When in Rome, Fall 2008: Bath (Roman bath & hot springs)

So to put it simply... Bath was just Amazing! The whole city is laid out in the Palladian-style, which is based on Roman Classical... that means columns and arches everywhere, all made out of the same kind of quarried or mined stone (travertine maybe?). The place looks very reminiscent of an Ancient Roman city because the Romans built a city here with a Bath complex (hence the name of the city: Bath), and the city has followed suit of the Romans and built with the same stone and a similar style for virtually all of their buildings. After arriving we checked into our hostel (YMCA) and ate at a pub where I had my best meal for the whole time I was in England: beef in madras curry sauce with saffron rice. Then we went on the city bus tour and saw all the amazing sites. There is a beautiful bridge (Pulteney Bridge) over a river which drops down several steps after passing the river... a beautiful site. Also, we saw The Royal Crescent and The Circus, both of which I learned about in my history of architecture class. They are magnificent Palladian-style buildings that John-Wood the Elder and his son built (they were responsible for bringing the Palladian style to Bath). The icing on the cake for my trip to Bath had to be my visit to the Roman Bath of Aqua Sulius museum. When the Romans conquered Britain, they discovered a natural hot springs and built a bathing complex and temple to the goddess of water (Sulius) over the springs (because to the Romans she was obviously the reason why this miracle of hot water coming out of the Earth existed), hence Aqua Sulius. The dominant feature of a pediment on one of the temple facades is the symbol of the city: the Head of Gorgon (a Celtic sun god). The museum was filled with Roman history and artifacts found in Bath, so naturally I stayed till closing. I also tasted the water from the spring after it went through the pump room, which was interesting. By the way, the Roman drain for the hot spring is still in function today (even after being buried for over a thousand years), truly a testament to their engineering expertise. That evening Pepe and I arrived in London, where we are now. We leave for France tomorrow. I will write about London later when I have time. Ciao.