This one will be shorter than Parts One, Two or Three -- promise!
On the final day of our trip, we explored a bit more of Bath, including Bath's Abbey and the Roman Baths, then headed back to London for our flight home the next day with a quick stop along the way.
Day Seven: Bath Abbey, Roman Baths and Avebury
Here is Bath Abbey. Well, not the one on the left, that's just another church in Bath. But the two on the right are definitely the Abbey. On the far right, you can see angels climbing their way to Heaven.
From the Abbey, we went to the Roman Baths. This area felt so much like Italy, it was a little eerie. I asked Sue how long the Romans were settled in this area, after seeing the elaborateness of the architecture and engineering involved. She said, "Oh not that long. 500 years give or take?"
America isn't even half that old yet.
In this corner, the water flows directly from underground out into the main baths. Its heavy mineral content produces some very intense colors.
While fairly crowded on this particular day, the museum was wonderful to see. Apparently tossing coins into a fountain isn't such a new thing.
These small, metal tablets represent a sort of ancient Roman justice system. If someone was wronged by another, they would pay money to a scribe, assuming they didn't have the necessary skills themselves, who would then produce one of these tablets. The lines would often include the names and deeds of the guilty parties and a requested punishment from the person who would toss it into the water.
Steamy.
In case you're wondering, yes, you can taste some of the healing waters from the Baths. Heavily filtered of metals that might kill tourists, of course.
Wandering around the city of Bath a bit more before lunch.
No. 15, Avebury.
Similar to Stonehenge, this is another ancient site of standing stones. Unlike Stonehenge, this site is far larger (nearly 30 acres) and you are free to walk right up to the stones. And pet the sheep.
Just don't tell the officer at customs that you pet the sheep.
Peek-a-boo.
Our stop was brief, but I was thoroughly awed.
Also in Avebury, we found Silbury Hill. Made largely of chalk, this Neolithic mound is the largest man-made of its kind in Europe. Its breadth and height compare to the contemporary Egyptian pyramids; its purpose is still a mystery to modern researchers.
After leaving Avebury, we mostly sat in traffic to get back into the city on a Friday afternoon. St. Ermin's was a familiar, welcome sight.
We said our thank yous and reluctant good-byes to Sue, dropped our bags and ventured out to a restaurant that was thankfully a short walk from the hotel.
Exhausted, happy, heads spinning with all of the beautiful things we got to see and the wonderful weather luck we had, we enjoyed one last Mother-Daughter dinner together.
Mom and Molly got busy repacking and organizing for our early morning departure. Maybe I was already done? Little did we expect the next day's adventures.
Waiting for a taxi that was booked for an hour later than we needed to get to the airport. Whoopsie-daisies.
After commandeering someone else's taxi (with insistence from the concierge), we made it to Terminal 5 in record time. So that we could wait for more than two hours to check our bags since British Airways was evidently experiencing a massive, world-wide technology failure that day.
One by one, all of the flights around us were cancelled. Thousands of passengers filtered back out to (possibly) claim luggage and wait in more lines to make alternate arrangements. We thought surely we'd be next, and lucky us, we'd be at the end of the lines of irritated travelers.
But for some wonderful reason, our crew was extremely motivated to get our flight to DFW, home of American Airlines which is a major partner of British Airways. It took a few more hours, but after each piece of luggage, catered meal, passenger and hand towel was manually manifested and we got a physical signature from air traffic control in the tower, we were green-lighted to take off.
A few final iPhone memories are all that's left! Our luggage may have taken a week to find us at home, but I suppose the universe has to balance things out somehow.
xoxo
