Bath

We had but one day to visit Bath which does not do the historic spa town justice. We started with a tour of the Roman Baths amid a crowd of other tourists. Founded in A.D. 75 by the Romans, the baths were dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva, whose face and iconography appear throughout. The baths are no longer functional but are nonetheless the finest Roman remains in the country. The museum displays objects from recent and Victorian digs (the original baths were rediscovered during Queen Victoria's reign).

While John joined a free two-hour walking tour, Kassie and I walked to the Assembly Rooms to visit the Costume museum only to find it closed due to a function (a wedding from the look of the guests). We headed back to the Abbey Churchyard to meet John, stopping for a rest at the Circus, first conceived by John Wood I as an area for sports and now encircled by town houses with three streets entering the circle, one of which leads to the Royal Crescent (see the picture below), an elegant half-moon row of town houses designed by John Wood II.

Reunited once again, we managed a late tour of Bath Abbey, which is built on the site of a much larger Norman cathedral, and sadly missed a tour of Theatre Royal as well as tea and crumpets at the The Pump Room. Late in the day we rested our aching feet at a Scottish seafood restaurant before making our way back to our hotel in Bristol.

Not to be missed: The Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge, the Bath Assembly Rooms, and one of the free walking tours conducted by The Mayor's Honorary Society, as well as nearby Newark Park.

Date of Our Last Visit: May 2004