Our day started with a walking tour of the ancient walled city. We started at the Abbey, the big church, most famous because King Edgar was crowned there in 973, the first time one king ruled over all of England (before that date, the island was divided into many smaller kingdoms; Edgar's rule united them in one crown).
We looked in briefly on the ancient baths and the new spa facility, surveyed some of the damage caused by industrialization and by Hitler's bombers in WWII, then walked by some of the most famous sights of Bath: Queen's Square, the Royal Crescent, the Circus (where Nicholas Cage has an apartment), the Assembly Room, and down through the tony shopping areas and Pultney Bridge. It was a very full tour. Some video highlights here:
Afterward, our group entered the actual Roman Baths and spent over an hour seeing the site. We saw the baths themselves, with their Roman remains and the later centuries' additions, the most famous of which came in the 18th Century as part of the fashionable Georgian scene in England. It was very educational! Here are some highlights:
And finally, after a lunch break, we got to go to the Guildhall. There we were greeted by the mayor of Bath, who spent an hour chatting with us about his favorite city. It was really quite an honor to have that audience with the city's mayor. Here's a snippet of the lead guide describing the mayor's chain of office.
Here's a picture of the two SJSU-Bath faculty with the mayor:
Things are certainly off to a good start!
And now it's the first free weekend and some people will be scattering to the four winds. Look for more reports next week!
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