The breakfast at The Royal Crescent Hotel is to die for.  We had the most delicious spread in possibly the classiest breakfast room in the country.  Absolutely stunning stuff.  It was another beautiful day so we got cracking and ventured out into picturesque Bath.  

It was still a bit cool by our standards, so we took jackets, but the locals were in shorts and t-shirts as it was the first day of the year when it wasn’t actually freezing. We had a good wander around, and went into Bath Abbey, the historic cathedral where King Edgar was crowned in 973. Of course it’s been rebuilt since.  It is thought the site originally was occupied by a pagan temple.

We saw some pretty amazing effigies on sarcophagi, then joined a tour of the roof and bell chambers.  Lots of stairs up, and our charming young guide, Hillary, who had an impeccable RP British accent, gave us the inside dirt on all the bits and bobs. Eventually we emerged onto the roof, which afforded a great view of Bath, and particularly down into THE bath, the Roman Baths the town is famous for.  

We had such a good view of it, in fact, we decided we didn’t need to go in again, as we had been inside the baths complex in ‘95 and there was a super-long queue, and it was also 18 pounds or something to get in.  On the way out of the cathedral we bought a very stylish Bath coffee mug, plus a gold commemorative spoon for Maureen, and one for us as well.  

After a nice lunch in Pret a Manger, just for old time’s sake, we made our way towards an exhibition of couture through the ages.  It was really quite interesting, even for me.  It went as far back as the 18th century, with actual outfits from that time.  After that we wandered around for while more, did a little shopping, and generally soaked up the atmosphere.  

By mid-afternoon we were ready to take a break back at the hotel room, and Jen had also booked in a massage in the spa.  I flopped and read for a while, and by and by mosied down to meet Jen for a swim in the indoor pool and a sauna after her massage.  It was very refreshing, and we did the whole sauna spa thing.  Then we went up and got ready for dinner, which we had booked in the hotel restaurant.  First though we had cocktails in the garden.  It was a beautiful summer evening, just lovely out there.  

Eventually we made our way inside and to our table.  It was the full top-drawer service style thing, with waiters attending to every little aspect.  They even offered the services of a sommelier, but we did our own sommelling. The food was out of this world.  The only thing was that it was so formal and hushed it was a bit kind of stifling, but we did enjoy it none the less.  After dinner we took a bit of a stroll outside along the crescent.  A great day in a great town.

Bath Abbey Wiki