London Times | Bath

First, let's get something straight - it's not pronounced "bath", with the 'a' sound as in 'apple' - it's pronounced with the 'a' sound as in 'father'. This link takes you to a website where you can hear it on your computer!

Now that we have that cleared up, here's what we did as we took a side trip to Bath on our way back to London.

In the morning, Sue and I walked down the street to the local church - it is only open on Sundays and serves the small community. We're talking old and rustic here - it's pretty much a single roomed building with no electricity.

Sue tells me they hold a candlelight service at Christmas - I bet that is really amazing.

There's still some remnants of rain and mist on the green pastures. I tried to capture that misty look, but I don't think it happened in this photo:


Regardless, Sue and I had a wonderful walk.


Old college friends are the best.
Sue pulled out several old picture books from our college days - it was fun reminiscing and my daughter got to see photos of me when I was a lot younger!

On our way back to the train station, we stopped off by the Clifton Suspension Bridge and Observatory. Built in the 1800's, it spans the Avon gorge and the Avon River. Being an engineer, I find these things pretty interesting.


The previous day, we viewed the bridge from a different vantage point - down the river:


Oh wait, I was supposed to write about Bath, not about early Bristol landmarks!

We said our goodbyes to Sue and hopped on the train heading to Bath. After a nice lunch at a cafe, we walked to the main center - the famed Roman Baths and Bath Abbey.

The Bath Abbey:


Visitors can take a nice tour of the famous Roman Baths where evidence of Roman architecture abounds. Fed by hot springs, the complex was built over the first three centuries AD.


The main pool serves as the centerpiece of the complex, although there are inner rooms with pools. Spring water still flows through the structure.



Yes, it was steaming and yes, I touched the water - it seemed comfortably warm.

After the Roman Baths, we walked up through the Mall area to the Royal Crescent - a series of houses built in a sweeping arc, high upon the Bath landscape. The structure is very impressive and distinct to the area.


The rain had started to fall when we approached (yes, rain, even with blue skies!) - the photo above was taken with my iPhone using a panoramic app. Looking back now, I wish I had taken the series with my big camera.

There's so much more one can take in while visiting Bath, but sadly, we ran out of time. This only means I'll need to go back some day in the future!