Bath

A spur of the moment, get out of London trip, took us to the beautiful city of Bath. We took the train from Paddington. We stayed at a very nice B&B and enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Rascals. It was a bit like the Cavern in Liverpool, underground with arches and low ceilings. It was papered with posters of all sorts of show, products etc. On Sunday we got up early for a touristy bit. We walked into town and strolled around the shops. There were a lot of street buskers, much like Covent Garden.

Here’s a guy playing a saw. It was really nice.

The Roman Baths were our first point of call. The Baths were amazing and huge. There was a lot of modern technology such as central heating but it was Roman Empire style. Amazing that they perfected that kind of technology so long a go. Both Gavin and I dipped our fingers in despite the fact you weren’t meant too. It was very pleasant and relaxing.

This is Bath Abbey. It is very beautiful and The bells rang out around the whole city.

Once we were out, I was lucky enough to spot a fudge making shop. As we found later, there were a lot of specialist food stores such as this one. We watched a lady making fudge on a large marble table. She scrapped it up, almost like kneading it until it set. After a free sample we simply had to buy some. That was actually a mistake, after a couple of bites both of us felt sick. That will teach us!

We wandered around a bit more. Gavin was very intrigued by Quiet St and kept shushing me all the way down the street.

The Circus and Royal Crescent were quite spectacular.

It was about lunchtime and we had to go to Sally Lunns. Yes the real Sally Lunn’s bun house. Also the oldest house in Bath. There was so much to choose from. I always thought that the icing on the top was what made a Sally Lunn a Sally Lunn, but it turns out it was the bun. I had mine toasted with butter and jam, but Gavin had a BLT on his. That went against my religion, as I’ve always seen them as sweet things.

Sally Lunn was a French refugee. She worked in the local bake house and when the Baker discovered she was so talented he let her sell buns to many people. Early in the 18th century the recipe was discovered in the cupboard in the cellar. It is now sold with the deed of the house. Interestingly one owner sold the business then went to Australia, so that’s maybe how NZ got lucky enough to have Sally Lunns. They had excavated under the house and found the original 16th century oven. It was a very fascinating lunch.

A bus tour beckoned so we went a board an open-top double decker and enjoyed views around the city.

We arrived back at Pulteney Bridge. It really looks as lovely as it does in the postcard.

Down by the river was a concrete path maze, which I completed with minimum amount of fuss. All to soon it was time for us to go back to London. It really is a beautiful city.

 

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