Friday I’m in Love…
…With Bath, that is!
This past Friday everyone in our program took a train from Paddington Station in London to Bath. I have to admit, when I woke up at a quarter to 6 that morning, I was not particularly in the mood to go explore a medieval city, and a few of my friends seemed to be in agreement with me. By the end of the day, however, we were all in love. Bath is absolutely gorgeous, and I suppose it was made even more so by the fact that it was (eventually) our first brilliantly sunny day in the UK so far. For anyone who doesn’t know, Bath is a medieval city that was first settled by those wily Romans, and it is still home to an original Roman bathhouse where all sorts of salacious activities occurred. In the 1700s, it was transformed into the first planned city in England, and was one of the earliest planned cities in all of Europe.
We began our day in Bath by visiting Bath Abbey (The Abbey Church of Saints Peter and Paul), an incredibly beautiful Gothic church that stands on the site of the original 8th century Anglo-Saxon church. After that, we split into two groups and my group went on a walk around the city of Bath with Martin, our program director and tour guide extraordinaire. Here’s the breakdown on Martin: He’s everything you would imagine upon hearing the words “Gentlemanly English scholar,” his walking speed is rivaled by that of a Boeing 747, and he has a voice that could lull the loudest, most colicky infant into a deep, blissful sleep. This tends to be a problem when listening to his lectures. It’s not the content that makes me sleepy, it’s his dulcet tones. At first I thought this was the reason why I couldn’t hear a damn thing he says when he takes us on walking excursions through London, but am now fully convinced that when he walks he does, in fact, break the sound barrier, and therefore trying to learn anything on said walks is completely hopeless.
Anyway, I digress.
Martin took us on a perfectly lovely stroll around Bath, including the Georgian baths/Royal Crescent (which I believe is featured in films like Vanity Fair and Pride & Prejudice or something like that…please refrain from wetting yourself if you’re a Jane Austen/William Thackeray fan). After that I decided to give up, take advantage of the sunny weather and the fact that it would be the only day I spend in Bath, and fell behind to take pictures while Martin ploughed full steam ahead like he was the Hogwarts Express or something. After we returned from our walk we went into the Roman bathhouse, which was incredible. It’s really strange to walk around places that were built ages ago on a regular basis.
Here are some pictures…they will convey the beauty of this little city better than my words ever could.
City of Bath:
Royal Crescent:
Bath Abbey:
Roman Baths:
(this title brought to you by The Cure)
