BATH, ENGLAND

The ship docked in Southampton, England, where be boarded a bus for a tour in Bath. I’ve been there before but Rosemary hadn’t. Bath known for and named after its Roman-built baths. The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") c. 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although hot springs were known even before then. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset. The city has over 6 million yearly visitors, making it one of ten English cities visited most by overseas tourists. Along with the rest of South West England, Bath has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest, with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter, mean minimum temperatures of 1 or 2 °C (33.8 or 35.6 °F) are common. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the southwest. Apologies if the colours of the pictures taken through the bus windows, as glass caused the originals to have a green hue to them.
The Great Bath The Roman Baths are well-preserved thermae (baths of warm/hot water) in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. The Baths are fed by a hot spring where geothermal energy raises the water temperature here to between 69 and 96 °C (156.2 and 204.8 °F). The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is a later construction.	From the terrace you can see The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey. It is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery.
The tour of the baths revealed a couple of things that were there before. One is a film loop depicting ancient Romans walking along the corridor.	Another was a preserved mosaic of two hippocamps or sea horses. A hippocamp is a mythological creature and has typically been depicted as having the upper body of a horse with the lower body of a fish.
Another view of the mosaic.	Row houses as seen from the bus on the way back to Southhampton.
A fountain in the roundabout at the end of the street.	Much nicer row house complex.
Another view of the row houses.		One of the entry gates to Royal Victoria Park. The park was opened in 1830 by the 11-year-old Princess Victoria, and was the first park to carry her name. The public park is overlooked by the Royal Crescent and covers 23 hectares (57 acres).
It has a "Green Flag Award", the national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales, and is registered by English Heritage as of National Historic Importance. The 3.84-hectare (9.5-acre) botanical gardens were formed in 1887 and contain one of the finest collections of plants on limestone in the West Country.	Once a private home, it is now a Chinese restaurant.
Our next port was support to be Le Verdon in Bordeaux, France, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. Instead we spent an extra day at sea before sailing to La Coruna, Spain.

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