While we stayed in Bristol, Bath is only 10 to 15 miles away so we visited it too on a couple of occasions. Our first visit included a walking tour of Bath and a concert that evening that was part of their Bath Festival. Bath is a very touristy town. People visit here to see the old Roman baths and the Georgian architecture that is persuasive throughout the town. The town's architecture is well known and used as the backdrop for many period pieces such as Bridgerton and Sanditon in current times.
We met up with our tour group by the Bath Abbey which is a medieval church. The outside has some interesting carvings like angels climbing up a ladder - except one which is looking down.
Image on left is builders symbol that conveys his name Image on right of angels ascending or descending
We walked along the main street where the baths were and stopped at a man whole cover so we could all hear the water rushing by. Then it was on to a nearby side street. The street is used in the filming of the show Bridgerton. In fact, we were in front of the fictional home of the Bridgerton family. Hadn't seen the show in over a month at the time, but it did seem familiar to me.
Frequent location for Netflix Brigerton
This website will show you many of the Bridgerton Filming locations in Bath. In addition to pointing out TV and film sites, we saw the front and back of their circus and the crescent. A circus is a building or set of buildings build in a circular format. So whereas in London Picadilly Circus is a commercial area, this one is homes. The homes are connected like row houses and each has a nice backyard. We got to walk into a yard that is set up as they believe it would have been when the home was built in Georgian times.
back yard of one of the circus homes
front view of the circus homes
The crescent homes were built in the shape of a crescent and have a great lawn in front of them. When they were originally built, the large front yard was separated with an area for sheep, Since the rich people would not want the sheep in their nice area, they included a heehaw. A heehaw is like a short wall or a way to terrace the upper yard so the animals could not get up to the nice area. Today the homes are a mixture of expensive individual homes, some have been separated into flats and a few have been combined into a small hotel. The end unit is now a museum.
view of the Royal Crescent and its lawn
The tour ended at the Pultaney Bridge which is important because it includes shop in the bridge itself. The bridge is over the River Avon which is not pronounced like the cosmetic copany. The A is short and the "on" is pronounced more like "in" and by the way there are several river avons in England because avon meant river in welsh. After the tour we had time before the concert so it was time for a Pint in a scenic spot.
looking back at Pulteney Bridge
Pulteney Bridge
We ended the day at the Forum for the Concert for the People of Bath which was the Bath Philharmonia with the Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines School of Music and 2 soloists. The concert included a couple of our favorite composers - John Williams and Aaron Copland so it was a nice ending to our day.
On our second visit to Bath, we emphasized the bath part of bath. As in we visited a various nice modern day spa and the roman baths.
We weren't allowed to take photos of the news spa, but it was an enjoyable couple of hours and would recommend it. A few years ago it was decided that the water was not entirely safe so they started to treat it with a little chlorine to kill microbes that were living in it. It is still hot and still has all the minerals just a little modernized. The spa has several floors with a pool on the rooftop and they talk about how the steam coming off the water can make the experience even more special. There wasn't any steam on our day or minimal, but we enjoyed ourselves then we went down a couple of floors to where they had a variety of steam rooms including one with a celestial theme including a video that we could not watch long because we were about to go to sleep. Then down to the bottom floor for another pool. This one was warmer and had a current in it in addition to an area with jets like a hot tub. It was fun and then it was time to move on. The place is called Thermae Spa and if you click here you can take a virtual tour or enjoy the photos. The numbers 1-4 in the top right margin enable you to select the different floors to explore.
The Roman Baths are why Bath is a UNESCO site. Amazingly the baths had been lost for years and was even built upon. The baths are 2,000 years old and after the Romans some of England's Kings and Queens used the baths for their restorative and medical abilities. The baths have been returned to the way the romans had them set up except that the main bath had a roof over it back then. Today the water is green because it has algae growing in it.
In Roman times, the baths was a large site that included areas for both bathing and for religious purposes. The area was called Aqua Sulis. The museum that has been built up around the baths walks you through rooms where there were saunas and cleaning areas and in the religious areas. They have many artifacts some complete and pieces of others to help decipher how the romans used the area.
