We took a day trip to the city of Bath yesterday. We got on the train, which was very nice, and rode it for about an hour and a half to Bath. On the way I started reading Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” which is so good, but I have not finished yet so no spoilers! Once we stopped in Bath we walked towards the actual Roman Baths. The architecture was so beautiful, it was mostly all the same tan stone, but varied from plain to very intricate. Particularly the square where the Bath and Pump Room was, there was a building—the Bath Abbey—that was covered in designs of angels climbing up the walls, larger figures, huge glass windows, and a large wooden door carved with more art and symbols. It was really a beautiful building, most comparable to St Paul’s in London. As much interesting and varied architecture there is around London, that church has still been one of the prettiest to me. Inside the Roman Baths was really interesting. I have been to Bath before, but it was about 10 years ago, and my dad reminded me that during our visit the Bath was actually drained for cleaning. This time, though, it was not! It was full of bubbly green water, which sounds gross but actually looked sort of inviting. The main bath room was surrounded by various other rooms such as a massage house, cold plunge, gym, and sauna. They were all made of stone that was broken down a bit. There were signs everywhere warning of uneven ground because of the state of the old stone floor. The massage and gym rooms had these very cool projections of people working out or getting a massage dressed in what they would have worn. We had a headset where you could type the corresponding number to hear a description of what you were looking at like a guided tour. When I was younger and my family and I would go to museums I never liked those things, but now that I am older, I really liked learning about it and the headsets provided some very interesting information. The Bath serves the Roman goddess Minerva and once housed a gold coated bronze statue of the goddess. People would come to praise and worship her, giving her offerings of coins, dishes, and even what they call cursed tablets. People would write messages to Minerva asking her to punish someone who has wronged them, usually stolen items. I felt like I could really imagine the people going to the baths just on a normal day. Now of course I can’t not mention the tea. We got to have high tea at the Pump Room! I thought we were going to get just tea and scones, but we ended up having the whole set up. There were so many yummy treats as well as the tea and scones. The scones were delicious, with clotted cream and strawberry jam. I got Darjeeling tea that was actually the best tea I’ve ever had in my life. We also had music, there was a trio playing the violin, cello, and piano, I even recognized some of the songs I knew how to play. The room was beautiful, and it was one of the most enjoyable parts of this trip yet. It was just so nice to all be there as a group enjoying the splendor of high tea. The only thing that could have made it better was some proper dress—I wanted to be wearing a big, corseted dress! I was sad to leave, Bath was so much fun and a relaxing break from the vibe of London!
Theatre in London U of A 