Bath was the farthest train ride for us so far.. With a two hour and a half of train travel each way, we got time to sit and relax. We had wanted to see it Bath in 2019 but were unable to fit into our schedule. This time we went and the day we picked was glorious! Our first stop was a Japanese Restaurant where we scheduled an afternoon tea. This was not an English High Tea, but a Japanese style of afternoon tea. We got miso soup, select specialty tea, sushi, sashimi, tempura, chicken karaage, hot bun sandwiches and two desserts, ice cream and chocolate mousse. The food was very good and we had a great time. We megandered through town, sitting occasionally on the benches and we watched the flow of people. At one point a a man rolled down his window to see if he could direct us in the direction that we needed. We certainly looked like tourists and were just sort of loitering about the side walk but we were not lost. We told him that we were happy to just be wandering. About this time our ticket slot arrived and we entered the Roman Baths of Bath. The thermal springs had always been revered as a spiritual place and healing powers were associated with this spirituality. In 75 AD the Romans build a major series of baths and pools to contain the thermal hot waters as well as to deliver this water to different areas for various uses. The Aquae Sulis facility was very large compared the the local population and this was dure to the many people that traveled to the sight to heal and recuperate. Offerings of coins for good favor from the spirits as well as curses written on pages of lead or pewter sheets and tossed into the waters. After the 400's the place was neglected and over time it was forgotten. In 1706 they started to pump spring water up and use it as a curative. In 1878 the town surveyor discovered the ruins of the roman baths and excavated and conserved them. This work has continued over the centuries. More megandering after the baths for us. The town of Bath was dressed up very nicely with streamers and butterflies all along the streets. We had a very nice train ride home as it has cooled off a bit. The scenery was peaceful and the time just flowed along.
Lush countryside
The chalk hills
The Westbury White Horse is one huge horse
185 feet tall and 165 feet from nose to tail
Pulling into Bath
Very fine neighborhoods
The city from the train
These are the first thing a traveler sees upon leaving the train station
Churches
Multiple brides getting pictures taken
Gothic arches
Spires
John Belushi!
A cute street
Our lunch
We had our first Japanese Tea
Buns, chicken, yellowtail sushi, salmon sashimi, a tempura roll, ice cream and a chocolate tart, plus two fancy teas to drink
A cool bookstore/publishing house that published a few hundred overlooked books by mostly female writers
Here since 1873 and so ornate
The streets were all unique
And then there was this
Royal Mineral Water Hospital
Wisteria cascading down off the balcony
An exterior shrine off in the distance
The Black Fox
At first I thought the large round window was a soccer ball
Grand from this side as well
TeamLeip!
The red hats in the crowd are St Louis Cardinal fans in for the game in London
Such detail carven in stone
Open the big doors!
Our allotted tour time has arrived
A grand dome!
A very fancy building was erected as the entrance to the baths
Gordon the Gorgon
Julius Cesar statue
This church looks magnificent from every angle
Since the roof is no longer covering the water algae grows in abundance giving the water a green hue
Julius is stone faced
Marcus For Realius, a little know Cesar, for real!
Hey Hadrian!
Seagulls gotta take a break
The statues ring the entire exterior wall
Squawk!
A represntation od the hot spot that heats the water of the hot spring
Bubbles of dissolved gas rise up periodically
This is the first pool and the water here is too hot to bathe in 90 degrees Celsius
Stone plumbing
This stone dates this part of the baths to 70 AD
Scale models of the bath complex
In the temple was a bronze statue of Minerva
The gorgon face
I see a resemblence
Wild Man of Bath
Leather bags of coins were discovered while the site was being excavated, some 7000 coins were discovered
,A typical Roman woman in stone
Molds for making swords
A dead Roman soldier and his lead coffin liner below
These lead and pewter sheets had curses written on them. Scribes would write how the person was wronged and the curse that they wanted to inflict on the wrong doer. These curses would then be thrown into the pool
This si the only written Celtic text to ever be found
Unnerving Minerva
The hot pool
Some items that were found in the excavations were thought to have been lost during bathing, like this gold brooch
A chronological list of and accounting of the coins found in the pool. To the left is the quality of the specific coin and the vertical scale is the date of the coin
Two gold coins were also found, a very expensive offering
The plumbing out of the hot pool where the water was redirected to the other areas of the baths
The drain out to the river Avon
the orange is deposited most likely from the iron in the water
Many jewels were found at the bottom of the pools. It is hypothesized that the glue holding the jewel was loosened by the hot water of the bath. If people bathed with their rings on, they may come out of the bath with less of the ring that they entered with. The left is the jewel and the right was an enlargement of the discus throwing figure.
Great reflection on the water's surface
Let there be fire!
This emperor looks like he is wearing a facemask
A healing communal hot tub
An animation of the rubbing with oil and scraping off of the remains
Back outside the bath complex
A fine flare of the fire
A portion of the original roof made with lighter hollow bricks
Water edge view
The drainage water
Out into the town
A very festive shopping street
Even more decorations
Neon masterpiece
Butterflies
A potted phone booth
We followed the river Avon
Crossing from one side to the next
Many tents and groups of people along the river
Passing by the White Horse again on the way back
The horse replaced a smaller horse on this location in 1772
Great rolling grasslands on the train ride home
Very peaceful
Allotments for locals to garden in
The bag that this fine silk bookmark cane in
