Simply Me: Bath

Bath was different than I expected, but it wasn't a bad place to visit. Our whole group was absolutely exhausted because none of us slept well last night (we were all sharing beds with our roommates and that's more difficult than I remember it ever being) and I think that contributed to our lack of enthusiasm for the city. I'll have to give it a fighting chance if I ever come back to England.

We wanted to see as much of this huge city as possible in the little time we had, so we hit the streets at nine o'clock in the morning. However, it was Saturday and so the entire place was still asleep and we found ourselves a bit bored and grumpy. The earliest shops to open (aside from restaurants serving breakfast) opened at 9:30. We saved our touring for after the baths.

We went to the Roman baths as a group and I enjoyed it. The main bath smelled like gravy for some reason, though. Does it always smell that way?

As Kenna and I wandered through the remains of a part of Roman society I found myself amazed at the level of sophistication of their society. Our day has more modern conveniences, but the Romans had things figured out pretty well.

Touring the baths took approximately an hour and by the end we were hungry. We headed back to the hotel to load our belongings onto the coach and then we hit the streets again. I was amazed at the difference two hours made. Bath went from being a town almost devoid of life to a crowded city with almost no room to breathe.

We found a bakery that sold sandwiches for under two pounds and it was well worth the navigating it took to get there. The sandwiches were delicious.

We toured the beautiful Bath Abbey and then went back out to the street in search of a vintage jewelry shop Lizzie had seen (alas, the search was in vain and we could find no such shop).

After wandering around and getting grumpier as a group by the step we heard a group of men singing in the barbershop style. It was a street performing sextet and they were quite good. I'll include a video snippet of them later.

We stayed and listened for a few songs before Caitlin had us up and moving again. We were all significantly happier for having listened, though.

We made our way to the park and were allowed in without being charged the posted ticket price for entering. As we walked around we found a man singing under a pavilion and we decided we wanted to listen longer. A group of five girls got up from their chairs right as we showed up and so we had a place to sit and enjoy the show.

As it turns out, we were in Bath for the Bath Music Festival and it was my favorite thing. I could have stayed in that park listening all day.

We did, however, need to get back on the coach and return to London. I loved the trip, but I'm glad to be back in the Centre.

Bath Abbey

Every building in Bath is made out of the same material: Bath stone. It is not allowed to build any building out of any other material because they want to preserve the feeling and appearance bath currently has.

The park at nine-something in the morning.

This is the water from Javert's suicide in the Les Mis film that came out a few years back.

More of the park (which is empty because it, like everything else, was closed at nine).

I thought of my brother. There are TONS of Thai restaurants here in England.

This was an adorable shop.

This tree was HUGE! Behind the tree, next to the red doorway, is the archway where we found the sextet.

A funny sign we saw.

The inside entrance to the Roman baths.

Lizzie and Caitlin. We were so incredibly tired.

The main bath (this is the one that smelled like gravy).

The Roman baths in the foreground, a Gothic cathedral in the background. Time is easily traversed here.

Kenna at the main bath.

Oh look! Ancient Romans!

The inside of Bath Abbey.

From left to right: Lizzie, Sarah, Caitlin, Kenna

They had a Steinway! There were men (seen in the back of the picture) dissembling performance bleachers so there must have been a concert of some sort in the Abbey. I'm sorry we missed it.