Bath – C l a r i M i c h e l e

We had a bank holiday weekend at the end of August, and I was just not prepared for summer fun to end, so… We went to Bath for the day and spent the night in London. Bath was lovely, and we had a nice wander around, but I must say my favorite part of the day was going to Thermae Spa. We bought the ‘Welcome‘ package that covers use of the pools and sauna for *only* 2 hours. But I mean, look at this pool!

I’d forgotten how much I love swimming! Swimming is a central part of life in California (it’s our ‘air conditioning’ in the summer!), and I haven’t had the chance get in a pool since we moved to the UK. Back home, everywhere you turn there’s a pool or a hot tub. In college, my friends and I went hot tubbing almost every evening, but my British coworkers have informed me that sneaking into a hotel’s hot tub is a sin here. It made my day to float around for awhile, and even the smell of chlorine was comforting.

But I’m getting ahead of myself – first, we went to Pulteney Bridge for lunch.

dsc_0965_00032 — When he moved into his first apartment, Andrew bought a painting of this bridge at Home Goods, and we still have it in our dining room! It was nice seeing it in person.

After lunch, we walked back to the town centre and saw Bath Abbey and the old Roman Baths.

We didn’t go inside the Abbey, but we did pay to see the Roman Baths – because if you go to Bath, you kind of have to. To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in seeing them at first. Once we went inside though, I was glad we did. I was fascinated by how sophisticated the baths and steam rooms were. Those Romans knew a thing or two.

dsc_0974_00041 — This was built as an indoor pool, but now that it’s exposed to the sun, it’s apparently impossible to keep it from turning green.

dsc_0978_00045 — The Abbey as seen from the baths

dsc_0993_00058 — Fancy a swim in the pool lined with lead? lol

We didn’t do a Jane Austen tour, but we did pass by the Pump Room, which made me geek out a little. I generously shared my knowledge of Persuasion and society in the early 19th century with Andrew, who politely acted like he cared.