And what an adventurous day it was. After a quick breakfast at the hotel we finished packing and headed for the strain station – dragging our luggage behind us along the now familiar route.

While waiting for our train, I did speak to someone in the office endeavouring to get our reserved seats moved so that Rick and I could be seated together, and facing. Her very polite response easily translated to “Not a hope in hell”.

The train was relatively short – only 4 cars – so finding our carriage and seat was quite easy. We were across the aisle from each other, but definitely facing backwards. I had a brief moment of panic then accepted my fate and we were off.

The entire journey was scheduled to take 4 hours; 3.5 hours to Bristol Temple Meads and a short 15 minute break to change trains for a 15 minute trip into Bath. There were many stops along the way, most with unfamiliar names. Everything was fine… until we arrived in Leeds.

As t train pulled into the station, we could see a large crowd of clamouring people. They rushed forward to get onto our train, even as those leaving the train were trying to get off. The crowds came spilling into our car, seating themselves in every vacant seat. As the crowd thinned, more and more of them were forced to stand up and leave their seats as the rightful owner of the seats, the ones who had reserved in advance, arrived and claimed them. It took some time for everyone to jockey about, but eventually the train departed.

This same scenario was re-enacted in the next 2 or 3 stations. By now there were many people standing in the aisles with their bags. One group, already drunk before noon, had taken up residence in the space between the cars where they were blaring music and shouting along in a loose sort of singing. There was no way to get through the aisles to the washroom or the café car – where we had originally intended to purchase our lunch. Fortunately I had tossed a few protein bars into my backpack which offered us subsistence level food – though nothing to drink. Lesson learned.

By this time the train manager had been on the speaker a few times, apologizing for the overcrowding, though not really explaining how this could have happened. It turns out that two events had occurred simultaneously. First, two trains going on from Leeds had been cancelled, leaving their passengers with no alternative other than to take another later train. Second, our train was supposed to have 8 passenger cars but only had 4. And of course, we all had somewhere to be. Our reserved seats offered us some degree of protection – for which I was very grateful.

We changed trains at Bristol Temple Meads as planned – though had to take a later one after arriving late. Fifteen minutes later we were whisked into Bath, exited the train with baggage in tow and climbed the many stairs required to cross the platforms and exit the station.

We did try to get a taxi, or an Uber. There were none about and we had a timed ticket for the Roman Baths so off we went for a 15 minute walk to our hotel, dragging our luggage behind us. We are becoming expert draggers.

As we were walking through town, we saw a number of couples and women dressed in beautiful costumes from the Jane Austen era. (I did think the men were particularly brave in their tights.) Most of the dresses were lovely with period hats, gloves and handbags they looked as if they had walked out of Pride and Prejudice. Sadly, I saw no Colin Firths strolling the streets in a wet shirt, posing as My Darcy….

It turns out there was a Jane Austen festival in town to celebrate her life and literary works. I do wish I had known about it. I might have planned differently. Or packed a beautiful Regency gown in my luggage.

We arrived at The Yard in plenty of time to drag our luggage up 4 flights of stairs and into the absolute tiniest room I have ever seen. This from a woman who has taken many, many trips to Japan where perfectly planned small rooms are an art form. Let me say, there was no ‘art’ in the organization of this room.

With the Roman baths waiting we simply dropped our luggage and left the building. We walked back through the centre of town and arrived only 5 minutes later than planned.

The Roman baths were marvelous. Architecture, mythology, art and engineering all combined to create this wonderful space.

The baths were originally established in 60-70 AD when the town was called Aquae Sulis. This space for pilgrimage, health and healing was built around Britian’s only natural hot spring. Almost 1.2 million litres of natural spring water bubble up every day, at a constant temperature of 46 degrees C.

The water was fed to the 12m x 9 m pool, lined with 14 massive sheets of lead to prevent leaks. The traditional underfloor heating system was reserved for the caldarium, a dry sweat room.

Other rooms included the tepidarium, where visitors would go to gradually warm their bodies in preparation for the high heat. There were cold plunge pools, a gym and a “spa” where guests were massaged with scented oils and then scraped clean to remove dirt and impurities from their bodies.

The complex was dedicated to Sulis Minerva, a hybrid deity combining the Celtic god of Spring (Sulis) with the Roman goddess of wisdom and health (Minerva).

The baths contain many forms of art from different ages; the statues around the bath itself are relatively modern in origin. One of the most famous pieces or Roman British art ever discovered is the bronze head of Minerva. It is very beautiful, even with the worn gold plating.

As a place of pilgrimage, visitors would often leave curse tablets (defixio) by tossing them into the Sacred Spring. Formulaic messages were offered to Sulis Minerva to assist in resolving a grievance or righting a wrong. They were considered a legalistic and binding ritual.  

The last thing we did before leaving the baths was to take a drink of the mineral water. I was worried it would be a bit of a ‘hold your nose’ moment as the baths themselves had quite a strong and unpleasant odour. In fact, the water was tepid with barely any taste at all. Hmmmm. Perhaps I will be lucky, and it will help my gut?

Our entire tour was self-guided. We spent more than 2 hours there and looked at absolutely everything.  I even took a couple of photos of dogs memorialized in carvings.

When we left, there was a light rain falling. Starving after only a single cup of coffee in the morning and a protein bar to get us through the day, we stopped at a small coffee shop for a bite to eat and a coffee (Rick) / hot chocolate (me).

We had only a few other sights on our plan for the day. First, we stopped at Sally Luns to pick up a famous Sally Lun Bun. These light brioche style tea cakes were first baked by Solange Luyon, a Huguenot who left France in 1680 due to persecution. Unable to say her name correctly, her name gradually morphed into Sally Lun and her buns became famous. They are mentioned in literature (e.g. Charles Dickens and Jane Austen). The recipe is a carefully kept secret… though a quick internet search did provide me with a few slightly different recipes. Both included a few saffron threads to create the slightly yellow colour.

We wandered the city afterwards with brief stops at architecturally famous locations: The Pulteney Bridge (one of the few in the world with shops on both sides), The Circus and The Royal Crescent (both are groups of historic 18^th century Georgian townhouses. The Circus is designed to mimic the proportions and details of the Roman Colosseum.)  As much as I admire the beauty of the buildings, I also hear Mom’s voice in my head pondering why anyone would want to live so closely together in identical homes. And I have to say, I am on her side on this one.

Dinner was a pizza. It was perhaps the most vegetables I have had in a single meal as it was topped with fresh tomatoes and basil. We consumed it sitting in a small restaurant in a loud square overflowing with laughing young people and music. Bath has such a different vibe from York which was definitely attracted an older crowd.

We weren’t in a rush to go back to our teeny room, but I was tired. I posted my last blog and immediately went to sleep.