It's Saturday, must be time for a Bath

After the last week and a half of attempting to get settled and not being able to find a house (more on this adventure later), we decided to take a day to be tourists and visit the city of Bath. Bath is situated about 15 miles east of Bristol and is one of the stops between Bristol and London on the high speed train.  Amanda insisted on taking a picture of the train.  Maybe someday the mode of transportation won’t be as exciting for her…

We arrived at 9:45 in the morning and ambled about for a bit until we came upon The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath or as you & I know it, Bath Abbey.

The Abbey is quite amazing as you can probably imagine and the inside is absolutely beautiful, however before we went in we had to find the free walking tour that I had read about in one of Rick Steve’s travel guides. Volunteers lead the two hour walking tour around the city weekday mornings and afternoons and at 10:30 on Saturdays. The tour began just outside the Abbey were the guide spoke briefly about the history of the area and explained the significance of the hot springs that well up from beneath the earth only a few hundred meters away. After the brief introductory of the area and the Abbey the tour began in earnest and we started walking. Much of Bath’s appeal is generated by its Georgian architecture which dominates both the city and the tour. If you like symmetrically constructed stone buildings with columns, then Bath is the place for you! As we progressed through the tour, we got to see The Circus, Royal Crescent (my favorite) and Queens Square which were all designed by John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger (Sr. and Jr. need not apply).  Amanda and I found the tour very entertaining and would definitely recommend it anyone who visits Bath.

The tour ended just outside the new Bath Spa which we decided we would try on another trip when we were actually prepared to spend a day lounging by the pool and soaking up the naturally heated mineral waters that the spa pumps into its facilities.

Being a little peckish after walking around for more than two hours we found a Cornish Bakery were Amanda had a pasty filled with English bacon, potato and cheese and I satiated my hunger with a Panini consisting of English bacon, tomato and mozzarella. Both were very satisfying.  

We then entered the Abbey and marveled at the amazingly detailed ceilings...

... and many of the centuries old monuments to past parishioners.

Amanda grabbed a leaflet for a self guided tour and we slowly wandered the hallowed aisles for nearly an hour as we took in everything around us, like the stunning stained glass windows that a photograph simply can’t do justice and the huge pipe organ that is still played during service despite being damaged during WWII (it was rebuilt in 1997).

The city of Bath provided a great day of entertainment and enlightenment and we look forward to returning to learn more about this fascinating British city. Perhaps next time we'll learn take a closer look at the ancient Roman Bath’s for which the city is named.