Splish splash, I was taking a bath!  If you are a Gen X, Y, Z or whatever, you probably don’t have a clue about that reference.  The song, Splish Splash was even before my time!  The story about Bobby Darin’s novelty record is funny, though.  Back in 1958, DJ Murray Kaufman bet that Darin couldn’t write a song that began with the that first sentence (above), as suggested by Murray’s mother, Jean Kaufman.  Darin won that bet, so the song was credited to Darin and “Jean Murray,” (a combination of their names) to avoid any hint of payola.  The song was a big hit.

But I digress.  This post is about Bath, the lovely city in Somerset, England, near the southern edge of the Cotswolds, named for its Roman-built baths.

The baths are THE main attraction, so our group toured the complex.  We learned that before the Romans invaded in 43 AD, the hot water spring was a sacred place of worship for the local people.  The Romans came in and harnessed the hot water to supply a new bath house.  They built a temple and dedicated it to a new goddess, Sulis Minerva.  People visited the baths, Sacred Spring, and temple from around the Roman world. 

The 114-degree (Fahrenheit) water in the spring bubbles up into the King’s Bath, which was built in the 12^th century.  Beneath the King’s Bath is a reservoir built by Roman engineers who used the hot water to supply the baths.  Studies have shown that the “magical waters” are full of minerals and have antibiotic properties.

The baths have quite a history.  They were designed for public bathing and were used until the end of the Roman rule in Britain in the 5^th century.  A century later, they were in ruins and then redeveloped several times after that.  Today, it is a huge tourist attraction with a museum that houses artefacts from the Roman period, including objects that were thrown into the Sacred Spring as offerings to the goddess.

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Following our visit to the baths, we had time on our own to explore this city of around 94,000 people before joining a local guide for a walking tour.  We enjoyed spending our free time seeing the picturesque Pulteney Bridge that crosses over the River Avon.  Built in 1774, it has shops and a restaurant across its span.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site city, Bath is also known for Bath Abbey, founded in the 7^th century and rebuilt in the 12^th and 16^th centuries.  We didn’t see the interior; however, the exterior is quite a centerpiece of the town, along with the baths. 

Our walking tour covered the highlights of Bath, most notably the Royal Crescent, a row of 30 terraced houses.  Completed in the same year as the Pulteney Bridge, it is considered one of the greatest examples of Georgian architecture in the United Kingdom.  The 500-foot-long crescent has been home to many rich and famous people, and it has appeared in several films.

Here are more scenes around Bath:

Re: The robe. Are you kidding me??? Love the shirt!

Next up:  UNITED KINGDOM #19: BREATHTAKING BLENHEIM PALACE