Bath: Lots and Lots of Water

I arrived in Bath via bus yesterday, at about 13:00, and of course it was raining. After a little searching I finally found the YMCA where I am staying, which is surprisingly comfortable and well-furnished in many respects as well as being well-located. So I dropped off my stuff, shook out some of the rain, and headed off for some food and some rainy exploring. My wanderings eventually took me over to the Jane Austen Centre, which is a must for all fans. For non-fans or casually interested, don't even bother. There was no much substance beyond an in-depth analysis of Austen's psychological state during her stay in Bath, and the effects this had on her writings, particularly Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. But in any case, it had a deep impression on me, so much so that I fell in love with her wit and genius all over again. I was once again discovering an author I loved and admired. By the end of the short exhibit, I had the strongest desire to reread Persuasion, and luckily the gift shop sold a relatively inexpensive copy, which I have been enjoying ever since. I am about 35 pages in, and the characters have already mentioned places in Bath which I have now personally seen, which adds a whole new dimension to one of her greatest novels.

After that, the pouring rain and the fact that it was Sunday and most shops and sights were closed effectively defeated any further attempts to explore Bath, so I withdrew to the peace of the Bath YMCA to enjoy a long night with Anne Elliot and Jane Austen. I cannot imagine a better way to spend a rainy Sunday.

This morning I was up early and managed to see the Roman Baths and Museum, the Pump Room, the Costume Museum and the Assembly Rooms, the Bath Abbey, and did a two-hour walking tour of Bath's better sights (in the rain, after it had been nice all day, of course). The Roman Baths were surprisingly interesting, and many of the area was impressively intact. I learned perhaps more than I wanted to know about Roman lifestyle and bathing habits, but the artifacts and the actual hot springs were historically appealing. And the hot springs were picturesque, which is always a plus. I can see why the Baths are the biggest attraction here. Just like 2,000 years ago, the city of Bath is a nice spa resort and place to relax. The only difference between now and then is that there are more cars, and they charge you an arm and a leg to sit in very hot water with supposed healing powers, whereas in Roman times you had to have only one arm and one leg to begin with (which you can take one of two ways: either you were filthy rich, or you were in need of some healing in order to come here).

Attached to the Roman Baths was the Pump Room, which was a very upscale place to see and be seen in Jane Austen's Bath. When I walked in, I was greeted by the sweet tinkling of expensive dishes, quiet conversation, and the most amazing string quartet I have ever heard. I could not help but to feel out of place in this posh cafe, and I certainly felt a small portion of Jane Austen's aversion to its wealthy attractions. But like a good tourist, I tried the renowned water from the healing hot springs, and was disappointed to find that it wasn't as gross as I was told to expect. For anyone who has tasted well water, it is essentially the same, except for the fact that instead of freezing cold it was as warm as bath water. For that, yuck. But that was its biggest fault. And I can't say that I felt miraculously healed from all of my long traveling aches either.

The Costume Museum was supposed to be this amazing examination of the history of fashion from the last 400 years, but I was sorry to learn that most of the extensive exhibit was closed for some reason. So the most I got to see was about 1800 to the present. It was not really anything new, although it was interesting to see the fancy dresses up close, and I was all for it until the exhibit reached roughly the 1970's. After that, I looked at the clothes and was shocked to see such dissimilarity with what was popular in the U.S. at the same time. Sure, they had a pair of flare jeans, but everything else did not look familiar. The clothes from the 80's and 90's did not really capture the rock and roll culture, the big hair, or many of the embarassing clothes from my youth. In comparison to what I expected, the exhibit was rather tame. This led me to wonder whether those decades in England were significantly different from our experiences in the U.S....

The walking tour was with one of the Mayor's Honorary Guides, and I think he was also one of the oldest men in Bath. But his commentary of the Crescent and the Circus were interesting, if not a little hard to hear. The biggest downfall of the excursion was that it was rainy and windy the whole time, which seems to be the story of the season for Bath (compared to London, which was sunny and beautiful). I would not have gone trapsing all over Bath otherwise, so in this sense, it was a good excuse. I even bought a couple books at the Guildhall Market as a result!!

Finally, the Bath Abbey had amazing stained glass, perhaps the best I have seen beyond the Chagall windows in Reims in France, and it was a welcome relief from the rain and wind. The sculpture on the facade was also very interesting; on both sides of the portal were sculptures of angels climbing a ladder back and forth between heaven and earth. This subject was truly unique, and so memorable in its playful depictions (angels returned to earth by climbing face-first down the ladder...just picture that and try not to laugh!)

Tomorrow I am taking a day-trip to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock, and Castle Combe with a tourguide service. Hopefully the weather will cooperate better than my last tour in Normandy, and the weather in Bath thusfar!!