A Day in Bath

Julie and I decided to spend a day visiting Bath, the site of an ancient Roman resort area.
On the way to the train station, we got to see Her Majesty's Mail service in action.

We caught the train at the Yatton station, changed in Bristol, then went on to Bath. It took about an hour. Nice!

Our first stop was the Bath Cathedral. I learned the presence of a Cathedral was what distinguished a City from a mere Town. The outside is impressive.

The inside, more so.

Most of our time was spent at the site of the Roman baths. They were built around a hot spring, which still produces several thousand gallons of very hot water each day.
The original street level was about 20 feet lower than today. There were statues of Roman officials around the top parapet. These are reproductions.

Down at the ancient street level, a lot of the original stone work still shows the grandeur and craftsmanship that went into the structure. This doorway was one of the principal entrances into the baths. You can see how the threshold is worn from 2000+ years of use.

The routing, control and mixing of the hot water with colder water to make the baths comfortable is an engineering marvel.

This was the main pool. There were smaller theraputic and men's and women's pools inside.

After touring the baths, we wandered around, got hungry, and bought lunch at this place. While waiting for our giros to cook, we got to witness a rather lively discussion between the owner and his butcher, about returning a delivery of meat that was said to be inferior. They eventually arrived at a sort of stalemate.

There was a nice park nearby, so we stopped there to eat our lunch. It was cold out there!

On the way back to the train station, we passed by a medieval bridge, built with shops along each side.

There was another old church, but we didn't have time to investigate.

We often saw a striking blend of old and new. Leave it to the Baptists!

The final 'ancient' exhibit was this fine old Moto Guzzi Le Mans, complete with an aluminium gas tank. (This one's for you, Mark.)