The fun (and wet) day at Bath

Saturday I took a day trip over to Bath!

Got my Britrail validated quick and smoothly, got through the ticket gate fine, boarded the train fine, but we were delayed 30 minutes at the next station in order to fix the headlight that got flooded from the heavy rain. At the following station, they had all those going to Bath and other stations get off since they'd head straight to Bristol to attempt to make up the lost time. Almost all the train passengers got off then. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get a seat on the next train. Luckily, Britain trains have long coaches with plenty of seats. While on the train, I finished reading Northanger Abbey so I was officially ready for Bath. Jane Austen style.

I arrived at the Bath station and waited for the HUGE crowd of people to exit while looking at some tourist stuff in the tourist info booth. Once the crowd was gone, I exited the station and made my way over to the visitor center to get a map. After I left the center, I was going to hit the Roman baths first, but there was a HUGE line for it. Tried the Bath Abbey but it wasn't open yet. So I then made my way over to the Assembly rooms and Fashion museum.

As I was walking, I passed by lots of stores. Once I entered that street, you could divide the crowd into two groups. Shoppers and tourists. Didn't know Bath was popular for its stores. I did see a Disney store. I went inside. Don't judge me, I can't simply walk pass a DISNEY store without looking around. I love Disney too much.

After my short visit to heaven (hehe ;P), I found the Assembly rooms. It was open and there was few people there. Seeing the rooms was free since one of them was in use (Score!) I got to see the Great Octagon, The Ballroom, and the Tea Room. All were gorgeous and I could see the scenes in my head from Northanger.

I then made my way down to the Fashion museum which was interesting. Lots of it was displays of contemporary outfits and were pretty funky. Most of them I couldn't really tell if they were meant for guys or girls. The Victorian clothing was super fascinating to see. I actually liked a lot of them and probably would wear one today. They had a section where you could try on Victorian clothes but since it was too popular, I moved along with the exhibit.
I then went through the little history section about what importance certain Victorian clothes and accessories meant back in that society. Then the museum ended with some new dresses that were designed including one that won Best Dress of the Year 2011. Guess the contest hasn't happened yet for this year.

Next, I went to the Jane Austen Center. It was actually pretty fascinating to learn about Austen's family, her relationships with her siblings, her personality, and so on. the exhibition itself was fairly similar to Ben Franklin's house. Just a lot more displays and less acting with special visual effects.
I spent a lot of time in the gift shop. There were so many books I wanted to buy, but I resisted since that would be heavy in my suitcase when I fly back. There was a poster that said, "Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen" which is a rip-off (for lack of a better word) of the Churchill ad in the Second World War. Again, very tempted but decided not to get it either. So I debated with whether I wanted a huge car sticker, key chain, or pin that said "I <3 Darcy". After a long debate going on in my brain, I decided on the pin.

I walked behind the Royal Crescent (a semi-circle of fancy Victorian homes) as I made my way back towards the Roman Baths. The Baths were pretty incredible. So much history and beauty in the craftsmanship. It was breath-taking. I got to see the main bath, the only hot spring in the entire UK, the drain system underneath, the sacred spring, and other archeology findings. I even got to taste the bath spring water. It was warm which wasn't super tasty, but I'm sure if it were chilled I'd like it a lot more. When I finished up my self-guided tour, it was already 6pm and decided to head back to the station.

The ride back had no troubles with rain or anything so I made it back to London quickly and safely.

Hope you all are well!