Relaxing in Bath

This week was a fairly typical week of classes and homework. On Friday however, we went on another school-sponsored trip. This time we traveled about two and a half hours to the west of London, to the city of Bath.

Bath gets its name and tourist qualities from the presence of a large hot water spring. It was first discovered more than 2,000 years ago, when a Celtic king was miraculously cured of his leprosy by spending time in the spring’s muddy waters. When the Romans invaded in A.D. 43, they harnessed the power of the spring and built a lavish bathing house. They dedicated the area to the goddess Minerva, and surrounded the bathing house with a courtyard and temple.

Many of the structural aspects from Roman times are long gone, but a surprising number still remain. For example, the Roman drain that carries used water to the River Avon is still operational. Other parts of the bath were added in the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries, as royals and aristocrats traveled to Bath to relax in the springs.

The bathing house in Roman times consisted of the main bath, hot and cold water plunges, steam rooms, and the sacred spring. The main bath is about the size of an Olympic swimming pool, but the water is now an uninviting shade of green and very murky – visitors are warned to not even touch the water, as it is untreated and surrounded by lead pipes and walls. Its temperature is naturally constant at about 80 degrees.

Part of the old bathing house is now a museum devoted to displays of the Celtic and Roman artifacts that have been found throughout the city of Bath. One of the most impressive pieces was the roof façade of the temple, which featured a sun man and intricate carvings. The museum also explained how the Romans connected to the native Celtic culture.

I have to give it to the Romans for their engineering. In order to keep the bathing house warm, they placed the floors on piles of ceramic tiles and used a furnace to allow steam and warmth pass among the tiles to the floor and walls. Some of the rooms were so hot you could only spend a few minutes in them or you would pass out.

The sacred spring is where the water actually emerges from the earth and gas passes through it to make it bubble. In Roman times, no one was allowed to actually go in this spring. Pilgrims and villagers would throw offerings to the goddess in the spring in hopes she would help them with whatever hardship they were facing. After the Romans, the spring was under control of the Catholic abbey next door, and monks brought invalid to the spring in order to heal them. Later, only kings and other royalty were allowed in the spring.

This trip was kind of unstructured compared to others we had been on, but it was still very informative. This was because the museum provided everyone with audio guides, so we could go about the bathing house at our own pace and decided which things we wanted to learn more about.

After spending about two hours in the bathhouse, Rick and I set off to explore the city a bit. Our guide had told us to seek out one of the many chocolate shops in Bath if we wanted something sweet. Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that this was the main purpose of my wandering. We finally came across a chocolate café. Rick had toffee hot chocolate and orange chocolate mousse, while I had regular chocolate mousse and “Chocolate Indulgence,” a drink which involved pouring hot chocolate over a scoop of chocolate ice cream. It was really good, but very rich, and needless to say I was feeling just a little queasy when we left the shop.

The downside to this trip was the amount of time we had in Bath compared to the travel time. The round-trip travel time on the bus was about five hours, while we only had about 3 ½ hours in Bath itself. It was a very pretty city, and I think it would be a good place for an extended day trip. We took the scenic route home, and I was very glad we did. The bus wound up a very steep hill, and from the top we could see the entire city, the countryside, and the mountains of Wales in the distance. And I got to see sheep again. Lots and lots of sheep.

Sunday (today) was fairly busy by my usual Sunday standards. Rick and I went out to lunch at Wagamama, a Japanese restaurant near our flat. It was kind of like Ichiban Lite - no chef right at your table, but much cheaper. The food was very good, and we left very full. We then walked through Hyde Park, the big park near us. This is the first weekend the leaves have really changed and fallen, and the park was really nice. It reminded me of home and the SU campus. The other end of the park is in a very ritzy shopping district, and we stopped by Harrod's, the famous department store. It was an absolute zoo. Christmas season has already begun in London, and hundreds of people had descended upon the store. After looking at the prices, we left empty-handed, but it was still very interesting to go in.