Bath

We spent the day in Bath, walking through the city centre and riding the open-air double-decker tour bus through the city and countryside. We first stopped at the Museum of Costume, and then walked through the Circus, a circle of Georgian townhouses. At left is a photo of Kate, Todd and Julia, next to this great example of Bath architecture.

We also spent a couple of hours at the Roman Baths and the Bath Abbey. I continued reading Antony and Cleopatra on the train ride to Bath, so I was in the right frame of mind for looking at Roman architecture and artifacts. The Roman Baths museum was excellent, though it was so crowded that it was difficult to view carefully and appreciate all the displays. We liked the availability of three different commentaries on the audio-guides. There was the regular commentary, the entertaining Bill Bryson version which Julia enjoyed, and one designed for children that was perfect for Kate.

It was forbidden to drink or touch the water, but it didn't look all that appealing anyhow. We were allowed to drink treated water from the hot springs from a fountain but decided to pass, as we'd heard from more than one source that it tasted disgusting. We resisted the temptation to buy a souvenir from the gift shop (I didn't even bother to look for the Roman Baths snow globe though we did see one at Stonehenge), but Todd just had to take a photo of the Harrius Potter books, for those fluent in Latin.