Once we arrived in Bath, we had precious little time to rest as we had scheduled a 2:00 tour of the famous Roman baths. (If you plan to visit Bath, book that ticket early — though we scheduled a month in advance, the weekend time slots were limited or sold out.)

Built in 60-70 AD, they were the center of Roman social gathering and worship for centuries. After the fall of the Roman Empire, they fell into disuse and ultimately abandoned and built over. They were unearthed and restored for viewing after their rediscovery in 1880. Super interesting tour.

Link to more info on the Roman baths.

The following day was fabulous, thanks to a well-traveled neighbor who recommended Liz Pairman as a personal tour guide. She came through with flying colors.

We walked through Bath in the morning, then headed to Salisbury to learn about their gorgeous cathedral, see an original (and the best preserved) Magna Carta, then onto ancient Stonehenge and a tour at dusk.

Bath is charming and addictive. It feels like a country village one moment and a bustling urban center the next. The absolutely perfect location to unwind from our trek.

Pictures

Bath Abbey. Check out all the windows — 80% of the wall is glass — and the flying buttresses — which allowed the walls to be thinner and higher so the building could be closer to heaven.

With Liz overlooking Pulteney Bridge - modeled after bridge architecture in Florence - notable for its street and shops upon it (second photo below)

And many more architectural sitings like the Royal Crescent Hotel and apartments, and ballroom building (site of many of the Jayne Austin stories).

Then, a quick lunch and off to Salisbury for the village and cathedral. Again - breathtaking- a 410 foot spire which can be seen for miles.

Check out this magnificent reflective water feature added some 20 years ago. Despite four separate run off spouts the surface remains perfectly still like a sheet of glass to reflect all the window image angles.

And to wrap up the day - a late evening visit to ancient Stonehenge. We splurged a bit to be part of the group that can be escorted into the actual stones (they’ve had to do that in light of people fouling stones, climbing on them, and trampling the grass.) It is nothing short of amazing to see this ancient structure. The “how” it was done appears to be understood; the “why” continues to mystify, although the alignment to the winter and summer solstices are clearly evident.

Recovery Days (bg)

P.S. Signs