Projection completes the missing pieces
Earlier I mentioned that on the tour we stopped at a spot in the street where you can hear the water running underneath. That was right outside the door of a private spa area that can be reserved for groups. We were able to peak in and the picture is below.
Those are 3 names of town/cities. I did it that way because we are spending 8 days in Falkirk while visiting there, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If you pull out a map, you will see that Glasgow is on the westside of Scotland and Edinburgh on the east are not really that far apart. The country narrows there and the train runs regularly between the 2 cities with the town of Falkirk conveniently located on the train line between the two. We are staying at Alma Villa a short term serviced rental that is quite nice. We are about 5 minute walk from the train station in a neighborhood in what might could be a mother in law suite - attached to the main house but a full place on its own. We have a full kitchen, living room, full bath downstairs and a bedroom and full bath upstairs. This is one of the best Airbnb type places we have stayed in over the last couple years. Our hosts have been very friendly and helpful. This has been a combination rest, relax, clothes wash and tour spot for us.
Alma Villa was perfect
Falkirk
We chose Falkirk for its location, but truth be told it too has a couple of reasons to visit it. As we learned while in Edinburgh it used to be a huge steel town and that most man whole covers in the world are stamped "Falkirk" because that is where they were made. What I had known was that the Kelpies and the Falkirk wheel are here. What is a Kelpie you ask? A Kelpie according to Scottish folklore is a spirit that takes the form of a horse. One account claims it delights in the drowning of travelers. In Falkirk, a Kelpie is an enormous steel structure of the neck and heads of 2 horses raising up from the waters of the Clyde Forth canal in the Helix park. I do mean enormous too (100 feet). I saw them from the train tracks which are not nearby. There is a visitor center which has a video on the building of the Kelpies and some history of the area. I said they rise up from the waters of the canal which is true but it is water that has been diverted from the main canal way. The towpath along the canal is popular with the locals these days for bike riding and dog walking and we did see a couple of barges that looked like they were meant for leisurely riding the canals in warmer weather. Oh something I have been meaning to mention. Swans are indigenous to Scotland so we have seen them on this canal and up in Orkney building nests, etc. First time I have seen truly wild swans since most in the US have had their wings clipped to keep them in a particular body of water.
Tower at Falkirk High Street was once used to lock up prisoners
Jeff wants to vacation on one of these someday
Glasgow
We packed for this trip in a distracted manner and that combined with the changing seasons meant we had more luggage then we wanted to try and lug around on our train tour of Scotland so we left a suitcase in a locker at a self-storage facility in Glasgow. Thus, we needed to get it and we wanted to explore the city more. We had overnighted there before the tour had begun but had not explored the place. We decided to take a hop on hop off bus tour and had a couple of ideas of where we would hop off before we got into town. We ran out of time the day we spent in Glasgow but did get to see a few places. We went to the Clyde Distillery, Riverside Museum and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We wanted to go to the Mackintosh House at University of Glasgow but ran out of time.
Glasgow Tower also was used to lock away prisoners
The Clyde Distillery is not well known or fantastic whiskey rather it is in an interesting spot in Glasgow and it was a distillery where we could schedule a tour. Now that you have low expectations let me lift them some. In its heyday, Glasgow was a huge shipping port. The distillery is built on the former Queen's Dock in the pumphouse. Part of the distillery is the old building and part is a nice new glass structure. It is a young distillery so their whiskey is a blend onto itself in that part is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels and part in sherry barrels and then blended together. The tour was informative and the tasting was nice. If you are in Glasgow, I would say it is a nice hour.
A Still with a view
From there we went a block down the street to the Riverside Museum which contrary to its name is basically a transportation museum including a tall ship at the junction of the Rivers Kelvin and Clyde. The museum building is impressive and holds a large collection from large ships to small toy trains. We enjoyed seeing the various forms of transportation and I enjoyed the corresponding clothing they had in the exhibits too.
