“My dear Catherine, I am afraid you are growing quite a fine lady. . . . Your head runs too much upon Bath; but there is a time for everything — a time for balls and plays, and a time for work. You have had a long run of amusement, and now you must try to be useful.”
Northanger Abbey
In continuation from my England post from last week, I am excited to finish my journey's tale with my stories from Bath! We took the train from Paddington Station to Bath. I love trains so it was a great start to the next part of our journey.
For starters - Bath is BEAUTIFUL. She is a historic city, with roots from the Romans all over, most notably the baths which I will explain later. Melissa and I had the pleasure of walking along the River Avon everyday into the city. The views were amazing.
I saw the man in the picture above, sitting along the water with his newspaper in tow and the scene was so simple and tranquil but filled with such beauty from the natural surroundings and such culture from the historic building across the way. I could just imagine his daily routine. It is one of my favorite pictures because of the story I built up in my head around him!
Below is the Bath Abbey - the church in the center of the city. It was built in the 7th century and was even used as a monastery at one point.
I just loved this beautiful place.
So our first stop was the Roman baths! A Roman temple was constructed between 60-70 AD and the baths were build up over the next 300 years. After the Romans withdrew from the area in 5th century, they were left and abandoned until they were destroyed in the 6th century. The baths were uncovered by the British, rebuilt and modified, most notably in the 12th, 16th and then 18th century. This became the "hot spot" to go for social occasions as famously detailed in Jane Austen's novels - "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion."
We then popped into the Pump Rooms which are another very famous social setting from the 18th century. Its now a fancy restaurant.
That night we attended the meeting - I wish I had taken a picture! The congregation we visited was so warm and friendly. They were disappointed they couldn't provide us a treat after the meeting!!! Truly our brotherhood is a literal family!
The next day was what we went to Bath for - the Jane Austen Museum!! It was amazing! I learned a ton about one of my favorite authors, I experienced what the culture was like and Melissa & I even got dolled up in proper clothing (minus my glasses & cell phone!)
The next stop was the see the gorgeous Georgian architecture in The King's Circus. These townhouses literally make a circle with 3 entrances. The unique nature of these beautiful buildings attracted many famous people who resides in them.
Melissa and I didn't have enough dress up though... So we went to the Fashion Museum and after learning & viewing the styles through the decades, we decided to try some on for ourselves! The corset was not made for my body and the dresses were one-size-fits-all here... We naturally were swimming in them but the pictures still came out really good!
We then went to the Royal Crescent and toured the No. 1 Royal Crescent Museum. These 30 houses are laid out in, you guessed it, a crescent shape and were designed by John Wood, the younger. If these look familiar, it could perhaps be because The King's Circus which I showed you above was designed by John Wood, the Elder - his father. The King's Circus was completed by the Younger after his father's death but the Royal Crescent was start to finish his project.
Next - Sally Lunn's! Sally Lunn's Bath is one of the oldest houses in Bath and famous for its buns! They were fantastic!
Last stop that day - we actually partook of Bath's famous Mineral waters by bathing at Thermae Bath Spa... Delightful.
The next day we had to catch the bus to the airport early afternoon so we spent the morning in the park, reading the books we had found for ourselves during our journey. We then headed off to the bus station. Below are some pictures from our journey to the bus station.
