I feel like a bath

Since we were sort of in the area, we thought we might spend a few hours revisiting Bath. Jen and I did a bus tour years ago that took in Cornwall, Devon, The Cotswolds, Bristol and Bath, but we thought it couldn’t hurt to have a refresher.

Me Jen had an extensive list of all the things she wanted to see in Bath and we ticked them all off one by one… starting with No. 1 – The Circus… We drove around the circle a few times hoping we’d get a car park – Hahahahahaha!

We did wonder how on earth people remember which one is their house?

Then No. 2 was 1 Royal Crescent… the most expensive place to live in Bath… sure, you get a huge front lawn to share with your neighbours and all the touristy sticky beaks each day.

Apparently royalty has stayed there. Jen couldn’t confirm which royals and if indeed that was true.

No. 3 is Pulteney Bridge which is a Bath version of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence – the Pont was built in 1345 and this one was erected between 1769 – 1774, so I guess we know who copied who’s idea.

There are little shops and cafes along the top of the bridge…

The cafe on the corner is tiny, but this is the view, and they do a mean ham and cheese…

And this is the view from the street…

Next on the list at No. 4 was the Guild Market Hall… This newer version was built in 1861, but there has been a market of sorts in Bath since 1371!

You can walk right through the building and exit on the other side which brought us out to the Bath Abbey (No. 5 on the list) which was pretty amazing. We only stuck our heads in the door briefly as there were tickets to buy.

Then across the square was No 6 – Bath’s Roman Bath House…

There were small models of what the original bath house would have looked like with it’s super high roof – as high as a 6 story building!

But, let’s just zoom on in there… there’s somebody swimming in the water and there’s two shadowy figures having a chat in one of the archways, but, just zoom in a little closer…

Um…. what has happened here?

Also, I’d like to draw your attention to this fabulous looking woman. Not sure if she was an employee or she just fancied popping into the baths for a spot of looming/weaving in full ancient Roman attire, either way, I love this for her.

After the baths we wondered a little looking for the No. 7 – Sally Lunn’s cafe – it has quite a history, and not surprising as it is one of the oldest buildings in Bath, coming in at 1482.

When we got there, all of Bath had the same idea…. it’s only a tiny place, and there were people lined up out the door, so we spun on our heels and a wander through this square before going completely full circle and stopping for lunch on the Pulteney Bridge!

No. 8 was going to be Jane Austen’s house, and apparently we drove past it, but there were no signs to give us a clue… When I checked on the map when we got home – we weren’t even close… sorry Jane.

And just to finish off our day… a funny bag spotted on the streets of Bath…

Um… no, no it doesn’t!