After unloading the bike on the front footpath (it’s too far to carry the top-box from the rear parking bay) and getting a bit sorted, we walked in the wrong direction to go see the Roman Baths for about 15 minutes before I realised my mistake – silly me 🙂 We walked back to our B&B and then grabbed a bus for the quick ride into the centre of Bath, and made our way to the Roman Baths.
I’ve been keen to see the Roman Baths here in Bath for ages. Back in grade 2 primary school I’d been given a picture book on Ancient Rome and that had painted a fascinating picture. Trips to England in 2010 and 2012 didn’t lend themselves to a quick visit to Bath – having the motorbike makes it much easier to get around to places you really want to go to …
After the doormen at the Roman Baths laughed at my English Heritage discount admission card and we’d paid our full 14 quid each to get our entry ticket and hand-held audio guide to the Baths, we then spent a fascinating 2.5 hours exploring all aspects of the Baths. At 5pm, an hour before closing time, we jumped on to the last guided tour of the baths for the day, and followed James around the site as he explained various aspects and customs associated with the Baths. The engineering and construction of the baths is a technological marvel. One intriguing custom James described was how – when the fifty or sixty common folk using the baths were scraping off the olive oil and dead skin off them in the steam room prior to going through the baths for a swim and just letting the rubbish fall to the floor to be swept away by servants, the oil & dead skin combination from community leaders and celebrities would be collected and sold in the markets as a facial cream …. Yuck !!!
A few photos …
