A Memorable Visit to Bath, UK - A UNESCO World Heritage Site

S. did some excellent research and learned that going from London to Bath by train would take about an hour and cost over 60 lbs each for a return trip. However, taking the coach would be around 20 lbs each only, much less than the train. Not in a hurry getting to Bath and desiring to take in the scenery of the countryside outside of London, we took the scenic route option. The coach left Victoria Station in London in the afternoon and the ride was about three and half hours.

We arrived at the Bath bus terminal shortly after 6pm, a little too dark for us walking to our hotel though it was within walking distance. We ordered a Uber ride on our cell phone but had some difficulties locating the car. This was a problem for us when ordering a Uber rides on this trip. The Uber driver was smart enough to flash his vehicle lights so that we could identify the car. Our hotel was on Brock Street, a historical district and we retrieved our key from the lock box and got into our place without much difficulties. After dropping off our luggage, we went out looking for a restaurant for dinner. The area was dark, not very well lit. First night at a new city, we were cautious and didn’t venture out too far from our place. We found a decent looking Thai restaurant in the neighborhood and enjoyed our dinner there.

Day 6 – Our Second day in Bath -- Staying in a house within walking distance to the old town of Bath, UK, we were able to walk to the main city district. Bath is a beautiful city with numerous grand medieval buildings. Walking on its cobbled stone streets, we felt as if we were transported back in time. Bath was inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. In 2021, it received a second inscription as one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. We were glad that we made the decision of staying in Bath for a couple of nights instead of joining a day tour to this fabulous city.

There were many restaurants, cafes and pastry shops opened serving visitors delicious food of all types. Our favorite was the pastry shop just opposite the Roman Bath site serving different savoury pastries filled with lamb, beef, chicken, Brie and grapes, and salad etc! The pastries were so good that we went back there 3 times to order more of them! We planned to visit the famous Roman Bath after breakfast. It was good that we purchased the tickets at 1030am when we first arrived at the city centre in the morning. By the time we finished breakfast and went to our 11:30 am tour, the tickets were sold out for the day!

I could not find the words to properly describe what we saw at the Roman Bath site! The Roman Bath ruins were discovered and excavated starting in 1878 and continuing into the 1900s. With the admission tickets, we were given a set of earphones for a self guided tour. The explanations were clear. As we walked and marveled at the Roman’s ingenious engineering work in ancient times, we were blown away by how well the Romans were able to take advantage of their natural environment - the hot springs, and enjoyed a luxurious life style rivalling our modern one. Using the natural hot spring water, the Romans at the time came up with different ways to enjoy this gift from mother nature such as massages, hot water bath, cold water immersion and the various hot bath pools to relax and heal their bodies while socializing with others in the community.

We were busy looking at the exhibits and reading the information about the displays. Feeling a little tired, I sat down on one of the benches. A gentleman dressed in some special clothes was sitting next to me. I made some friendly conversation with him and found that he was a citizen from the ancient past. What a nice conversation I had with him about his life during the Roman time! There was one thing we were impressed by the Romans in the ancient time - all Romans, poor or wealthy at the time could enjoy the hot spring bath at the luxurious bath houses as long as they paid the fees. Even though one could be poor, but if he/she would work hard and save enough money, one could enjoy the benefits of these healing springs! That was fair. I think it would have served as an incentive for many poor people at the time to work hard so that they could enjoy something nice in life!

RT, Bath, UK