2,000 year old technology that still works! Can you imagine our current plumbing and heating systems still working in 4008? We're lucky if we can get a toaster to last five years! The natural hot springs these baths take advantage of maintain a constant temperature of around 80 degrees F, and if you look at the picture closely you can see the steam rising off the water. All kinds of artifacts were discovered around these baths: remnants of a temple dedicated to Minerva; intricate tile work; offerings and curses given to the gods to thank them for their gifts or to seek punishment for those who did them wrong; stone grave markers and coffins; little trinkets, hair implements and other tools the Romans used. It was a great experience, and the hand-held audio tour gadget they give you does an excellent job of explaining everything at your own pace.
After touring both places we worked up an appetite for lunch, and I was the instigator of where we went. At the Bath train stop there was a tourism center and I picked up a pamphlet for Sally Lunn's. One of my goals for my England trip was to get the chance to eat some scones with clotted cream, also called a cream tea. I was introduced to this delicacy on my trip to Cornwall and longed to experience that culinary delight again. Most of the meals we ate in London were at pubs and it appeared our plans to go to a high tea in the city were not going to happen. So when I saw the flyer for this tea room I told my travel companions we had to check it out. What a fantastic experience! The outside of the building was charming enough, but the inside was so quintessentially English that we all fell in love with it. We all tried sandwiches made with the famous Sally Lunn buns, then while the others got a piece of apple pie with clotted cream, I got my Cornish Cream tea and savored every second of it. It was so fun and quaint and really what you would picture in your imagination of a countryside English tea.On the way home on the train we all talked about the fantastic day we had, got a good laugh at some of the silly photos we had taken (sorry, I didn't show them here!) and our two first-timers said that if they ever come back to the U.K. again, they would seriously consider spending most of their time in Bath. So it's pretty obvious our day in Bath was well worth it!
1 comment:
I finally had time to sit down and enjoy this posting without hurrying through it. I loved it. thank you.
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