July 6

Hi all ... we have had a great couple of days since I last posted. Yesterday we went downtown through the old city (again). We visited the Roman Baths - literally thousands of years old. They are still finding old pieces of statues and jewellery and stuff when they build in the downtown core (not that there is much room to build downtown). The water in the spa is green now because of the rusting of the iron in the rocks, and it is still hot and flowing using the old aquaducts that the Romans built. A new spa, which people are allowed to go into, has recently opened (outrageously expensive, though). The water from the ground is still clear, and we all had a glass full in the restaurant. A bit tasty, but I am sure it was wonderfully healthy, with all the mineral content. Here are a couple of pictures that I took while we were wandering around.

Afterwards we went to a beautiful art gallery downtown and spent an hour or two looking at the great art. Bath has its own artists community that takes up the first floor, and the second floor is dedicated to oil paintings - there are hundreds of paintings not on display that they move in and out, so it would be a great place to return to. The kids all did their own art works - they had kids centres in both of the gallery rooms and the kids seemed inspired to create their own.

We also found an old map shop - and Steve found a map of Ontario created in 1890, which he bought. Cool map - you will have to come and see it when we get it home and framed. We're having a great time, but miss home as well ...

Cheers, The Browns