Bath

On Saturday morning we headed to Bath, a town not too far away from Bristol.  We went with my friend Samir, his roommate, and her Italian boyfriend.  Quite the odd group!

The first known documentation of this town was in the year 43 AD, by the Romans.  The reason that this town became so popular and famous is because it produces a natural hot spring that comes out of the Earth, which was turned into baths that the Romans used.  The water is literally up to 150 degrees. That's hot. The town was gradually built up around these famous baths.  After a while, the baths were buried during the 5th century and the city declined.  It wasn't until the 17th century that the town was built back up and became famous for it's baths again. It became a "party town" for all the aristocrats, and it became rumored that the baths were "healing" after an infertile queen became pregnant following her Bath visit. The baths that we visited were the ones which were built up in the 1600's and 1700's, and it's amazing that they are still so intact. 

We started off doing a free city tour, and learned a lot of interesting facts about the city, and about life back in the 17th and 18th centuries. We learned a lot of disgusting things actually, it's hard to imagine how horrible people's hygiene was back then. One thing that stuck with me was about how much they used lead during these times.  Supposedly lead was used for a lot of things back then, they even stored their beer and wine in barrels lined with lead.  So according to our tour leader, the reason that the baths made everyone feel "healed" was because they were actually flushing some of the lead out of their bodies when they went into the baths!  

After our city visit, we of course had to go inside the baths. They no longer are actually baths anymore, they're just a tourist attraction.  It was really interesting to see something so old and intact, and it was hard to imagine that we were standing in a place where people have been going for almost 2000 years.  

After our bath visit, we had our afternoon tea, which became one of my favorite things about England.  They serve a pot of tea, and biscuits or scones with a thick cream, called clotted cream, and jam.  Sooo tasty!

The Bath crescent on our city tour

making friends.

inside the baths

samir, our gracious host

all natural

what the baths used to look like while they were in use

the famous bridge in Bath, like a postcard

sally lunns, a famous place for tea

Tea Time! I love this tradition, tea, fresh scones and clotted cream, jam, sandwiches and cakes. mmmm.