Taking a Bath

I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it. Bath is absolutely beautiful. For those like me who have never heard of Bath it is a relatively small city West of London. Google it - you'll be amazed. Bath is famous for hot spring waters that for centuries people have considered to have healing properties. The Romans built the first baths here around 100-450 AD. The ruins were uncovered in the late 1800s when residents were trying to build transportation infrastructure. Mr. Steves said to take two hours at the ruins - we took nearly four. I was in awe. I also took a million pictures so those willing to indulge will have a good show and tell when I get home. Bath reminds me a lot of Italy. Probably why I love it so much. In fact, quite a few Italians have settled here so we've been able to get some great food. At this point I'm pretty convinced my parents have my heritage wrong - I must be Italian. Living in Bath would be a compromise - English heritage meets Italian love affair. The spring water has healed ailments for centuries. It has been called a magic cure. So, when offered two glasses of the water to drink I downed mine and half of Pat's. I'm sure I could use all the help I can get. The city has built modern baths so Bath remains a popular holiday spot for locals and foreigners alike. Again, when in Rome...Pat and I visited the bath facilities last night. I have to say, sitting on top of a building in a hot spring bath overlooking Bath Abby and the beautiful Georgian architecture at dusk last night didn't suck. I'm glad we took the plunge for the view - now let's see what ails the water will cure. We also had the opportunity for tea and crumpets in the beautiful Pump Room. Pat is really uncomfortable in such fancy tea places. It's become quite musing for me actually. Crumpets aren't what I had imagined. They're really what we consider English muffins, but a lot less crunchy. The driving on the wrong side of the road thing seems to be working out OK so far. We're leaving Bath momentarily to travel North to York. The freeway isn't the challenge, it's the one-way city driving that's a marriage tester. We ended up with a small Nissan. We figured we'd go with what we knew. Again, don't worry, I've got lots of pictures. Off we go to jump in the car again. Pat's ready to see if he can frustrate more UK drivers :)