Weekend in Bath

Friday evening's train trip to Bath was hampered by broken switches out of London that messed up train connections throughout SW England. Thus my trip to Bath took a little longer than planned, trains were cancelled such that trains were crowded and I stood the entire 1:10 journey between Reading and Bath. When I finally got to Bath, a bit of a meal, a cool drink, and a shower were in order.

Our teensy weensie hotel room was 129 GBP per night. Highway robbery... but that how it is in Bath at this time of year. It was much like a cruise ship room and bathroom! The key difference is that cruise ships have level floors. We were unable to keep toothbrushes from sliding off the bathroom shelf or to keep my glasses from sliding off the bedside table. The innkeeper, a helpful young fella by the name of Tom with a charmin' Zomerzet (that's local pronunciation for Somerset) accent, told us the inn had been in continual use for 300 years. Imagine that - we'd all be a little wonky after 300 years!

We went to the Roman Baths for the walk through with audio handset to explain the various parts of the complex. Wonderful. We were wondering what Jane Austen and family would have thought had they only known that the Pump Room that they frequented was literally built on top of the Roman ruins unearthed while building the sewer system in Bath in the late 1800s. We tasted that awful water at the Pump Room. Gluck!!!! Suspend a rotten egg in a glass of water on a warm afternoon for about 2 hours then sip on that water....so awful. But, we imagined, folks believed it would help them and that counts for a lot in getting well.

Above photo of hairstyle during Roman times in Bath. All braided at the back and then formed around a bolster of some sort.


A photo of spindle whorls (for spinning fleece or flax), and sewing needles unearthed in Bath. In the other photo, safety pins! OK, they called them brooches but those certainly look like safety pins, do they not?

After the baths, off we went to tea at the Jane Austen Tea Room where, rumour had it, gluten free baking was available. The rumours were true; I had a delicious GF crumpet served with more butter than I would use in a week, and an interesting blend of tea based on teas that would have been available in Bath during JA's time....and then to the Museum of Costume, housed in the Upper Assembly Rooms.

On our walk, I was thrilled to see signage on a building indicating the location of the Royal Infirmary for Rheumatic Diseases as that fits perfectly with my invalid's dietary research. I seemed to have forgotten to download that photo from my camera so offer this photo instead...the building that housed the Circulating Library in JA's time.

View of Bath Abbey from my eye level of 5'. As you can see, a gorgeous day in Bath...

Our evening included live theatre, a deal at 8GBP, called The Great British Country Fete. So impressive....the  Bush Theatre company is a venue for launching new plays. I kept thinking of my friend and bandmate, Ms. Gillian Barber, and her work in musical theatre and how much she would have enjoyed this piece! Such fun! Such talent. I kept thinking, enough already, these actors/singers/dancers (there were 3 in the play, one who held the same character and two others who took on the personae of an entire set of villagers) cannot play yet another instrument... but add instruments they did! They all played piano, guitar, and added other instruments into the play depending on what they already played or learned to play as it suit the play during rehearsals (or so I learned by googling about the play once we got back to our room). It was clever, brilliantly performed...such voices, so so good!

Our train ride back to Alton in the afternoon was a little convoluted. MA and I congratulated ourselves on figuring out the train system to get back on a different route than the one we had planned. Stocked up on food on the way to Chawton since I will now be into a two week long stretch at the house without trips to London or elsewhere. Next Saturday is the vintage bus rally in Alton so I might take that in.
My afternoon ended with a luxurious nap.