Monday morning, after seeing Sue and Alan off to work.... (:-( we made a easy drive down to Bath in the west country stopping off first in one of the prettiest villages in England, Bourton on the Water, for a bacon sandwich!
..and a very nice bacon sandwich it was too!
On to Bath and the Holiday Inn Express, functional but pleasant in a Stalinesque manner.
Bath of course is famous for...... baths, to be precise the Roman Baths. They were rediscovered in the 18th century but had been in use for thousands of years. Hot bubbling springs, however pleasant as it would be to bathe in them, the main consideration was of a religious nature and the pools were worshipped. When the Romans came along they continued the spiritual theme as they attributed the hot srings to the goddess Minerva, although having kept the main pool free from human contamination they built an elaborate bath house using the run off. They had spa baths, massage rooms, and mixed skinny dipping in a large warm pool, until they got prudish and banned the mixed nature. They even had a cold pool where they shipped in cold water from nearby natural springs.
There is a bath house you can go for a dip in these hot springs but for £24 each for 2 hours plus towel charges we gave it a swerve.
Then we read the sign about not touching the water as it could be dangerous! the Romans bathed in it, obviously ignorant of OH&S.
Gold head of the god Minerva.
Overflow drain with steam rising.....
At this time of year Bath is having, as are numerous towns, Christmas markets. Gluhwein and sausage, again....
The famous Pulteney Bridge
