Bath

Bath is such a fun city. It's small but there is a lot to do and it is quaint and charming.

This is the view from our hotel of the Abbey:



And one of the squares:


Exploring the Abbey: Which is not actually an Abbey because no monks or nuns have lived on the premises. But they call it an Abbey anyway.


The Abbey and the Roman Baths


The architecture:


The Abbey and the Roman Baths


The Baths were so interesting. I didn't realize how massive they were and the guide did a good job of explaining how it used to look and function. I liked these little lead scrolls that were found-they were curses that were thrown into the water for the goddess to punish people. Most of them were about people stealing and deserving their punishment. But it's amazing that tiny pieces of lead folded up can survive for so long-and still be legible.


One of the man-made waterways for the hot springs. The iron in the water turned the rocks orange and you could feel the heat from where I stood.


More of the main pool


We took a Skyline Bus Tour to see some of the countryside and the view of Bath from the hills. Of course, I found a cemetery to take pictures!


Walking along the bank of the River Avon.


The River Avon and St. John's Church


More of the river and church. The weather was so gorgeous, about 60 degrees and it is beginning to look like spring after a long cold winter-it wasn't hard to take lovely pictures.


The River Avon and the Pulteney Bridge. It's one of the view bridges in the world with shops along it-we had afternoon tea at at tiny shop near the west side of the bridge.


More bridges.


The Abbey


Ok I think I'm posting too much about bridges and churches. But I really like these pictures.


Bath is a very photogenic city. Everything is close by and when the sun is shining it was just nice to walk around.


A flower shop stall


Inside the Abbey




The front entrance to the Abbey


Sarah and I went to the Jane Austen Centre and I learned so much-it was a great exhibit. Jane had relatives in Bath and liked to visit but then later when her father died and she and her family had to move to Bath she began to resent it because she preferred the countryside.

The exhibit showed a film about what life would be like in her time, with balls and outings, and showed costumes from the time period as well as a lot about Jane Austen's life. She didn't write much while in Bath because she didn't like it (Northanger Abbey was written with a positive view of Bath, before she moved there. And after, she wrote Persuasion which has a negative view of Bath since she had to live there). After her death, her brother made sure to publish all of Jane Austen's work and to give her the credit-when she had published she listed the author as 'anonymous'.


The Abbey Hotel, where we stayed.


It was such a fun trip. I am so glad to have been invited by Sarah and her parents to join them. The countryside was so beautiful, Stonehenge and Bath were a lot of fun, and it was great to meet them and to spend time outside of London.