Ok, Florida is The Sunshine State and Seattle has Liquid Sunshine, but we have never heard of Fossilized Sunshine. Well on an absolutely gorgeous day, like today, in Bath England you would appreciate the term!

For as far as the eye can see the facade of every building in the city center is made of limestone from a local quarry. It looks like they were all painted with the same paint, painter & brush, but they are not!


This morning after a very restful night we were off. Since our host Lucy, is a Buddhist and doesn't drink any caffeine, we were off in search of a hot cup of Joe. We came across Pret for coffee and a "savory" which was tomato & cheddar cheese, in warmed puff pastry, Yummm...;)

Then to a first stop which we highly recommend to anyone going to Bath. The free, absolutely free & NO Tipping, 2-hour guided city tour. This is the Mayors Tour with local tour guides who really know there stuff.


We saw the Royal Crescent,


followed by "The Circus". It's smaller than the Royal Crescent but when you look at an areal view it joins with the Crescent to make, what looks like, a key.


It also has some very intricate carvings, these are of a bee hive & arrow with quiver, into that same local limestone.


Another great spot was this Weir built in the Avon River. We'll see more of the Avon while in Stratford, but the Weir was made as early flood control. This spot was recently used in the filming of the movie version of "Les Miserables". Here, Russel Crow's character jumps into the water. Oops, if you haven't seen it we ruined it for you, not really.

After 2+ hours of walking the City Center Streets, we were feeling a bit "peckish". Time for some Pub Grub! An English BLT, the bacon is sliced like ham, and a 1/2 pint of Bath's Best. We found an almost unheard of here, quiet pub.


Off to the Bath Abbey. With an origin dating back to 676AD this place has seen a bit of everything. Collapse, disrepair, flood, famine, "the Black Death"- plague, the Nazi Blitz, and as our tour guide had said earlier, "some very naughty stuff". That part was left to our imagination, so we'll leave it to yours.


Its masterpiece is this stained glass east window. In April 1942 it was blown out in the Blitz. Thousands of pieces of glass were collected, hidden, and preserved until after the war. It took until 1955 to fully repair the window of which 60% is original.


Our final stop on the Bath list was, The Spa. It dates back as a healing spring as early as 836BC! Enter the Romans who created a temple around the heated spring in 60-70AD.


These recovered coins were gifts to the gods, found in the Springs, for good health.


This is one of 3 warm springs in England and guess what, all three are in Bath. At the end of the Roman Empire, the temple & Bath collapsed.

In 1590 Queen Elizabeth granted a charter basically saying the waters from the spring should be available to the public. But, it wasn't until Queen Anne's multiple visits, looking for a cure for Gout, did it's popularity rise. After that, the rich & famous flocked to Bath, not only to be cured, but to be seen.

Today the ancient Roman baths are enjoyed, and viewed by everyone with £12, that gets you all the free spring water you can stomach. If you want to soak in the "healing waters", that will set you back £40, about $50+ USD.


With huge crowds, tourists, locals, and probably a pick pocket or two, Security is everywhere. At the Spa entrance this Retired Royal Marine, who looks vaguely similar to a certain dock master, stands his watch honorably. OOH-RAH!

Tomorrow we are off to Portsmouth.

Fair Winds & Quiet Anchorages,
Wendy & Jeff
PS:
1. Tomorrow before leaving we ship back home 8.2 pounds of souvenirs and clothes that, in the last three weeks, we haven't used.
2. Since arriving we have walked 87 miles!