On July 18, Claire and Faith and I took the train down to Bath. I talked a lot about Bath here and here and here and here (I really love Bath!) when we visited it in 2010, so this time I'll mostly let the photos speak for themselves. :)
We started the morning off by dropping our bags off at the Hilton Bath City (just about the ugliest exterior of any building in Bath; there is talk of a facade renovation in 2013) and having coffee and traditional Bath buns at the magnificent Pump Room.
Then we did the very interesting tour of the Roman Baths, which is connected to the Pump Room.
The city of Bath was called "Aquae Sulis" in Roman times.
Then we popped across the quad into Bath Abbey.
My Reformed heart tends to prefer abbeys that are in ruins, I must confess, perhaps because I can worship God better with less manmade distractions. (I'll show you some photos of my very favorite abbey later this week.)
But I have to say that Bath is a glorious abbey, and the ceiling, especially, is a site to behold.
After the Abbey, we headed up to The Jane Austen Centre to look around the museum and gift shop and have tea in the Regency Tea Room, which is on the top floor.
Persuasion remains my favorite Austen novel. What is yours?
After a lovely tea, we headed up in the rain to peek at the Circus and the Royal Crescent. John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger are to Bath as Christopher Wren is to London. :)
Then we did a bit of shopping. Bath is such a lovely city ... compact, chic, and walkable. You can easily hit the main sites in one day, although I'd tack on another day if possible just to wander the shops. :)
But we just had the one day this time around, and it was perfect.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.