Bath

Not pronounced like we normally would say it, it's actually pronounced Baahth. Just so you know. And because it's one of the only pieces of useless trivia I have.

So, we arranged to take the train there. The journey took us through part of SE Wales, which is gorgeous, and then East after we switched trains at Newport. A reasonably quick journey, uneventful (which we give thanks for these days!), although because their ticket-printing machine was having issues, we were about 20 seconds away from missing our train.

So, one of the first things we saw in Bath was a Nepalese restaurant, which was immediately chosen as our late lunch location. However, we had things to see first! We made our way to the Roman Baths, and it was there that we realized the schoolkids from England have this week off. OMG. Teenagers and kids are the same no matter which country or culture. Oh-ha! However, the Baths were very cool, lots of history (it was actually a site of worship as well as healing) and artifacts that had been recovered. To be honest, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Just know that the complex was huge, and just seemed to go on and on! And the heating system was ingenious! Under the floor, there were ducts that would carry the hot air from the fires (also underground!) into the next room's floor, and also up the walls. Seeing these ducts, we realized that we had also seen them in private homes in Ephesus! That was what struck me the most, how similar the Roman buildings in England are to those in Turkey, even though the two are thousands of miles apart!

The cathedral was awesome as well, really lovely and interesting to look at. Covering all the wall surfaces and much of the floor were plaques and memorials to loved ones. And the ceiling was crazy! You'll see in the pictures...

Then lunch time. Mmmm. So Nepalese food is kind of a cross between Indian and Chinese. Quite lovely and delicious. We ordered popadams, then pork dishes with sides of rice, a chickpea and potato dish, chutney, and lentil-based soups. The spices made it really lovely, and our waiter was great. There was a French family dining at the same time, and they had a small girl, maybe one year old? The waiter played with her for awhile, then scooped her up and took her around the restaurant, showing her all the cool sights there. He later told the parents his own son, who is 3 1/2, is still in Nepal with his wife, and he misses him very much. He was also quite excited that we were from America, and immediately wanted to discuss politics, like so many other people we meet.

We then hiked up to the Royal Crescent, which was a relaxing way to sit, digest, and enjoy the sunshine. On the way back, we got lost, and again, thank goodness Chris was there. I would have freaked.

Our train was delayed 8 min, and while we giggled that they'd even announce that (after our 3 hour delay it seems a bit much to apologize for an 8 minute delay...), we did find that it meant we missed our connecting train, although there ended up being another in 30 minutes, so it didn't really matter. All in all, a really lovely day!