Bath

Saturday, today, was the day I took it upon myself to visit Bath. It did not turn out how I expected it to. For one, I didn't have enough time to make it to the Fashion Museum. Two, I wasn't able to magically stumble onto the locations that I wanted to see. I'll start from the beginning. This morning was nice, walking through Cardiff. It wasn't raining, though it was still gray. There was a mini market going on in the city center, so maybe when the weather gets warmer there will be more stalls. I'll have to go back because that could be fun to go to. I managed to make it to the train station, find the correct platform, and board the right train, getting off at the correct stop: Bath Spa station. From there, I proceeded to get lost.

Pulteney Bridge

 I had planned out where I was supposed to go beforehand, writing down the street names and such, just like what I did when I was taking classes in DC. Unfortunately, the British don't really label their streets in an obvious manner, if at all. I ended up at Pulteney Bridge, which has a bunch of shops and cafés built into it. It was lunchtime, so I bought a Cornish pasty and it was surprisingly delicious! I wandered around that area for about an hour and then I found a hop-on hop-off tour bus, so I bought a ticket and it took me around Bath. I saw the Circus and the Royal Crescent, which are just buildings arranged in a circle and buildings arranged in a crescent. Victoria Gardens was pretty, probably better viewed in the spring though. Well, the tour ended and I hopped off where I had hopped on. I eventually managed to make it to the Roman Baths, thanks to the help from kind passerby. By this time though, I would never have been able to make it to the Fashion Museum because everything on Saturday closes at 4:30/5 so I would have only had 30 minutes to find it and tour it.

Cold Pool

However, it wasn't a big deal because the Roman Baths were the main reason I decided to visit Bath for this day excursion. It was a pretty neat place, though a tad smelly (probably all the old water used by those ancient bathers). The water reminded me of this pond we saw in Germany where the water looked solid because it was so opaquely green. This is why I refused the free sample of "bath water" at the end. No need to compromise my health. It was interesting the way the ruins were incorporated into the modern museum/building, though I did think it was a bit scattered. The reason that this place fell into ruin, I learned, was because England was taken over by people who did not bathe and therefore had no use for this natural hot-spring, unlike in Turkey where the tradition continues strongly.

In all, this trip taught me I need to learn to wander better, though I did manage to find my way back to the train station without help :) It was getting dark and all the shops were closing, mind you this was around 5 PM, so I got to the train station an hour and a half early. I don't understand how people function with these hours. It's probably because I'm American, and if I were the one working I probably wouldn't be complaining. But even Tesco closes early on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! The only thing I can liken this phenomenon to is if the U.S. were filled with only Chick-fil-A type places. I just don't understand it. Anyways, at the Bath Spa station I noticed that there was a train going back to Cardiff earlier, so instead of waiting for the train my ticket said I was supposed to be on, I just hopped on the earlier train instead. Et voilà, I made it back.

Orange water

Steaming pool