Today was a light, but excellent, day beginning with a 16-minute train ride from Bristol to Bath. The Bristol Temple Meads train station was a short walk from the Doubletree Hotel so it was much easier than driving to Bath and trying to find someplace to park.
We had 9:00am tickets to the Roman Bath so that was our first stop. The famous Bath water came 10,000 years ago in the form of rain. The rain soaked 3km (1.8 miles) into the earth and it is still bubbling up. There was a very large bath/temple built 60-70AD. The museum has a lot of artifacts from the ancient structure.
After finishing at the Roman Baths we headed to the modern day version, Thermae Bath Spa just around the corner from the original. We were able to book a time at 1230 for our bath play time and a 2:30 massage for me. We killed time by going to a large department store (M&S; Marks & Spencer) to see if we could pick up another pair of shorts for Peter. I didn’t realize that the shorts we brought with us are so big they’re practically falling off of him. We found a pair at M&S earlier in the week so went to see if we could get another pair….no luck. They didn’t have his size.
We also visited the Bath Abbey (aka The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Paul), a simple but beautiful church founded in the 7th century.
After a bit of lunch, we went back to the Spa for our relaxation time. For privacy reasons, no cameras were allowed so there are no pictures. But, here’s a YouTube video I found that shows the spa.
The lift was broken so we only went to the pool in the basement as we only had to walk down one flight of stairs. The other two were on the 3rd and 4th floors so climbing up there was a non-starter. So, we spent our time in the Minerva bath. All the water is warm, almost too warm given the mid-90-degree temps outside, and filled with 42 different minerals.
My massage was wonderful and, between that and the warm pool water (not to mention two of my new favorite drinks….Lemon Kiss), I’m pretty relaxed.
It was a pretty low-key day but after all the running around we’ve been doing it was a welcome change. Tomorrow we check out of the Doubletree and head to Cardiff, Wales. After that we head to Brecon Beacon National Park for the next 3 nights. It should be wonderful.