The Kelvingrove Museum is famous for its Dali which is of Jesus on the cross. There are placards around the painting which is in a small vestibule by itself. The placards talk about how he used a human model to be certain how a body would hang in addition to his knowledge of mathematics. The placards also say how people tend to react to the painting. Not sure if it was in my mind, but I did feel goosebumps on my back when I first looked at it. Somehow it is kind of spellbinding. We wandered around the museum a little more and saw some interesting things, but my goal was to find the Impressionists and Monet I had heard they had. A guide sent us in the correct direction and off we went. After enjoying them and enjoying the building itself soon we were on our way. to get our luggage and our train. Funny thing along the way though. We had spent a night before our tour begun in Glasgow and had not thought much of the area the hotel was in. Well it seems that we were close to their Royal Concert Hall, and several theaters but with Covid they were closed up and the area seemed dead. So if you like orchestras or ballet then check the schedule and head to Glasgow.
interior of Kelvingrove Museum
Edinburgh
We went into Edinburgh on 3 separate days. We bought a hop on hop off ticket with a company that had 3 versions of their route and used it the first 2 days. The third day we did a food tour of Edinburgh and wandered on our own some. Our first day had the worst weather - it was extremely windy like it was practically pushing both of us at times and a light off and on rain. We decided to go after our indoor sites that day which meant we went to the Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyrood which are the 2 ends of the Royal Mile. We also visited St Giles Cathedral kind of in the middle of the two ends.
On the bus tour they told us to go inside The Bank of Scotland as the interior was magical. The bank was very welcoming with information boards to both share the history of the building and as a memorial to the bank employees who died in the world wars. The interior was stellar with star shaped windows in the domed ceiling.
Edinburg Castle towers over the city on a large volcanic rock. Centuries ago glaciers eroded away the land on either side leaving a defensible position that people have fortified over the centuries. Besides a tourist attraction it is manned by the Royal Marines. It is also the backdrop for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo each August. We had tickets for it in 2020, but the dates didn’t work for us this year. The brief video below promotes this spectacular event each August.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Main gate to Edinburgh Castle
Courtyard view
Palace of Holyrood has two roles. It’s where the Royal Family resides when visiting the capital of Scotland to this day. It is also preserved for all to enjoy. We toured the Palace and took in the grandeur and history. There is a room with absolutely gorgeous tapestries and further up the bedroom where Mary Queen of Scots assistant was murdered by her husband's men out of misguided jealously. We also saw a dining room and a gallery room that the Queen still uses today in official functions.
Front view
Courtyard view
Kings bedchamber
Stairway lined with paintings and tapestries
Stairway ceiling is amazingly intricate
Privy Chamber
Saint Giles Cathedral isn’t really a cathedral I’m told as the Church of Scotland doesn’t have a hierarchy that would give a church the title of Cathedral. It’s grandness is the reason for it baring the name.
Our second day we used a different route from the bus company and went to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Royal Yacht Britannia and wandered around Leith a little. The garden’s reputation for incredible Rhododendrons was the draw and we were not disappointed. They came in a rainbow of colors and some were as tall as trees.
Yes that is a very large Rhododendron
Note the tiny people in the distance next to the giant privet hedge, that’s how tall it is
The Royal Yacht Britannia was crewed by the Royal Navy from 1954 until she was decommissioned in 1997. Many Presidents and Prime Ministers have joined the Royal Family aboard. It also served as a set for the new Downton Abbey A New Era movie which is soon to be released in the States. We enjoyed watching it in Falkirk on a rainy day.
The Royal Yacht Britannia
Our last day should have been our first! We went to several restaurants and food stops with our guide and 4 other tourists. Our favorite dish was the Cullen Skink. It’s a broth based soup made from smoked haddock, potatoes and onions with cream and/or milk. The Haggis at the next stop (MUMS) was very good, but filling with the mashed potatoes and parsnip. The vanilla ice cream at the next stop was incredible. There was even an Indian restaurant where they had dished that included both Haggis and oddly Plant based Haggis. At another stop we enjoyed a wee dram of Whiskey.
We enjoyed Haggis at Mums. It’s best enjoyed without asking to many questions about what’s in it
This concludes our tour of Scotland, next stop Bristol England.
