Bath

Caught a train from London to Bath, taking Rose, Nic and Maddie with us..

Baths claim to fame is, of course, the mineral spas over which, firstly the Celts and secondly the Romans, built baths. Amazing really the ingenuity of both civilisations; in the use of the natural layout of the land to enhance the water flow, and to facilitate the drainage away from the main bath area. The natural springs pump through a million liters of mineral water each day filled with over 200 types of different minerals. This is why "going to Bath to take the waters" became the done thing to do!!! Today they have an ultra modern version which we did grudgingly dragged ourselves along to..a choice of an indoor or outdoor pool which incorporated a spa; four steam rooms (hard to handle I know) with this great shower area in the centre which,when you needed to cool down, massaged you with spring water. Unfortunately the two hours went only too quickly..

Another facet about Bath is the fact that it is an entirely in- tact Georgian city...and is listed as a UNESC World Heritage city accordingly. Set in a green English valley surrounded by rolling hills (known as the Bath skyline) there are still some areas with the original cobblestone streets; all buildings are in local Bathstone giving a uniformity and quaintness ( a soothing panorama to one with such a OC personality as mine!); and in the centre of the city is this absolutely awesome building - Bath Abbey. A monument to some saint or religion I'm sure, however as we didn't bother to find out can't add anything more here.

And lest we forget, Bath was home to Jane Austen for a period of four years and , as Amanda knows, the popular setting for many a Georgette Heyer novel!) Funnily enough, even though there is a Jane Austen Museum, she's not really pushed as a tourist icon.

We went on the Bizarre Bath Tour on our second evening there...hosted by a local stand-up comedian. Considering stand-up at the best of times could be dodgy, marry it with the English humor and it could've been quite "iffy" . It was absolutely hilarious, had all of us in stitches- well mostly. Maddie was very concerned about the (toy) rabbit. His owner set out to prove that his rabbit was on par (if not better than) the great escape artist Harry Houdini. Bound severely with heavy chains, which were then padlocked and weighted down, the rabbit was tossed unceremoniously into the river. SUSPENSE reigned as she waited for the rabbit to surface...with a sudden whoosh up he rose, chain and weight free. However did this appease the concern felt for the rabbit's well being. NO! As we continued to trek through the dimly lit backstreets every so often a little voice would pipe up asking "where's the wabbit, is he alright?" At the final banter, in front of the flood-lit Abbey, who should come and join us other than the rabbit hooning around the corner on a motorised skateboard!!! Hurray -peace at last!!!