I think that I have quite possibly lived the best 24 hours of my life. I got to see Tom Holland as Romeo and have afternoon tea in the Roman Bath House all within the last couple days of this trip. Unfortunately, I have experienced these high highs followed by a pretty low low as I am writing this post after my phone and wallet were stolen out of my pocket just a few hours ago. It seems as if my life always finds a way to balance itself out, but I digress. I got to fulfill my dream of having a proper tea party with my friends, so I remain a happy camper. In your face pickpocket man!
Bath isn’t at all what I expected it to be. When we arrived, I assumed it was a small town with old buildings, so I was surprised when we got off of the train and walked by a Starbucks. The train ride itself was also very fun. I really enjoyed looking at the English countryside and even saw a few British deer on the ride back!
I think I was the last person in our group to leave the Roman Bath House. I was so interested in all of the history and I constantly typed numbers into my audio tour guide device in order to learn more. My favorite little tidbit was about the Roman curse tablets. In the days of old, citizens of various backgrounds would etch complaints into little metal tablets and throw them into the baths as a curse upon whoever wronged them. These often consisted of stolen property such as a pair of sandals or a stolen plough and in one case, a man complained about another man who stole his woman. It is so fascinating to me that after thousands of years, humanity still likes to complain about the same old same old. I suppose there’s nothing new under the baths. I also got to taste some of the bath water at the end of the tour and honestly, it wasn’t bad! I actually had a second cup because I was a bit parched.
After my time in the museum, I got to experience the greatest tea party of my life. We had afternoon tea in the Pump Room at the Roman Bath House. When our group walked in, everyone else in the room was wearing cocktail dresses and suits while I was sporting my brand new blue sundress. A small orchestra played classical music as we were all served our choice of tea. I had the greatest English Breakfast of my life topped off with two cubes of sugar and they even brought us all a large stacked tray of sweet and savory snacks. I was in heaven. Something about the high class atmosphere, the individual teapots, and the delicious finger food filled my soul and brought me to tears. It reminded me of all of the days when my grandma would have tea parties with my sister and I. She would give us fancy sun hats and serve us little sandwiches alongside our tea. I realized as I was sipping my tea and snacking on the greatest tiny desserts of my life just how lucky I am. Thanks Bath!
Cheers and pinkies up!
P.S. Ann took a picture of the moment my phone was stolen from me today (pictured below), so if any of you see this man, please give him a dirty look. Thanks!
Theatre in London U of A 