Sunday, September 3, 2017

Bath and the Avon Gorge Railway

Visiting Bath was next on our agenda. Using Google, we located a Park and Ride close to us.  We soon found out that the journey to the Park and Ride was adventure in itself.  We found ourselves on a very narrow road, really not more than a track in some places. That being said, the scenery was gorgeous.


Bath is another of the UK's Roman influenced cities.  We found out that if the town or city has cester or chester in the name, it means that the Romans settled there. Bath is the exception because of the restorative waters of the baths. As part of the admission fee, there was a free guided tour of the Baths.  We even had our own personal guide for most of the tour.



Until the 70s, the Baths  were open to the public.
Apparently, students from the university would
sneak in at night and swim. One morning the
staff noticed that the statue of Julius Caesar 
was missing. After an intensive search, someone
decided to look in the Baths.  They found Caesar in
the pool, installed security and now no one can swim in
the Baths.


This is the pool where the statue of Julius Caesar was found.



While taking these pictures, the characters are holographic very
similar to what you would see in the Haunted Mansion at Disney
World.  The figures actually move and perform as they would
have when the Baths were originally opened. It was amazing!


















After visiting the Baths, we wandered through the town centre. I needed a new very small purse to carry for traveling and sight seeing.  My favorite store is Primark.  The only comparison I can make is to Kohl's, but much larger.  I found exactly what I wanted. We walked through little alleys and into shopping malls. The architecture in Bath is beautiful. We found the charity shops and, of course, had to look. On our way back to the bus stop to catch our bus back to the carpark, we heard a very talented musician named Lawrence Gratton. We enjoyed his music so much, we bought his cd!






























On our way to the garden center one day, we saw the sign for the Avon Valley Railway.  We did a little research and discovered that pre-World War II era steam trains were still in operation. We spent one morning riding a steam train from Bitton Station to Oldland Station, and Avon Riverside Station and back to Bitton Station.  It was so much fun.  The cars were reminiscent of the ways trains looked in the early to mid 20th century. We even had cake and coffee in an old railroad car at Bitton Station to complete our journey.













































Now it's off to Axmouth for a long weekend with a black lab named Murphy!









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