We arrived in Bath about 10am. It was still cloudy and overcast but little bits of blue sky were trying to peak through. It was a bit nippy in the shadows but felt really nice in the sun. There were times I even had to shed my sweater. We ran into a guy who was giving free tours starting in about 5 minutes so we decided to hang out and see how that went. Tim was amazing. He was so passionate about all the history and stories he made the city come to life for us. The boy was full of knowledge.
We stayed with the group for over an hour, then split to do our own thing. We knew there were certain things we wanted to get done and was afraid we were running out of time. We'd heard everything closes up shop in Bath at 5-6:00. So we left Tim to go through the abbey. It was beautiful!! I read so many memorials from people who died in the 1600's and 1700's and some even before that. Crazy how old that place is. I loved photographing it. Such beautiful lines and light and color!! There were also a couple of plaques dedicated to American men who were honored for various reasons.
We'd had a light breakfast and we saw a sign saying "the smalles pub in Bath" next door to a shop we had been in. A pint sounded good didn't it? So we peeked in to see if there was room for us, and the luck of the gods were with us yet again!! I got me a cider (learned I like ciders!) and Bob got something local. The boy ordered another steak pie for lunch. Me thinks he's going to be all steaked out by the time we go home. Good thing because he sure isn't going to get a steak pie at home!! :) And guess what they had on the menu for me? Hehehe. Butternut squash and spinach pie. Oh my. They had my number!! It was yummy too!!
We started talking to the ladies sitting next to us (almost in our laps really - it is the smallest bar in Bath, remember?) - their husbands were in the Roman Baths and since they'd already seen them they were chilling in a pub waiting on them. One couple was from Florida - they were on the road for two months!!!!! They are touring England, Wales and Ireland for a month then riding a cruise ship that's relocating from the Mediterranean to Los Angeles. Wow. I love to travel but I don't think I could do that. I asked the other lady how long their trip was and she replied, "Oh, only 30 days." LOL
Satiated with pint and pies once again, we waddled out to the Roman Baths. And here I thought there were lots of history in London. You know all those old movies you've seen back during the Roman Empire and such? This hits home. Crazy. Of course the buildings have been rebuilt several times over as different kings come into power they like to change things to suit themselves. But the bones have been there for centuries. There are artifacts that date back a LONG way.
And check out these coins that have been found in the baths. They have been identified from countries all around the world even back in those times. Does that not blow your mind or what?
And here's a shot of the famous baths, or pool.
At different parts of the tour you could actually see steam rising from the water. It comes out of the ground really hot.
We walked all around the city just sight seeing and did a bit of shopping. Found a few really cool things to pick up local to the area and original. We love finding those little gems. Believe it or not it was time to rest our weary feet again!!! And I needed a Ladies room, or toilet as they call them here. I do so have issues walking up to someone asking where the toilet is though. LOL. We were looking for the public ones which were listed on the map but nowhere to be found. Finally I walked into this little cafe and asked the lady behind the counter. She said, "Would you like to use ours?" "Oh I would love to!! Thank you!" It was called the Jazz Cafe and seemed the perfect place for a break. Bob got us some little munchies, a tea and a spiced chai latte for me. The icing on the cake? Wifi!!! It was nice to just sit, people watch and enjoy the city relaxing.
The last big thing on our list was the circus and the crescent. They were both close to each other but a nice little walk away so off we went. Inside the circus - it's just a circle with trees in the center surrounded by buildings so I don't know why it's called the circus. But if you stand in the very center and clap your hands you will instantly hear it echo back to you. It doesn't work anywhere else but in the very center. Was really cool.
The crescent was right down the street next to a part and would have been a very cool shot without all the scaffolding in one section where they were repairing it. So I didn't even snap a photo. We walked some more - each time we walk around the city we try to go a different way so we see different things. At this point we had pretty much seen what we wanted to so we just kind of meandered around. We had planned to take the 8:30 train back to Southampton and it was only around 5:00 so we had plenty of time. Guess what we did???!!! :) C'mon. I bet you can guess! Yup! Found a pub and planted!! LOL this one was on the way to the train station and they had a beer I had tried in London and really liked, the Fullers Honey Dew. We got some lemon thyme peanuts - yeah, they were interesting - to snack on and just chilled.
There was an artist's tent set up across the street from the pub displaying drawings. I sat there and watched him the entire time. Told Bob we need to check him out. We were nearly finished and had decided to take an earlier train back when he started packing up. We grabbed our stuff and walked over there. He had some pretty cool stuff. They were all ink drawings with water color, reduced down to various sizes and printed. He was a very cool guy to talk to and we walked away with a couple of his drawings. :)
The train ride back was uneventful and we caught a taxi back to Joanie's. Our driver was a young man who was very nice and talkative. He had some good suggestions on how to see Stonehenge and felt the cathedral in Salisbury was much nicer than the one in Winchester. Will see how that pans out. Keith has said he'll take us to Stonehenge Wednesday. His wife called looking for him as soon as we got into the car. We were his last fare of the day and she said his dinner was getting cold. He laughed and said she was newly pregnant (2 months - I told you people here just talk to you) - and hormonal. LOL. Well, we all can relate to that can't we? Anyway, when we got up to Joanie's, she was standing at the door like she knew we had just pulled up! Great timing!
Sitting at our last pub snacking we decided we'd just come back here and have tomato sandwiches for dinner. We weren't hungry enough for a meal and couldn't find anything on the starter portion of the menu that really grabbed us, so that's what we did. Made sandwiches and visited with Joan to hear about her day. Went up to bed around 11:00 and by midnight we were both out.
Tomorrow is Joanie's 92nd Birthday!!!! Gonna be an awesome day!!!!!
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