Bath!!!!

The Roman baths were a beautiful architectural site, and while the history was not an area of particular interest to me I was still able to appreciate the work put into the construction of the site. By far my favorite part of the baths were the carvings and statues scattered throughout the building. The one that struck me the most was that of the gorgon, which is etched in great scale in the baths. Upon further research I have learned that its history and the cause of carving it are still somewhat debated today. Even calling it a gorgon is a somewhat controversial statement, as some historians reject this claim on the basis of the gorgon being a female character, and the carving not being feminine in appearance. The primary reason that people do believe that it is meant to be a gorgon is the ties of the creature to the goddess of Athena, who was worshiped at the roman baths under the name Minerva (source: https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/temple-pediment-and-gorgons-head). While its exact origin may still be unknown it is a truly striking image, and left the biggest impression out of the items in the baths. The second largest impression would definitely be the water from the baths springs, which was offered at the end of the tour. It was quite the unpleasant, although not unexpected, mixture of warmth and metallic flavouring that did not live up to the tales of health and rejuvenation it was said to bring

After touring the baths I took the opportunity to explore the city. While still very tourist centered, it was a lot less busy and crowded than London, especially when it came to the roads. The people also seemed slightly more polite, probably because they were in less of a hurry than the majority of London seems to be in. I had a lot of fun looking around at the local charity shops to see what sort of things were donated in that area, and it gave me an opportunity to talk with some of the people from the city. I was quite surprised to learn from one store owner that Arkansas has a somewhat dangerous reputation. After telling him I was from Arkansas he said “oh it’s pretty rough over there isn’t it”. Assuming he was referring to an aspect of its population size or politics I gave a fairly neutral “it’s alright”, only for him to talk about how dangerous he had heard the state was. I was very surprised by this as while I have heard many not so great things about the state of Arkansas, dangerous has never been one of them.

The highlight of the day though by far was tea time. Never in my life have I felt so fancy and elegant. I was very glad I decided to buy a slightly nice shirt from a charity shop before going in, because the environment felt so posh and otherwise I felt like I would look out of place. While not having paid it myself I can not say for sure if the cost was worth the experience, it definitely felt very extravagant. The portions, while small, were very filling and each item brought a unique flavor or texture. The most surprising thing was the cucumber sandwich. As a staunch cucumber hater I was hesitant to even try it, but I was extremely glad I did. It had a very smooth and refreshing taste and flavor that I would not have expected from such a hard vegetable base. My favorite though would have to be the scone, which while relatively simple was made extremely well and was paired with a very good pair of clotted cream and preserves.