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"Bath owes its magnificent Georgian townscape to the bubbling pool of water at the heart of the Roman Baths. The Romans transformed Bath into England's first spa resort and it regained fame as a spa town in the 18th century. At this time the two brilliant John Woods (elder and younger), both architects, designed the city's fine Palladian-style buildings. Many houses bear plaques recording the numerous famous people who have resided here (282)."

Our two day trip to the southeast of England began with Bath. The approach to Bath is very scenic, mostly green rolling hills. The city's streets are also very steep and winding, making Justin's search for parking a fun ride for the two pregnant ladies (his wife and sister-in-law). After a short walk through town from the car park we came to the shops and tourist sites, quite an active area compared with the rest of the city.

The Roman Baths are of course the highlight of the city, although most of the construction dating to Roman times has been reduced to little more than organized piles of rubble. But the layout is the same as when the Romans used it, and the current curators do an excellent job of displaying the ruins with detailed descriptions of their original appearances and uses: everything from the baths themselves to artifacts from the adjacent temple to local tools found on site. Although the baths of Bath are nowhere near as imposing as the baths of Caracalla, they are good to see because, (1) the main bath is still fed by the original spring and water level maintained by the original drain, and (2) how often do you get to see something built by people two millenia ago?

The rest of the time in Bath was spent looking at the Bath Abbey, seeing the Pulteny Bridge, and looking in shops. We also went by the Royal Crescent and the Jane Austen centre.