July 22 – What do hikers do on their rest day? You already know the answer to that question. Here is some of what we saw in Bath.

The Royal Crescent, once home to a wealthy Georgian family:

Royal Victoria Park, opened by Princess Victoria at age 11, before she became Queen (I hope you’ve seen The Young Victoria!)

The Bath Abbey:

Here lies James Montagu, Bishop of Bath, who was guilted into fixing the leaky roof of the Abbey when asked, “if the Church does not keep us safe from the waters above, how shall it save others from the fire below?”

More interesting architecture:

The reason people historically came to Bath was to visit the Roman Baths or Bath Spa. The line for this experience wrapped around the block, but we did not partake.

The Pulteney Bridge over the River Avon.

Inside Chaiwalla, the best Indian street food in Bath! The line runs out the door, and this guy does everything single-handedly while keeping up a running conversation with his customers. We ate there twice.

Bath is filled with artistically decorated owls. We saw a few.

The Holcombe Museum – a wealthy family who collected exotic stuff. While in England, I’ve looked for porcelain plates to add to my collection, and have been frustrated by their lack. This museum had plenty of plates, but not for sale.

The whole reason we came to England, the Cotswolds, and Bath, is that Jim is a huge fan of Jane Austen, and he’s been talking for several years about walking where Jane Austen walked. So our visit could not be complete without a visit to the Jane Austen center. Jim and Jane:

Dressed up in Georgian era clothes with Mr. Darcy:

Speaking with Captain Wentworth of Persuasion: