Toussaint: Bath

During my week-long break at the end of October (otherwise known as Toussaint), I managed to go to England, Scotland, and Ireland and visit friends in each place. While staying in London, I made a day trip to Bath with my friend Molly. Bath, as the name denotes, is a spa town known for it's ancient Roman baths. These are the best preserved Roman baths still standing today.

Bath is about an hour and a half train ride from London. It was lovely to pass through the English countryside and get out of a city for the day. Upon arrival, we passed by several quaint tea shops, something you can't as easily find in London (or at least not from what I saw). There's something kind of liberating about going to a city with out much prior knowledge about it. The main attraction I was aware of in Bath is the Roman bathhouse, but it has several other landmarks including the "Circus", a cylindrical shaped building that resembles a government building but is in fact just a series of apartments. The city is also known for being a residence of Jane Austen and for its Georgian architecture.

Molly and I spent a good 2 1/2 hours exploring what was once a spa for the elite in this Roman outpost. It was interesting to hear about the strong religious connection people had with the mineral waters. People would throw personal items into the water and say spells to punish those who had wronged them. I'm just amazed out how well preserved the baths were, with a murky green pool of water still existing in the center of the forum. It's also incredible how much information historians were able to gather from this era, mostly based off of artifacts found in and around the area.

After our time at the Roman bath we sat down for some tea and scones with jam and clotted cream. I'm not really sure what clotted cream is, but boy is it delicious! I absolutely love the tradition of afternoon tea and I think that is something I will try to bring back with me to France and the U.S. I'm already a tea fanatic, but it's nice to have a routine of relaxing and drinking tea with a snack every afternoon. Well, maybe I won't be able to do that every afternoon, but once in a while it would be nice.

Tea, scone, and clotted cream. Yum!

One of the other main features of Bath is it's Abbey. The city has long been known as a spiritual site and the construction of this Gothic structure is evidence of that. We didn't go inside but the church serves as a focal point of the city.

The abbey

After touring the Roman Baths Molly and I ventured off in search of the building known as the "Circus". We eventually found it, along with a beautiful lawn lined with trees clad with crimson leaves. It looked like a scene out of Downtown Abbey. Actually, I'm quite sure that they have filmed scenes for t.v. shows and movies here.

The circus was our last site to see for the day. After that we headed back to the train station and back to London. It was a lovely day and I'm glad I got to experience a smaller English city (or town) and I would definitely recommend a visit to Bath!