Bath, England (sometimes you have to clarify)

My token scooter mirror pic...

Although I really dislike the cold, I LOVE seeing Autumn leaves somewhere that has seasons (not like Houston where it's 90 degrees one day, then 40 the next, and all the trees and plants freeze and the leaves are all brown).

Not sure what this was, but it said "The Hot Bath", so I thought it had something to do with the Roman Baths...maybe not.

I like bikes with baskets.

They had their Christmas decorations up to, but unfortunately I didn't stay late enough to see the lights turned on.

Bath Abbey

A Flame Thrower outside the Roman Baths?

This was my first siting of these strange costumed people....

Inside the Roman Baths (I really liked photographing these fellows you will see. Very dramatic in their skirts and robes.haha)

Their hats are dramatic too...

The actual hot springs still from Roman times. The rest of the Roman Baths out in the open (from what I understood was all reconstructed, but then again, I stopped listening to my audioguide as I usually do after about 2 explanations).

The River Avon

Just in case you were thinking about diving...I would think the next picture would be more of a deterrent...

See what I mean...

The town had a lot of cute little shops. This Antique Map Store made me think of Dad and is located on the Pulteney Bridge (just in case you want to find it Dad like those houses I didn't get you in Prague located near the Charles Bridge...haha).

Back of the Pulteney Bridge

The Circus which I mistook for the Royal Crescent (see a few pics down and I think you will see why). It is a prime example of Georgian architecture (as is the Crescent), but a tighter circle and with a giant tree in the middle. Not sure the significance, but the tree was really pretty (it was one of 5 things marked on the free map I got of Bath, but then again, until I saw the Crescent, that's what I thoguht this was).

The Royal Crescent-well part of it. I couldn't fit all of it in, but I didn't think it was that amazing...especially with all of the cars parked out front ruining my picture!

This is the tree in the middle of the Circus (the sun decided to come out so I took a picture on my way back!).

Dusk on the River Avon (this is about 3:15 or so...)

Bath Abbey from the opposite side of the River

So there are blue ones too! And they put on a dance performance with sticks. From what I could tell, the red and green ones played the instruments while the blue ones danced and banged sticks? Perhaps I should have asked what the heck it was for.

The Abbey glowing at dusk!

Outdoor markets started appearing when it started getting dark.

So today I had quite a busy day! Despite last night being Bonfire night and fireworks going off until early this morning (thank goodness for my ear plugs!), I got myself out of bed at 6 a.m. (this is beyond early for me these days), to catch the tube to Paddington Station where I could catch the train to Bath. I had bought tickets yesterday and looked up times to see what was possible. Of course there were planned engineering works on the Bakerloo line which would have been my quickest route to Paddington, so I had seen on NationalRail.co.uk to get a train from Victoria to Paddington would take about 17 minutes. Well when I got to Victoria and didn't see a train listed at "8:14", I asked the guy at information and he looked at me like an idiot and in a thick Scottish accent said that I had to get the tube because these trains only run South. He definitely didn't get his job because of his "pleasant" demeanor. Thanks NationalRail.co.uk. Well I got to Paddington none the less, and much earlier than expected (surprise..haha) and the 8:12 train was delayed a bit, so I thought I'd be doing well to catch that one instead of the 9:12 I was planning on. I got on the train, and it left about 8:30. Now the journey is supposed to be about an hour and a half, but for some reason, this train kept getting delayed, so we were literally moving so slow that I could walk along side it faster! We finally got there just before 11-right when the 9:12 train was supposed to get there (not sure if it was delayed as much too)!

Another unfortunate thing was the weather. Now I know I shouldn't have trusted the BBC weather report, but I did, and got rained on and very cloudy skies all day. The cloudy skies made the temperature freezing as well! I was wearing tights under my jeans, knee socks, boots, two shirts, a jacket, scarf, and gloves, and was still freezing! At least the rain only lasted for about ten minutes though, or I would have been much colder.

The city overall was very nice. The Baths were a bit dissapointing as much of what you get to see is reconstructed (do you really think those statues or columns were there in Roman times??no me either). I did miss my opportunity to climb to the top of the Abbey to get an overview of the city as the last tour left at 3:30 and I got there at 3:35. However, the skies were quite cloudy, and you had to survive a 50 minute guided tour before climbing the 212 steps, so maybe it was for the best! My favorite thing by far was walking along the River Avon. It was so beautiful-especially with all of the trees chaning color! Despite all my hiccups on the journey, it was a good trip to a new city!