Visiting Bath

Sam’s first mistake was agreeing to drop me to the airport without first checking what time my flight was at. It was at 6:30am. Bleary eyed we set off for the airport at 4:20am with tent, camping mat and sleeping bag in tow, ready for the weekend. With no drama checking in or getting through security I met up with Caleb Teo to continue our journey to visit Daniel Paul who was doing some research at the University of Bath for the summer.

Having flown to Bristol we took the bus to Bath where we were greeted by the familiar face of Daniel and he brought us to his accommodation. Fortunately, all his flatmates had returned home so we had the run of the place. As Daniel had to go to the university, Caleb and I were left to our own devices. We walked along the tow path of the River Avon, reminiscing of Wesley and discussing our future endeavours, until we stumbled upon the beautiful Georgian architecture that today makes up most of this World Heritage Site.

After admiring the architecture sufficiently we explored Bath Cathedral before heading to the Roman Baths, the birthplace of Bath. Although at face value the baths appeared to be quite expensive it was definitely worthwhile. They have an extremely comprehensive audio guide with 4 points of view; straight factual guide, the view of a roman at the time, the view of an archaeologist and insights from American author Bill Bryson. We easily spent over two hours there learning all about the original city of Aquasulis and life at the baths. Although touching the water was not allowed, just by putting your hand over it you could feel how warm it was. I enjoyed seeing all the original aspects of the baths, including the place where the water rises and also the stacks that the floor would have sat on to be headed by hot air from beneath. At the end of the tour you have the opportunity to taste the water. As novel an experience this was, I wouldn’t recommend drinking too much of it as it tastes pretty awful.

Continuing in the educational theme, we then decided to go on a two hour walking tour of the city. We went on a Mayor of Bath tour which are free tours run by local guides who have a passion for the area. I cannot recommend this highly enough. In the end our tour went on for over two and a half hours and I was sorry it ended! The highlights were the royal crescent, the circle which is essentially a mini colosseum with the three tiers of columns (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian) in the same order, learning that the Georgian Bath is 20-25ft higher than the Roman Bath due to the flooding of the river Avon, the Garden in which Jane Austen wrote many of her books and the longest bridge with continuously running shops on both sides, to name but a few. The energy that the guide brought to the tour was just phenomenal.

By the evening we were well and truly tired and began the small matter of dinner. Stopping in Lidl to purchase the necessary ingredients we conjured a magnificent feast of homemade burgers, fried eggs, chips (regular and sweat potatoe), bacon, onions, peppers, carrots and salad all for a measly £8. An evening of cards ensued before settling down for the night.

On Friday Daniel again had to go to the university so Caleb and I went to a park to throw a Frisbee before wandering around the botanical gardens. Again, these are a free amenity. I had a wonderful two days with my best friends from school in this beautiful city but alas this brings the end of my Bath trip as I caught the train to Cardiff to play Tour 2 (Frisbee tournament) with the Irish u24 team. If you enjoyed this, you can read about the Frisbee tournament in the sports section here. You can view all of the photos here too!