Russell and Jaci in Bath

Originally, Russell and I had planned to go to Bath together, so when I went with Nicole, I was also scouting for things to do with Russell. The first part of the day was mostly an echo of what Nicole and I had done the previous Tuesday.

First, we went to the Roman Baths. I thought I had done a fairly thorough tour on my first trip, but I discovered new things the second trip as well. One notable example was a small case Nicole and I had missed with gemstones in it. The curators aren't sure whether the stones were themselves offerings to the goddess, if they had come out of jewelry that had been thrown to the goddess, or if they had fallen out of rings when people were using the baths. There was a pile of around thirty or fourty of the gems, however, and each one had a unique carving on the top. Some had zodiac signs, others had animals or sceneries. Keep in mind that these were modest sized gems. They wouldn't call attention to themselves if they were set in a modern woman's ring - the etchings were tiny. Apparently, the Romans set these stones in rings and used them for wax seals on correspondence. I had seen this sort of thing before, but the rings were much larger and the seals weren't nearly as fine and detailed. I wish I had a picture to post.

Next, we went for a walk, up the hill to the circus I mentioned before and off to the edge of the downtown area where there was another curved building of note. We wandered back to towards the center of town and saw that the Assembly Rooms were open this time. We ducked in for a look around. I don't know that the rooms would be all that impressive to the average observer. They are large enough for dancing, have pretty chandeliers and attractive wood floors but they are fairly simple in decor. I had read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin not too long ago, though, so it was fun to see one of the places she had been describing. It was fun to envision the story taking place in that particular place.

After lunch, we ventured into a cafe we had spotted earlir, the "Cafe Rouge." This had caught our attention earlier because of a sign out front announcing Strawberry Beer. The novelty was too much to pass up. Russell couldn't bring himself to order one, but he had a sip of mine. It was quite good, but seemed more like a light punch than a beer. I imagine thats the draw.

After a bit more wandering and poking around in shops, we stopped in for a Sally Lunn's Bunn (forgot to take a picture again) and then headed to the main activity of the day: The Thermae Bath. I had looked it up online after hearing about it from our neighbors at Sally Lunn's earlier that week, an it was too tempting to pass up.

There are five levels at the Thermae Bath. The basement has a large amoeba-shaped pool with futuristic looking columns rising out of it to support the floor above (think upside down "Sorry" game pieces). The pool had a light current running through it so if you just floated it would push you around the pool. On one end, there was also another circular pool within the pool that bubbled. The temperature was about bathwater temperature. Not as hot as a hot tub.

The next floor had the dressing rooms, and next came the saunas. The sauna room was the best part. There was a shower in the middle - water rushing straight out of the ceiling and into the grate in the middle of the floor. it was big enough around that four people or so could stand under it at once. Around the shower were four glass cylinders, each with a stone bench curving around the inside whhttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifere you could sit. Each cylinder was its own sauna and could seat about 10 people or five laying down. Each sauna had steam coming from under the benches and from the ceiling and was scented with a different perfume. I wasn't too sure about the scents, but they weren't too bad. There was Frankincense, Lavender, Eucalyptus Mint, and a fourth I can't remember. I avoided Lavender like the plague. Bleh. Each sauna was also a different temperature, ranging from 37C to 50C. There were also cold water showers off to one side for when you were finished.

The next floor was designated for "treatments" (meaning massages, hot stone treatments, etc. that you could add to your package) and had a cafe. Finally, there was a roof pool. It was outdoors and had a beautiful view of Bath and the surrounding hills. This certainly isn't the sort of thing we normally do, but it was well worth it. If you want to see pictures of the Thermae Bath, go to: http://www.thermaebathspa.com