Bath, Part I

On Tuesday, we celebrated Stace's birthday with a train trip into Bath, where we visited the ancient Roman baths for the first time with the girls.

The train itself made for an exciting part of our trip, passing the lovely countryside. With our advance tickets, it was a good deal, considering we would have had to taken two cars for the six of us.

We couldn't get a grouping of seats around a table, but we had plenty of seats for our reading, snacking and goofing off pleasure.

After our arrival, we made our way to the Baths. It was very pricey - £44  for a family ticket, or about $66. But it was well worth it, since the girls are old enough to soak in the learning.

We all were given a phone-type device with a keypad, and you dialed in numbers that corresponded to signs on the walls, and then listened to recorded info. It was like having a personalized guide, and the children could listen to special information geared toward them.

A view of the ancient bath below, and the more "modern" abbey behind, from the 1200s.

We were fascinated by the tour, and spent several hours listening to our devices and looking at the artifacts from Roman Britain, circa AD 60.

This is an overflow channel for the hot springs, which were important to the natives long before the Romans came along. The Romans then built a huge complex around the spring, with the hot, mineral-rich water used in various pools.

A Roman temple was attached to the baths, and we learned many much about the way Romans worshiped their gods.

I found the hoards of Roman coins to be most interesting, as well.

A half dozen pools were inside, in smaller rooms surrounding the large pool seen here. Most were warm or hot, though a couple were cold.

This one had a huge roof over it in Roman times.

When we finished our tour, we were able to take a drink from the hot spring, piped through the fountain beside Sue.

It was ... interesting! Very warm, a bit sulfuric, definitely heavy on the minerals.