Bath

When Moma and I set out for Bath, our original plan included the Food and Drink Festival but got a bit sidetracked when we got into town...big shocker right?!  After parking in a huge car park (largest we've seen), we jumped on the city's hop-on/hop-off bus and was so glad we did as we got to see parts of the city we would never have found walking around on our own.

This is a hanging loo (black box) our guide pointed out to us.  During the Victorian Era it became very en vogue to have a loo in your home.  As most of the houses were not able to be retro-fitted at the time, the solution was the hanging loo.  Would definitely have to have a lot of confidence in your builder to step out to this loo!

Of course no trip to Bath would be complete without a visit to the Roman Baths.  The person that came up with the audio tours was a true genious as they come in so handy when you're in really crowded places!  We easily spent 2 hours wandering through the baths and checking out everything...good thing we grabbed a pasty (traditional and cheese/onion) before the tour!  As soon as you started heading down the stairs, you could feel the heat increases...and the hair started curling up (gotta love humidity).  At first we thought the water was bubbling because it was so hot, but our handy dandy audio guide quickly informed us it was the gases in the water causing the bubbles.  We later proved to be the rebels we are and put our hand in the water...it was rather toasty warm.
                                               

The room to the left was the hottest room in the spa.  The floor placed on top of the tile stacks in the photo and heated from below...it was so hot, you had to wear sandals to keep your feet from burning.  The pic on the right is of the original spa entrance.  At the end of the tour, we had a glass of spa mineral water for its healing powers...not a fan of hot water but "when in Rome".

All throughout town were decorative lions as part of the "Pride in our City" program to raise funds for various charities and "bring a smile to residents and visitors".  Here are just a few we saw while wandering around town.