Day 3 – Wednesday September 15 - Bath

Bath - By a surprise guest author (Steve)

Sarah did not feel well after waking up—upset stomach, tired, headache. We decided that she would rest and I would go to breakfast and do the tourist things by myself today. At breakfast, I was given the meal that Sarah had ordered since her choices were in column 1 and our hosts apparently assumed that the man was always #1. Fortunately her choices were nearly identical to mine so I did not complain. I chatted with a Cambridge CS professor during breakfast. He was in Bath for some type of conference.

After tucking Sarah in, I began walking toward town. There were quite a few people headed the same direction. A big hill (downhill), a pedestrian tunnel, and 35 minutes later I was perusing a grocery store for a lunch snack and a drink. I purchased some Coke for my caffeine habit and a couple of granola bars. I left and found some public restrooms. The sink was rather inefficient—it was a hole in the wall with three buttons above the opening for water, soap, and hot air. Yes, you had to wash your hands and dry them using a single apparatus. I shuddered as I imagined the long lines that would form for these over the lunch hour and the numerous unwashed hands of the impatient.

I proceeded on to the abbey and Pump Room which is where the free walking tours started. A gentleman in his late 60s guided a group of about twenty of us all around Bath. He had been a Bather all his life and even learned to swim in one of the hot springs (Cross Spring, which was later covered over and closed after being blamed for some kid’s case of meningitis). We walked across busy roads and quiet alleyways, seeing such sites as the Circus, the Royal Crescent, and the River Avon (literally, River “River”). The tour guide filled us in on all kinds of Roman and obscure Georgian Bath history. It was a fantastic hour-and-a-half tour worth every pence.

Fortunately, I was able to find a free spot on a park bench on the south side of the abbey where I ate my meager lunch. Then, I was off to the Roman Baths which were fabulous. This was my first taste of how Britain is just filled with amazing ancient history. Notable preserved Roman items from ~100 AD that were on display: “curse” prayers which were written on rolled paper and cast into the spring (e.g. “Goddess Minerva, curse the fool who stole my towel from the locker room.”), jewelry and gem stones that had fallen into the drains, and amazingly preserved sculptures.

I hit up the same grocery store and a pharmacy on the way back to the B&B. I bought some biscuits, cheese, juice, Coke (for Sarah’s habit), and cold medicine. Lugging all this stuff up the hill was not fun. I also passed a fresh produce store and bought some raspberries. I figured that if Sarah did not feel well enough to get out of the B&B to eat, we would have a fine picnic in our room. Thankfully she felt well enough for us to walk the half mile to the Bear Pub. This was our first pub meal and was actually quite lousy compared to future ones. I ordered a grilled chicken breast that must have been from the runt chicken of the flock. It was puny! We also got our first taste of local long-handled lukewarm ales.