York Break: When in York, Bath!

roman bath in York

I love the intimacy of the Roman bath in York.  The bath is situated under the Roman Bath pub, St Sampson’s Square, York.  At one time you could look through a piece of glass in the floor or wall in the pub and see the partly excavated bath in the cellar.

roman-bath-tiles-york

  Now, the bath has been excavated more and a small museum has sprung up around it.  It’s an interesting little place, and was used for Roman soldiers to give themselves a good scraping  down after few miles on the dusty  Roman roads.

mosiac-roman-bath-york

My favorite bath though is ‘Aquae Sulis’, the Roman bath in the city of  Bath. 

aquae_sulis

 This bath is everything you would imagine  a Roman bath to be.  The bath was dedicated to the Goddess Aqua Sulis after the Goddess Sul.  

roman bath the only way to relax

 In the nearby  and famous Pump Rooms, one can ‘take the waters’ like all those posh Georgian people and others who saught good health. 

The pump room. Now don't you knock it all back at once...

 The water is reputed to have healing powers, but to say it is an acquired taste is pure fantasy!  There is no way anyone could acquire this taste, even if they lived two  hundred years! The water is luke warm, and has a sort of sheep like smell to it or wet dogs: the taste being like nothing you could easily imagine.  Though perhaps, Roman toe nail clippings,and rotting emperors may come near… if you have imagination enough.  And it’s supposed to have loads of minerals in it too!  I can honestly say I have never been quite the same for having tasted it…….. and it was a few years ago.