Driving Miss Karen

A blog about our travel

Roman and Victorian Bath

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Bath has a long history like most of the UK. It is doubly famous for the Roman baths built here and because Jane Austen lived there and formed a lot of her story ideas in Bath. It is a little large for our liking but we enjoyed our time there. Since we had visited before, it was a chance to relax. We also daytripped to Cardiff Wales to see Cardiff castle and eat Welsh Rarebit

This is why Bath is Bath. The hot springs that exist made it a natural choice for a Roman bath complex. The lower stuff is ancient. The upper stuff is 1800s. They now have people in Roman costumes in character walking around (like those in the back). They are awesome and will not break character but answer as their Roman counterparts would
The baths were abandoned in the 5th century AD and re-excavated in the 1800s
The plumbing and baths are Roman but the superstructure is much more recent
Jane Austen and Hot Baths are two of Karen’s favorite things
I’ve had rarebit before but not in Wales. It’s basically cheesy toast but it’s really good, The cheese usually has Ale in it
Cardiff castle is massive. This is just the inner keep. The keep is from the 1100s
The palace part of Cardiff castle was re-done in the 1800s to make a comfortable living space for the Marquess of Bute
Wales is close to Bath so we drove into Cardiff. The castle is weird since you are surrounded by a modern city just outside the walls
Working blacksmith. Wish we could have bought some stuff
Traditional thatched cottage. Very interesting to see the construction details
We visited St. Fagan’s National Museum of History where they recover and restore bits of Welsh life from the 1700s-1900s. Surprisingly fun and very well operated. They had old schoolhouses, worker apartments, the last stone mill in Wales and lots of other things. The volunteers were the best part. So knowledgeable and polite.
The Jane Austen festival was occurring in Bath so lots of people in really cool period dress just wandering the street
Had our first Nepalese food since this restaurant was literally next door.
I don’t recall the name of this dish but I remember it was delicious and we ate every bit of it.

Jose

AKA Alfred

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2 Responses

  1. Karen Diaz says:
    October 21, 2022 at 2:41 am

    Bath was so nice! 💖