March 31, 2006 - page 2

Here, gasoline, or "petrol" as the Brits call it is about 98 pence per LITER from what I've seen. So, a British pound is worth approximately $1.80, so you do the math. It is outrageously expensive to drive here and even more so to commute when the tube and the bus are so accessible. It is no wonder that the United States produces more greenhouse gasses than most of the world. Rant complete, now back to Bath.

The Roman baths are in excellent condition still and one can see where the Romans cleaned themselves nearly 2000 years ago. A Roman bath was not just for bathing. It was kind of like an ancient health club. It had areas for wrestling, stretching, general exercising, but it held an additional important role as a place where politics were heavily discussed. Many votes could be won inside of the baths' walls. Of course, you could get clean, too. The actual bathing portion of the experience involved three pools, the caldarium (hot bath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (cold bath). I'm not sure of the order, but it was customary to get out of one and then into the others as part of a routine.

This particular bath in Bath is the only source of natural hot water in all of Great Britain. Water exits the natural spring at 47 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, Roman bathing usually involved covering the body in olive oil, which was imported to Britain from the Mediterranean region, and then scraping it off. I'm sure the resulting oil was usually not fit for cooking.

Bath was an excellent last field trip and one of the most pleasant experiences I've had on my journey. I was snapping pictures all over the place.