A Bath or a drenching.

Just like just about everywhere else in the UK we arrived in Bath in the rain.  We were staying at the inner city campus of the local uni and the only thing we didn't like about it was the lack of a TV in our room (we suggested to the students managing the bookings that maybe rental TVs would be a nice touch).  Overall it was a great location and the students on their holidays seemed to be doing everything from front of house to cleaning.  Highly recommended as a budget stopping place!

I was quite keen to see the fashion museum and there was a ticket available that gave access to the fashion museum, the Roman baths, and an art gallery.  So dear reader, I bought it.  The history of fashion in 100 objects with an added exhibit on lace was worth it!  This was one of my favourite exhibitions so far - it is in a size that isn't too overwhelming and of course I loved seeing how clothes developed and changed over the ages.  I can't imagine how long the blackwork on this Tudor shirt would have taken (if it was me sewing, a very very long time)

It was a grey old day so I continued on to the Roman baths.  Matt had taken himself off to walk along the canal (in the hope he could rent a boat for a few days, no such luck despite the terrible weather).

I once had a postcard that I think my maternal grandmother had brought home from her visit to England in the early 70s.  It was somewhere that I wanted visit myself!  Now I have - since Grandma's trip there have been a lot of changes, new excavations have uncovered further remains and there is a great visitors centre to walk through.  But what I was really here to see was the site of the great baths of Bath.   And maybe follow in the footsteps of some Regency heroine and "take the waters"

I decided I'd really rather drink Bath's other famous
product, Bath gin...

Matt and I met after I'd had enough sulpherous waters and I was shocked to see how wet he was!  Yep, it had rained some more - quite a bit more - while I was in the dry.

The next day the rain held off long enough for a walk around to admire the canal and the buildings.  Afterwards we found a good place to get warmed through!

 

I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Victoria Art Gallery as well.  The current exhibition was on dragons in recent children's literature.  That was much more to my taste than the permanent collection of dark portraits and fruit!  Some of my favourites included hand written notes by Cressida Cowell (How to tame your dragon) and Chris Riddell. https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/events/here-be-dragons

We decided we would spend the next few days visiting some more great castles and accordingly, the next morning we rented another car and started off for Wales again, this time the north.