Over the past few weeks I've made my way around more of this beautiful country! I went to the Warwick Castle for their Haunted Castle experience for Halloween with my friends and had a blast!! We went through the dungeon that they had made into a haunted house and it was really good!! We were definitely freaked out! The entire grounds of the castle are beautiful! I would love to spend a whole summer day exploring the grounds, castle, and the attractions that they have added to the experience. The castle was for the Earl of Warwick and was a working castle until just recently. The last prisoner to be held in the castle was actually Hitler's secretary, Rudolf Hess, for a night in 1942. I don't have any good pictures because we went at night and my camera doesn't like taking night pictures! But believe me, it was so cool, well kept, and beautiful! If you can make out the picture, that is the layout of the Castle and grounds. Its quite the place!
Bath was so wonderful! It was small and quaint! The perfect size town; I just loved it! I could have spent so much more time there than just a couple hours in a day. Below you can see the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey.
This is a looking- down- view on the main bath. It was cold and on- and- off raining during the day, so it was steaming. It was really cool to see!
This was a side bath that I couldn't even find the entrance to. It was probably my favorite. It was just so secluded and seemed so peaceful. I could have definitely spent hours warming and relaxing in that calm pool of water, away from the world.
They made a museum basically on top of the ruins of the Roman Baths. This 3-D diorama showed where pools would have been back in the day. The bath house was like a little village within itself. You could spend your entire day there, relaxing and bathing, but also spending time praying and giving to the Roman gods and running errands. I kind of think of it like the Temple in Jesus' day- there was just so much to do in a centrally located part of town; it was so expanded with stuff and things to do for the people.
Aquae Sulis was the Roman name of the city of Bath back in Roman times. Sulis was the English name for the city and the Romans just called it "the waters of Sulis".
Above: Ruins of baths. If I'm reading the sign correctly, this was the swimming bath.
Below: This was like a wishing well. People would have thrown coins into this bath as a gift to the gods- I think a certain one in particular. Prays of both concern and thanksgiving were lifted up and wishes were made. My friends and I did the whole Trivi fountain thing here at this little pool. It was fun!
This is a shot of the main bath with the abbey in the background.
This was one of the most breathtaking sites of my day! Right when we walked into Bath Abbey, this American flag was just hanging right in front of my face! It's old, and somewhat rust- colored, and beautiful. I asked one of the ladies who worked there why it was there and she said it was a gift from the US in 1948. If you can see, there are only 48 stars. This flag was just the thing that I needed to see. I can't remember the last time I saw our beautiful flag and this one was just hanging so elegantly. It was joyous!
This picture doesn't do Bath Abbey justice. None of them did, really. This church might just be one of the favorites that I've seen. And please let me remind you that I've been to Italy and seen an absurd amount of gorgeous churches. Maybe because it was sweet and simple, or maybe because there were hanging pink chandeliers, or maybe the style of the architecture, or the stained glass windows. I couldn't put my finger on one thing, it just had something about it that made me feel calm; I think its called charm.
This is the Circus. It is supposedly famous. I'd never heard of it, but it really is a big deal. Its a giant circle of houses around a little park. From the air, you can see that its a perfect circle. (I did not go up in the air to see it, but there were aerial- view postcards.) It is very, very cool! The circle is made up of four segments of rounded buildings. I'm not sure how you can make a building like that, but the four of them together make a round- about that is enclosed and awesome! I sound like a child with my lack of creative words, but 'cool' really is the best way to describe it!
The Royal Crescent is also a big deal here in Bath. We think that it is currently used as both office and residential space. We don't think that there is anything dealing with the Royal Family here at the Royal Crescent. There was a little museum/ information station at the Royal Crescent, but we did not go in. Surprising, I know, but I didn't need to learn all the information of Bath. Leaves me wondering and searching for more!
This building is also, obviously, rounded. It was huge! It seemed to continue on and on and it, too, was rounded! It was COOL!! Not only was this building curved, but it started to go down a hill at the far left end. And then down that hill, all the houses made it look like we were in San Francisco.
Bath was fun to go to because it was a mixture of Roman architecture and English architecture with a completely English way of life. It was actually somewhat weird to see. The marble buildings are so familiar because we just went to Italy this summer, but I wasn't expecting to see marble again, especially in England.
Bath has the only source of hot springs in the country (and on the whole island of Britain- if you don't remember the difference between England, Britain, Great Britain, and the UK, go look at "Fun Facts" and refresh your memory). These waters were the reason that the Romans were congregated here to the one city. They were in Bath from about 60 AD until the first decade of the 5th century. Through that time, many added to and made better the baths for everyone's use. They used their hot water source efficiently and the Baths were, and still are, very vibrant and at the same time laid back.
Bath was also the place where I've had my best meal yet! It may be because I was super hungry, but I really do think that it was the best! We found a place called the Wild Cafe. It was a cute, corner cafe with blue trimmed windows and doors, tucked away off the side of a side street. It was an awesome find! We looked on the outside menu (a very common thing) and saw that they had chorizo!! I was for it right away! I got a burger with chorizo on it and it was to die for! I also saw that there were pancakes! I haven't had a pancake in I don't know how long. I told the waitress that I wanted the burger, then I told her that this might be the oddest request, but I got a pancake as well! I was in hog heaven! More like home heaven! This meal was so good and so reminiscent of home! To top it all off, I got a glass of milk! I was content! You could even say that I was fat and happy!!
All- in- all, my day trip to Bath was wonderful! I would love to go back one day and actually sit in the hot springs. It was such a great town that I wish I could have spent more time in. But I know that I'm very blessed to have had yet another opportunity to see another part of England. I also saw much of the countryside between Birmingham and Bath and let's just say that I'm glad I cannot drive here. If I could, I would rent a car, drive ALL over, see the grazing sheep and beautiful rolling hills and never go to school! I'm glad that I don't have to be put in the predicament of choosing!
Until next time!
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