Bath

Yesterday, we all travelled to Bath for the most hands-on history lesson imaginable. We did make one stop along the way at Prior Park. It was commissioned by Ralph Allan, one of the wealthiest and most benevolent men of the eighteenth century. He wanted to look upon the city of Bath from his home, and he wanted Bath to look upon him. The estate seems to stand on a very long slope with the estate at the top and lakes at the bottom. In between, one of only three existing Palladian bridges breaks the landscape. This was definitely my most favorite home/estate/grounds, and it's the one I would wish to live on out of those we've visited. My name was carved into one of the trees there, so I guess it was meant to be.

Once in Bath, we tried to make a reservation for tea in the Pump Room, but they were at capacity, so we continued to the Roman Baths. I thought they would be bigger or more cavernous, but they were actually fairly intimate. It was mind boggling to think of how many people (and how many famous thinkers, politicians, etc) had walked the very stones I walked and socialized in the rooms where I spoke with my friends. The baths exist because of some hot springs, and visitors went to them for both medicinal and social purposes. The Baths and the Pump Room, where people drank the spring water, were places to see and be seen. The water was also thought to hold a healing property, so people came from far and wide to dip into and drink it. The main bath (the "King's Bath") once had a roof overhead at which point we can imagine clear water beneath. Now, the water has a green color to it and it's murky. They don't treat it, so it would be ill advised to drink or touch it. In fact, the steps had some really sick algae growing on it that made me a little bit sick. Good thing they swam in cleaner stuff!

After the Roman Baths, we started towards the Jane Austen Centre. It was raining pretty hard, and we heard from other members of our group that it was less about her life and more about the movies, so we went on to the Fashion Museum at Bath. The famous white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe is there among outfits from each time period in order. It was really fascinating, even though high fashion isn't normally my first interest.

Along the way around town, we wound through many of the streets from Jane Austen's novels. She set both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey in Bath (not the entire novel either time, but much of both) and, having read both of them for my class, it meant something entirely new to traverse her old stomping grounds. We even saw her house at #4 Sidney Place although we couldn't enter. It's inhabited even today, and (get this) it's a room for university students. On our bus ride someone said: "can you imagine trying to compose a paper in there with that kind of pressure?"

Today, Bethany and I went on a little adventure to find a new power cord for her computer. Hers melted by some sour twist of fate, so we did finally find it. We rode the local bus, and it was neat to see a new area. We ran into this old lady who was looking for the cancer hospital. She was almost in tears because she couldn't find it and no one knew where it was. It broke my heart, so I asked some people in one of the stores who gave directions and we were able to get her there. Whew! I hope she made it. Other than that, today was a recovery day including tea and reading (of course). Tomorrow I will take a tour of the Medieval Library and Merton, and I'm excited about that! Also, some friends and I may go punting since we didn't do it this weekend.