Day Two: Bath and Oxford

After a hearty english breakfast our wonderful driver, Steve, delivered us to the city of Bath. There we met up with our guide Tony who spent the next several hours touring with us through the Roman baths and showing us some of the historical and architectural treasures of the city.

Our tour started in front of the impressive Bath Abbey, built atop the ancient Roman remains.

The students enjoyed practicing their latin as they journeyed through the exhibit.

A detailed audio tour provided wonderful instruction as we made our way through the four main features that sit below modern day street level - the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman bath house and finds from the Roman Bath. It was beautiful...

...and peaceful!

From there Tony, passionate about his city, led us on a walking tour through Bath giving us a lesson rich in history.

We marveled at the narrow roads and quaint squares built in the 1600s. The city expanded greatly during the Georgian era to accommodate the growing number of fashionable visitors. We saw the works of John Wood at the Circus and the magnificent Royal Crescent, both residential quarters with classical decorum.

Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many residents. Her novels, Northanger Abbey, in particular, reflect all thats wonderful about Bath - the charming streets, public buildings and dramatic townscapes. The girls were disappointed we did not have time to visit the Jane Austen Centre, while the boys were, we think, a bit relieved!

So it was fish and chips for lunch and a long drive to Oxford!

Here is the group with our driver Steve in front of the gate to Magdalen College, one of the 38 colleges making up Oxford University. We had a lovely tour of the grounds.

C.S. Lewis had a study in this building...

The students were very impressed this dining hall is still used for three meals a day!

Next our guide led us on a walking tour through the city while we learned more about the history and traditions of the various colleges and talked about the famous thinkers, writers, artists, and politicians that spent time here.

Don't forget to ask your student what site was their favorite from today....Tolkien and C. S. Lewis both taught at Oxford and their works are reflected throughout the city in fun ways!

We all enjoyed a wonderful Indian dinner and at this time, the students are busy writing in their journals about the first two days. Morning will come quickly and we are off to Stratford-upon-Avon!