Monday 28 February 2000
Highlights: Bath Abbey, Roman Baths, Walking tours of Bath

Starting early we headed off to Bath to spend the day before arriving late in the day at Chester which we will explore tomorrow.

Bath was originally a Roman outpost from 1 AD to 4th century.  The Romans established the very first bath for which the area is named which took advantage of the natural hot springs.

We started the day with a visit to the famous Sally Lunn’s Kitchen.  Sally Lunn established the shop in the 17th century and you can still get very tasteful brioches, basically a bun with butter and jam on top.

We also visited Bath Abbey established in early 900s.  The Abbey was the site of the crowning of the first King of a United England.  The exact same ceremony is still used today in London.

Most of the present Abbey was built between 1499 and 1616.  At the front of the Abbey, really a cathedral, is Angels climbing up to God. No one is really sure of why they just don’t fly.

We went on a very informative walking tours at highlighted the fine architecture.  I now understand why the ground floor is generally underground in England.  the upper class had the roads raised over the years so they did not have to walk though the servants area.  The majority of Bath has been raised by 7 metres.

Next up was the Roman Baths which Jon had been to before.  The baths were used by the Romans until they left in the 4th century.  The Roman Bath was than left alone and eventually collapsed and was forgotten.  Around 1884 the baths were rediscovered and re-established back in the Roman style.  the water system the Roman’s created was still working 1,800 years later, which is quite amazing.

After arriving in  Chester we had to walk about 2.5 miles to find the hostel.  I’m looking forward to having access to a car again :).