What a delightful day! And we actually slept in! Up at 8:00 and breakfast at 9:00 – boy were we happy! Today was all about Jane Austen in Bath, her home numerous times during her lifetime. We started the day at the Roman Baths. We fully enjoyed our self-guided audio tour and learning about the partially naked, muscular Roman soldiers. We decided we would love to be the slaves scraping the dirt off them after they came out of the steam rooms dripping in sweat. Just kidding! Just checking to see if you are still reading. After the baths, we roamed around town, looked in a couple of antique stores and strolled along the same streets Jane Austen walked down during her time in Bath. We stopped at the Victoria Art Gallery (because it was free) and viewed an exhibit of different architects’ visions of modernizing and updating Bath - from the late 1800’s up until the 1940’s. Bath would be a very different place if some of these changes would have been implemented. Upstairs there was an impressive gallery – we especially liked two Gainsborough portraits and two Duffield still lifes. After more shopping we headed to the Pump Rooms for afternoon tea. With beautiful surroundings, a string trio and delicious food, we had a wonderful time. The Pumps Rooms have been the center of social life in Bath for hundreds of years. Jane Austen visited and even wrote about The Pump Rooms in her novels Persuasion and Nort
hanger Abbey. Then we were off to the new Thermal Spa for a late afternoon treatment. We arrived at 4:00 and our time ended at 7:45. In that time period we: swam in two different pools, visited three giant steam rooms each with a different aromatherapy scent, had a light snack, soaked our feet in our own mini-foot spa, took cold showers, had a hot shower that was like a waterfall and each had a spa treatment. Daughter 1 had a neck, back and shoulder massage with a rejuvenating facial, and I had a neck, back and shoulder massage with a foot massage. The weirdest part – they made us wear paper thongs for our massages. Because they were cut so strangely, I was not sure which was the front and which was the back!! We stumbled out of the spa and found the town empty – which was wonderful. Unfortunately if you ask Daughter 1 how she would describe Bath, she would tell you “dirty and crowded.” At this point it was still dirty, but it wasn’t crowded! We hung out, called home, and headed to a concert. Right now is the middle of the Bath International Music Festival, so we jumped on the chance to see a harpsichord concert. The musician was very talented and we were in a small intimate venue. I am happy to report that I only fell asleep once! Tomorrow is another day filled with the life of Jane.
What a delightful day! And we actually slept in! Up at 8:00 and breakfast at 9:00 – boy were we happy! Today was all about Jane Austen in Bath, her home numerous times during her lifetime. We started the day at the Roman Baths. We fully enjoyed our self-guided audio tour and learning about the partially naked, muscular Roman soldiers. We decided we would love to be the slaves scraping the dirt off them after they came out of the steam rooms dripping in sweat. Just kidding! Just checking to see if you are still reading. After the baths, we roamed around town, looked in a couple of antique stores and strolled along the same streets Jane Austen walked down during her time in Bath. We stopped at the Victoria Art Gallery (because it was free) and viewed an exhibit of different architects’ visions of modernizing and updating Bath - from the late 1800’s up until the 1940’s. Bath would be a very different place if some of these changes would have been implemented. Upstairs there was an impressive gallery – we especially liked two Gainsborough portraits and two Duffield still lifes. After more shopping we headed to the Pump Rooms for afternoon tea. With beautiful surroundings, a string trio and delicious food, we had a wonderful time. The Pumps Rooms have been the center of social life in Bath for hundreds of years. Jane Austen visited and even wrote about The Pump Rooms in her novels Persuasion and Nort
hanger Abbey. Then we were off to the new Thermal Spa for a late afternoon treatment. We arrived at 4:00 and our time ended at 7:45. In that time period we: swam in two different pools, visited three giant steam rooms each with a different aromatherapy scent, had a light snack, soaked our feet in our own mini-foot spa, took cold showers, had a hot shower that was like a waterfall and each had a spa treatment. Daughter 1 had a neck, back and shoulder massage with a rejuvenating facial, and I had a neck, back and shoulder massage with a foot massage. The weirdest part – they made us wear paper thongs for our massages. Because they were cut so strangely, I was not sure which was the front and which was the back!! We stumbled out of the spa and found the town empty – which was wonderful. Unfortunately if you ask Daughter 1 how she would describe Bath, she would tell you “dirty and crowded.” At this point it was still dirty, but it wasn’t crowded! We hung out, called home, and headed to a concert. Right now is the middle of the Bath International Music Festival, so we jumped on the chance to see a harpsichord concert. The musician was very talented and we were in a small intimate venue. I am happy to report that I only fell asleep once! Tomorrow is another day filled with the life of Jane. 
1 comment:
Fabulous pictures. Keep on the move!
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