After cleaning up the caravan, dropping off a thank-you card (and the dirty linen) at Meredith’s aunt, and saying hello and goodbye to other members of Meredith’s clan, we said a sad farewell to Wales, and were off on the road to Bath. This proved a bit of a shock to the system after the B roads and country lanes we’d been driving – Bath is a much bigger, bustlier, twistier city, and it took us some time to locate a supermarket, and even more time to get back to and into the car-park,
But we eventually made it, and picked up lunch and essentials, and then headed off to find somewhere green to eat it, which restored our spirits. We then ventured back into Bath, where we were met with a series of minor setbacks.
Firstly, we attempted to go to the Assembly Rooms, but we discovered that they were booked out for an event, and would be booked out tomorrow as well; we could go into the Octagon, but not any other rooms. So we looked at the sedan chairs and Bath chairs on display, and at the big chandelier… and decided against going down to the Fashion Museum.
Next, we went to the Jane Austen Center, where the staff are dressed up in something like period costume, which went a bit oddly with some hair-styles. The room where you waited for a tour was hot and stuffy, the talk mostly covered material I either knew or could have found on Wikipedia (and I am no great Jane Austen buff), and the displays themselves was quite slight; but Margie enjoyed herself, so it might be a case of horses for courses.
We then had a look at some of the slightly disorienting but impressive Bath architecture: it kept calling to mind a computer-game level, in that textures and structures seemed to be repeated incessantly. We then headed back in the direction of the car… at which point Meredith revealed that she was not completely sure the address we should be headed to. This lead to me walking with iPad in hand, looking for wi-fi hotspots and trying to match them with businesses. We soon found a coffee-shop (opposite the Pump Rooms), and C & I drank revitalizing juice while the two drivers examined maps and conspired.
Then it was off to the hostel to dump our gear, fluff about, and went back into town for the Roman Baths. Because it was a little later, most of the shops had closed, and the crowds had dispersed; in some ways, this is my preferred time to wander about these big cities, because you’re not so worried about being in the way of people who are trying to get things done. (It’s also a bit cooler.) When we got to the Baths, there was a bit of sticker shock – after the Jane Austen experience, we were wary about spending about $25NZD on something that might be rubbish. But I’m glad we took the chance, because it was actually very cool.
There was an audio-guide (with some comments by Bill Bryson), which supplemented the quite sparse signs with lots of detail. There were lots of aspects of Roman life covered, with a variety of tools – for example, they had some of the stonework up on the wall, and faded in and out a projection of what was missing, so you could see what was left, and what would have been there. And they showed how bricks were made, and how they made pewter objects, and how the They also projected actors as Romans going about their daily lives, translated gravestones showing how people came from all over the Empire to visit Bath, and the curses written on sheets of lead saying things like, “May Minerva cause the person who stole my cloak to die horribly.” Seeing the multiple levels, the Georgian buildings vs. the modern alterations, with the Roman baths below and the medieval cathedral soaring up behind… that was really cool.
We left fairly late, and were worried whether we’d find anything to eat; luckily, the place we got wi-fi at doesn’t turn off their wi-fi after they close, so we were able to find out that there was a late-opening Sainsbury; and then we took our spoils back to the hostel to microwave and devour. Then we retreated to our single rooms, aiming to get away nice and early…
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