Bath Time for the Study Abroad Kids!

Today was our first day trip and I could not have been more impressed! The morning started with a train ride to Bath, England. First of all, the train system is so convenient, and America really needs to take notes. Why we are all obsessed with cars and not an incredibly convenient form of travel is beyond me. Anyways, the train ride was smooth, and I sat by my best friend, so everything was going great so far! My only complaint for the train ride was the fact that the train Wi-Fi wouldn’t let me stream music and I only had seven downloaded songs on my Spotify, and they were all incredibly moody and sad which made me laugh simply because of course I would only have those stupidly depressing songs downloaded. After about an hour and a half of those seven depressing songs on repeat, we arrived in Bath. The town itself is a picturesque view of small-town life in the English countryside. We planned on visiting the Roman Baths, which in itself is so cool, but there were so many other charming things to see alongside the ancient washrooms. We first walked down a quaint little street lined with cute restaurants and a charming bookstore. I ended up buying Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because it is my favorite movie and I just never got around to reading the book. (Mom and Dad if you’re reading this… yes, I needed the book and I won’t apologize for buying the more expensive copy because it had a cuter cover.

Love you!) Jane Austen also lived in Bath for a time, so I had to buy it in the spirit of the beloved author. Adjacent to the bookstore was a beautiful little square that was lined with benches, allowing for street performers to gather audiences. There was one particular street performer I practically fell in love with. He was playing La Vie en Rose on his trumpet and I nearly swooned. Plus, he was very hot and had nice shoes on, so it was inevitable honestly.

The Roman Baths were the main reason we came to Bath, so I guess I should stop talking about the hot trumpet player and start talking about history. I love history and will watch a good historical documentary any chance I get. What I am discovering about this study abroad trip is that it is much more exhilarating to actually walk through the said history myself. 2000 years ago, Roman people were cleansing themselves in these community baths and now in 2022, I was walking through them. CRAZY RIGHT? Back then, the Romans obviously didn’t have water heaters or soap as we do today. They cleansed themselves with the use of naturally occurring hot springs and scented oils. This makes one question how good the people smelled back then. However, if all of them smelled, did any of them smell? Food for thought.

Walking through the museum and learning about how and why the Romans bathed here really fed my brain all of the good historical delicacies it desired. The baths were incredibly well preserved and a beautiful example of Roman innovation. There were separate rooms where people would undress, hot rooms, cold rooms, and pools where people would gather and heal their bodies in the natural spring water. I will admit, the spring smelt like a stale fart in some places, but that’s just because of the sulfur. There was one exhibit that really caught my attention and that was the exhibit of plates found at the bath where Roman citizens would write down curses or complaints they had and give them to the goddess of the spring Sulis Minerva.

As I read the curses, I had to laugh because some of them are just ridiculous. Most of them are about theft in the bath. Not having a slave meant it was always a risk to leave your clothes unattended while bathing. When thefts occurred, people would call on the goddess Sulis to curse the thief. Sulis was the HR department of the baths.

All in all, my experience in Bath was so special and I hope to visit there again! To end this blog, i will attach images of my friend Abby dropping her ice cream on the ground after two licks. I laughed incredibly hard and i thought that these must be shared with the public. Enjoy!