Our second destination after the Stonehenge was Roman Bath, a Georgian city some 1 hour drive from Avebury. As our tour bus was climbing uphill on a small and winding road towards the Georgian city, the landscape changes from vast farmland to a valley between small hills. The view was so mesmerizing and I will not be bored enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way.

Direction:

View Larger Map

After roughly an hour drive, we finally arrived at the well known beautiful Georgian city!









As our tour manager was briefing us about the places of interests around the town, here is just a short history about the Roman Bath to share with you guys too. The elegant Georgian city of Bath was originally a Roman settlement built around some hot springs. These springs, which can still be seen today forming a surreal mist over the ancient stones, probably first reached the earth's surface over a million years ago. When the Romans discovered the therapeutic value of the water, they built their famous baths - now one of Britain's finest remaining Roman monuments. Once the Romans left, it was not until the t8th Century that the value of the springs was rediscovered and Bath became not only a healing centre, but also the centre of 18th Century style, etiquette and fashion.

The Roman Baths:


In 1880, sewer diggers unearthed the remains of the original Roman Baths. Victorian architects added to what was there - making the whole complex a fascinating vision of Roman life - from a Victorian's point of view. You will also find an interesting display of genuine Roman articles.








Miniature model of the original Bath's building structure.




Ancient Roman Sun god sculpture unearthed from the ruin.




Ancient drainage system in the bath flowing out to the river.


The cold water bath pool.


Bath Abbey:


The Bath Abbey was built in 1499 on the site of a 7th Century cathedral - some of which was incorporated into the new building. The abbey was built by Bishop Oliver, who was inspired to build by a vision of angels climbing up to heaven - these can be seen as sculptures on the front of the building. The Heritage Vaults (in the Abbey basement) provides a fascinating history of the abbey.



It was a really rushing tour to Bath, we were only given 2 hours to explore around the town. We left with no choice but to cut short of the places of interest that we planned to visit. Straight after the Roman Bath, we headed straight to the Circus to snap a picture of it. As we walked towards the Circus, we lost our way as the buildings inside the town was built so closed to each other thus making it extremely disorientating. Navigation in the town was a nightmare.



So to not wasting any time more as the sky was turning dark covered with dark clouds, I quickly seek help from a local madam who was walking home too. We were so lucky that the lady was going back somewhere near to the Circus too, so she invited us to walk together with her and she will point us to the Circus when we get close to it.

Through a short conversation with the old lady, she was very friendly and helpful. I was really lucky throughout my travel in UK as most of the people I asked for help were extremely helpful and friendly, excellent British other than the bad experience I had when clearing the immigration custom :).

After waiving good bye to the kind old lady, my first glance of the Circus:


Freemason's secret signs can be found all around the Georgian city as seen in picture below - the Key sign. Other signs like the moon, triangle and many more!


As it started to rain short after we arrived at the Circus, we quickly rush back to the nearby restaurant to hide from the rain. As my stomach was complaining, we took a quick lunch in the restaurant while waiting for the rain to stop. We boarded our return bus back to London around 4:30pm. As it was almost the end of autumn season, the sky turned so dark after 5pm. As it was all dark outside, I slept all my way back to London :p. We arrived at London downtown around 7:30pm and quickly went for a quick dinner at Subway before catching our return bus to Nottingham which is another 3 hours of nightmare bus ride. I was finally home at 12am that night =_="