Today we drive to Bath. Here we meet our friend Ollie and visit the Roman Baths together. But first she takes us to the world’s best fudge shop. And that doesn’t seem to be an exaggeration! We get to sample from the fudge being made right now and buy a nice selection. What a great selection of flavours!

But now it’s time: we enter the Roman Baths at the very top, from the viewing terrace, so to speak. From here, the water looks strangely green because of the algae that the sunshine makes grow. But this is only the beginning! On the way down, we learn a lot of interesting facts in the museum about the origins and significance of the baths, which were in operation for 400 years. You have to imagine that! We see parts of the pipes, pieces of wall, mosaics, many many coins and more. Several slips of paper (well, not paper but made from lead) with messages to the goddess Sulis Minerva, who was worshipped here, have also been preserved. Mainly people cursed thieves who stole clothes or money from the bathers and not want them to suffer the wrath of the goddess.

Then we reach the bathing floor and are amazed. There is not only the large outdoor pool, which looks less toxic up close. There are entrances to numerous rooms with other bathing pools, small and large. It also has a steam room with floor heating. I have already seen something very similar in Augusta Raurica, the Roman town near Rheinfelden where I grew up. The thermal spring is still active and pushes 46°C hot water to the surface. Clever piping systems send the necessary part of it to the baths, while the rest flows through an overflow into the river.

On a grassy area we enjoy Cornish Pastys, which we bought right next to the baths. These pasties are very popular here because they are wonderful to take along and easy to eat. Afterwards, Ollie shows us around the city a bit before we say goodbye to her again. But not before she has a sit in LucY. She thinks the car looks even nicer in real life than in the photos. LucY says thank you. 🙂

The three of us walk around Bath a little more. We admire the large park in the lower part of the city, and watch two canoeists negotiate the thresholds in the river (less spectacular than it sounds).

Before the return journey, we buy a Bath bun at Sally Lunn. The café with its typical baked goods was already mentioned in records from the 8th century. I have to watch my head quite a bit as I climb down the narrow stairs to the museum shop. I manage to grab the second last bun, which can be described as a huge brioche. Huge it is indeed, with a diameter of about 15 cm and a height of around 8 cm.

The drive back to Fleet takes us past Stonehenge again, where a traffic jam suddenly forms. Presumably everyone wants to stop briefly and take a photo of the stones from a distance. Then we leave the motorway to charge the battery: The drive criss-crossing the Cotswolds yesterday and today to Bath consumed quite a bit of energy. And we also had to find out at the charging station at the Gloucester hotel: Electric car drivers from abroad are discriminated against. To operate the charger, you need a smartphone app that can only be downloaded from the British App Store. Which is not possible with our Swiss user accounts, we don’t even see the app.

When it comes to dinner, our wishes diverge. While Christine just wants to bite into the bath bun for which we have bought clotted cream and strawberry jam, I would like something proper. After all, there are still many yummy things from our favourite restaurants on my food list. So we drive by Camberley and pick up a ramen noodle soup for me from Wagamama. And a Crunch Wrap Supreme from Taco Bell for Gabi. Christine joins us there and orders a small taco. We eat that in a big park where people in the area seem to like to walk their dogs – a tip from Clare, who lives just around the corner. 🙂