Yesterday, our group had the opportunity to take the train to Bath, England. Bath is home to many historical monuments, and the Roman Baths are one of many of them. The train ride to bath lasted for about an hour and half. It was very nice to look out the window and see the countryside of England. When we arrived in Bath I was relieved to visit a smaller city than London. Bath is significantly smaller with less road traffic. However, I feel as though the traffic of people walking around was much heavier than that of London. Perhaps I am wrong. Either way, it just felt like there were too many people for the little space that was available to walk around at. I also thought that there were more chain stores that we have in America rather than the locally owned little shops that London has. When we got to Bath I enjoyed a donut and coffee. Afterwards I visited the Jane Austen house. Jane Austen actually used to live in Bath and she very much enjoyed her stay there. The famous Mary Shelley also lived in Bath. Many people in our group visited the museum about her but I did not. I quite enjoyed the Jane Austen museum. It was a much shorter tour than I expected. A lady dressed up in Regency era clothing spoke to us about the Austen family and then we made our way through the museum. The museum had the original copies of her works as well as facts about her. There were even displays of clothing worn during her time. There was one fun part of the museum where tourists could dress up in dresses and bonnets and have their photo taken with a statue of Mr. Darcy. My favorite part of the entire tour though was the writing room. Here, they had notes of paper with a quill and ink to write with. After visiting the Jane Austen house, I finally met up with the rest of the group so that we could tour the Roman Baths. The water was very green and it was so beautiful against the brown stone of the building that surrounded it. The Ancient Roman Baths contain natural spring water which still flows in the River Avon. The main purpose of the baths was to allow the Romans to purify themselves. Most Romans living in the city went to the bath house every day to cleanse themselves. They used to put olive oil on their skin and then rubbed it with a metal scraper called a strigil. I was very interested in some of the many facts that I learned during my tour. For example, the Romans conversed with the Goddess of the Baths, Minerva. The Goddess Minerva was an integral element of the Roman Baths. People would visit the baths regularly to beg for justice from the famous Goddess Minerva. They would go as far as to bring her precious gifts such as jewels, and would also throw coins into the sink to ask for her blessing. The visitors would also ask the goddess to take care of their family and themselves. For those who have lost an item or have an item stolen, the Goddess Minerva was the ultimate destination. They would go and ask the Goddess to cause a miracle so that their item could be found. Moreover, the meeting with Minerva would guarantee that the thief would be punished! I also thought that it was pretty neat that the Roman baths are home to many precious items because of the Romans’ devotion to Minerva. Multiple things have been found in the Spring: brooches, rings, bracelets, vases, and more than 12,000 coins! They were all thrown in by Romans as gifts to honor the Goddess Minerva. Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Bath. It was a nice change of scenery. I will admit however, I did not enjoy tasting the spring water that they gave tourists from the fountain. I tried it with all of my friends and we all gagged at the taste. The only way that I can explain it is that it tasted like the smell of Easter egg dye water. I actually felt quite queasy after. To be honest, I was hoping that I would get violently ill from the water so that I could sue the Romans and be filthy rich for the rest of my life.
Theatre in London U of A 