Bath Time

Hey, everybody. Yesterday, Hayley, Jenny, Danielle, and I decided to make our first UK trip outside of Oxford, and since some of the girls are taking tutorials on Jane Austen, we took off for Bath. Now, Bath is famous for having the only naturally occurring hot springs in the UK, and also, Austen lived there at one point in time (although she loathed it) and set two of her novels there. Actually, the night before we left, we saw a film adaption of Persuasion, which is one of the novels featuring the Gregorian city of Bath. (The film also featured the most awkward kissed I've ever witnessed, which you might want to check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx0cr2KtjmI)

In order to catch our train, we left the Spencer House at 8:30, caught a bus to the city centre, and walked to the station. We arrived in Bath about mid-morning, and the view on the train was spectacular. There were rolling green hills with little house nestled in--it was too picturesque! Our first stop was Bath Abbey--a brilliant church complete with buttresses and a spire. We went in, did the tourist thing, and gazed at the architecture. There was this beautiful stained glass window at the east end of the church that depicted 56 scenes in Christ's life.



After touring the Abbey, we went right next door to the Roman Bath Museum, which housed the remains of the original structures in which the Romans used to wash, socialize, and worship. The site where the hot spring bubbled up was considered by the Romans to be a blessing from the goddess Minerva, yet a lot of the iconography found in the excavation also has elements maybe worshiping Neptune. The museum was loaded with artifacts, such as tombstones, altars, and mosaics. The weather was perfect--clear(ish) skies and a nice breeze--so we had a very enjoyable tour!



The next thing on our tour of Bath was the crazy cross-city walk to The Crescent--a very smart place that was a very socially advantageous place of residence in Austen's time. Actually, that's where the awkward kiss happened in the film adaptation of Persuasion and a lot of awkward running around. But, The Crescent was a very scenic spot, and it overlooked the entire city. On the whole, our trip was a success!