Bob took me to the train station at Taunton where I caught the 9 a.m. train from Taunton to Bath and arrived in Bath an hour later. The first thing I spotted when I got off the platform was the Tourist Information Center. This place is obviously geared to tourists. I have found with experience that the best value in a place with lots to see is the double decker tour buses. You can buy an all day pass that allows you to get on and off at will, the stops are always at the places I want to see, and they are not all that expensive. I paid six pounds for mine here and they are roughly the same price in London and Edinburgh, the two places I have done that in the past. I picked up a handful of brochures� cause I�m too cheap to spend 3.50 for a guide book and set off to ride the bus around the entire circuit to get my bearings.
Bath is a beautiful small city. Again, the flowers are simply spectacular. I cannot seem to stop talking about them but they are really a sight to behold. Gorgeous, glorious hanging baskets, boxes and planters are simply everyplace they can find to stick one. After my circular tour was completed, I decided the first stop would be the Roman Bath. That was very interesting. They give you one of those recorders that looks like a large cell phone. It�s a self tour, plainly marked with arrows that lead you through the excavation that is still a work in progress. Except for the main pool that is shown on all of the brochures, most of the tour is underground. At each place where artifacts have been displayed, or rooms have been excavated there is a sign with a number on it. You punch the number into your recorder thingy and it tells you what is interesting about that particular stop on the tour. The only complaint I have about the place is that it was very crowded and mostly underground and I am slightly claustrophobic. I found myself hurrying along faster than I wanted too simply because I was finding it difficult to breathe in such a close, crowded place. But that was certainly not the fault of the exhibit.
After I got outside in the blessed fresh air I decided it was time for lunch. Right next door was...ta ta...the Pump Room. Now those of you who are readers of Regency Romances will immediately know what an important place this is to visit. It is now a restaurant, very elegant, with a string trio providing the background music. Lunch was a little pricy but heck, this is my once-in-a-lifetime chance to have lunch there and I wasn�t about to pass it up.
After lunch I hopped back on the tour bus and rode up the hill to the Costume Museum. This place was GREAT! They had actual clothing that had been worn from about 1750 through to the 1980's on display. The sign said that only about one tenth of their actual holdings are on display at any one time. Again you were handed the recorder thingy, and each display was numbered so you got a very good commentary as well as a history lesson in fashion as you went along.
Afterward I visited the Upper Assembly rooms and then hopped on the bus again to visit a Georgian Townhouse in the Royal Crescent that has been restored to the 1780 period, right down to the dishes and pots and pans in the kitchen.
Again I caught the bus and rode back down the hill to the Abbey. That was unfortunately closed to the public due to a funeral being held inside. I was running out of time anyway and I had committed myself to catching the 4:30 train back to Taunton. So I had myself a cuppa and just people watched for the last 20 minutes of my stay. (Actually my feet were killing me).
I could have easily spent a week
