Bath Christmas Market

So you guys are about to get hit with a double whammy of Christmas AND New Year's blog posts because for Christmas break I went home and laid in my bed and did less than nothing. And it was awesome.

First off, the very Christmas-y, incredibly British, and slighty Roman Bath Christmas Market! Click through for cathedral close-ups and stony Regency streets.

Shortly before I went home for Christmas my residence hall organised a trip to Bath, which has the oldest Christmas market in the UK. It's mostly around Bath Abbey, which made everything feel very medieval. Except sadly no one was wearing robes.

This place is super old. It it full of Roman stuff because there's a thermal mineral spring there, and you know Romans love to float around in baths whenever possible. You CANNOT be more Roman than being a spa town, alright? ALRIGHT?

Anyway, at some point the Georgians started going to Bath to 'take the waters' which means drink the delicious mineral water which was supposed to be really healthy (but I think it was just an excuse to go lay about on the other side of the country from London for the really fancy).  Now the water is really suspicious looking and you aren't allowed to touch it, except for the few rebels who left some coins at the bottom.

ON TO ROMAN THINGS:

Yeah you don't want to drink or sit in that.

A little stream coming in from...somewhere.

Can you see the steamy steam rising?

Ah, the Romans. They had that whole work-life balance thing down (especially if they were aristocrats because the only balance they had to worry about was making sure they didn't lean over the side of their litter). I mean sometimes you just gotta float around in some hot water until you are medium rare.

The bath complex had all kinds of cool underground places and dark rooms of ruins, including a 'massage room' (heh) and 'changing rooms' and probably a room where'd they dry you off as well so you could just lay there like a starfish.

And then there were Christmas market things EVERYWHERE.

Spiced dried fruit hanging garlands!

CHRISTMAS TREE HATS

*Keira Knightley voice* IT'S CAROL SINGERS

Did I not say there would be Regency streets?!

I didn't end up buying anything really, but I did get the most delicious chicken and leek pie from a place called The Humble Pie Co. (tip: ir may or may not have cured coach-induced hangover sickness). My friends bought tons of hand-knitted wool socks/gloves/sweaters and I came THIS close to buying that Christmas tree hat. But how often could you wear it? I guess from Thanksgiving to Christmas but there's no Thanksgiving in the UK so maybe I could bump it up to after Halloween.

Anyway, it's always nice to get out of London just for a day (and breathe some non-sooty air) and see the rest of England. Next time I'll actually bring a bathing suit and got to the new spa sans the yellow-green water. Maybe next year I'll zip over to Germany; I heard the Christmas markets are crazy there. And there are mountains and forests to look at. You cannot lose here.

Lastly, a rare picture of me! Looking like a puffed up bird cause it was cold.

There is one piece of hair sticking out and it's going to bother me forever.

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and that your New Year's salads and gym memberships are tasting and feeling good! Next up, Things I Need To Do Because I'm a For Real Adult In Graduate School And My Life Is a Mess aka NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS!

❤